Any Suggestions?

Just put it down to experience, what I would do though, I would definately add that newbie to your list of Blocked Bidders,that way the bidder can not come back to you...and do the same thing.The newbie will not be aware that they are blocked, so no real harm done, it just protects you..

Email them and explain a few things that I'm sure newbies don't know.

When a buyer bids on eBay it is a legal and binding contract that they agreed to when they bid.

When they bid, you incurred fee's from eBay and those must be recouped.

In order for you to recoupe those things you will have to file NPB (non paying bidder dispute) after 10 days with no payment. And will follow with FVF (final value fee's) to receive those fee's.

Alot of buyers don't realize that we as sellers pay fee's. Especially newbies. They believe since they are buying for no fee's and paying us via Paypal that has no fee's to them..that there aren't any fee's.

I've had several buyers that once they found out that I incurred fee's due to their not well thought out bidding, gladly offered to pay my fee's and drop the whole thing or just said, kiss my rear end and file for your fee's.

But it's in your best interest in the long run to first block, email and then file for NPB on the given day. eBay gives them a chance to explain their side when the NPB is filed and if they don't respond within a certain number of days, it's an even blacker mark.

NPB should be taken off eBay and with three NPB strikes against them they will lose bidding priviledges.

Good Luck,
Donna

Thanks Nigel and Donna for your thoughts.

I most certainly will follow Nigel's advice about blocking this person and will also send her an e-mail advising her of a few things as Donna suggested. If this fails to elicit a positive response then I will follow through the rest of Donna's advice.

I guess if I'm going to sell on eBay I am going to have to get rid of this "nice guy" attitude!

Yeah, what Donna and Nigel said. You can do all that and still be a "nice guy"!

Besides, if a bidder gets NARU'd because they pulled that too many times then that's how they learn that it's not a game.

OK Donna, give yourself a pat on the back, you sure called this one right. I sent my reluctant bidder this e-mail this morning:

"I see that you have 0 feedback rating so I am assuming that you are new to eBay. Did you fail to read the following statement in the auction:

READ THE DESCRIPTION BEFORE BIDDING!

YOUR BID IS A BINDING CONTRACT. PLEASE DO NOT BID IF YOU DO NOT INTEND TO PAY! NON-PAYING BIDDERS WILL BE REPORTED TO EBAY AND WILL NOT RECEIVE GOOD FEEDBACK.

The reason for this is we sellers have to pay a fee each time we list an item for sale and the only way we can get that fee refunded is if we report the person who failed to follow through on their contract. Are you sure that you want to start off your eBay experience with a black mark against you? Don @ Ozarktools"

Within a few minutes I had notice from PayPal that she had paid in full! Like you said, it may be that newbies just don't really understand how all this works.

Thanks again and also to Nigel & Rick.

quote:

Originally posted by Ozarktools:
OK Donna, give yourself a pat on the back, you sure called this one right.

I prefer money! <smile>

So glad this worked out for you.

I pull customers contact information, too! Alot of times that's all it takes is a phone call to straighten situations out. With 5,0000+ rollover minutes...I don't mind making long distance phone calls to clear things up.

See you can still be a nice guy/gal and do business on eBay.

Here's my email I have saved in a file to use..feel free to tweak it how you'd like to and personalize it for your own use.

Once again, glad to be of help!
Donna
(the nice gal)

Good morning/afternoon/evening,

As of today I have not received payment for the item listed in the subject of this message.

You have been contacted several times and have not responded to emails or contact via eBay messaging.

Please take the time to read the link below - it will explain eBay's stand on bidding and non-payment.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/non-payment.html

What you as a buyer might not know is this...eBay has charged me a fee for your purchase/winning bid.

In order to recoupe those fees, I will have to file Non Paying Bidder in 7 days.

Once I file for my FVCF credit, it will leave a black mark on your account.

Ebay's policy is three strikes and you're out. Suspended indefinitely. I don't want to have this happen to you.

To avoid the actions detailed above, full payment for the auction would be greatly appreciated.

I look forward to shipping your item, and thank you for your business!

Regards,

Nice e-mail. Thanks for posting that. I'm going to use it.