posted on November 7, 1999 12:39:14 AM
Read my reply to grendeth - it may explain the deadbeat 3 email mystery. They really ARE NOT getting your confirmations.
posted on November 7, 1999 06:46:22 PM
I sell quite a bit on Yahoo and yes I have gotten some deadbeats too. One recent one not only won my reserve (before they changed the policy on showing the reserve in the last 24 hrs) but this person left a rude comment along with the bid and then left me bad feedback after 11 days saying I never responded even though I emailed this person twice in those 11 days. I of course notified Yahoo (had to do it twice because the first message was replied with a form letter about feedback. I gave this person neg feedback and blacklisted him/her. It is VERY frustrating and a waste of time but I still rather sell on Yahoo than eBay. Just a suggestion that I find a little timesaving/less frustrating is that I do not box up and item until after I receive payment. I also always ask the person for their shipping information when I send the payment terms on the first congratulating email. A lot of people actually give info and then some do not pay. I keep this on file just in case someone has more than one email. I also agree with most of you that there are a lot more deadbeat bidders on Yahoo than eBay. Right now I am dealing with a deadbeat seller. I have emailed twice and also left average feedback (if the seller has alerts they will get notified)asking that person to contact me. Sorry, I didn't mean to make this so long. I do have a question for TOM-I read in an earlier post about what you said about the rating system. In order to bid you must be registered. In order to register you must submit a CC #. So if you set the ratings to 1 and someone with a -2 wants to bid-isn't their CC on file already??? Am I missing a point here somewhere?
posted on November 7, 1999 07:19:47 PM
Nata the guy is a dead-beat. Within the short 2 weeks in Yahoo he has a -8 feedback. And I only posted one of the feedback's.
BTW since Tom from Yahoo is here, maybe he can address some of the questions here like feedback black-mail, dead-beats & Yahoo's automated answering e-mails that is so general that it doesn't even solve anything.
Tom rather than skimming the surface, dive right in into the dirt. If you are concern, make sure you state its your opinion & not Yahoo's.
posted on November 16, 1999 09:53:25 PM
I am considering implimenting the following to help catch those deadbeat bidders. Please let me know what you think.
After an auction is over, send the winner an E-Mail with a URL that has an "online form" on it. This form would ask information about the buyer, (address, phone, etc.) The forem would be treated as a "claim ticket" for the item. The winner would be responsible for filling out the form, and either E-Mailing or FAXing it to the seller. This could be used as a "flag" for the seller, whereas, if the buyer is series enough about the item, he/she would do anything to get the item, right? The seller could get a hint if the winner is bogus by him/her NOT filling out the form.
Is this a good idea, or is it a little too much for the winner to do after an auction?
posted on November 17, 1999 08:26:17 AM
What to do about deadbeat bidders who retaliate with bogus negative feedback??? I've had three now. It's always those who claim to never have received "any emails or warnings" and one who sent payment nearly 5 weeks after the auction ended (I returned her money order). My reputation as a great seller is being decimated by these loosers. Should I stop warning my fellow sellers by posting negative feedback about these people? Or should I risk being suspended by Yahoo due to too many negatives? What the &$#@#% is a reputable seller supposed to do????
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posted on November 17, 1999 04:32:39 PM
Don't worry about the deadbeat and their negative feedbacks... just explain it in a calm adult manner.. the Yahoo search for negatives is great, and easy to use... so don't sweat it!!!
Move on.... and leave negatives for deadbeat buyers.. it helps everyone!!!
posted on November 19, 1999 04:34:19 PM
DANUFF: I have been using an online "claim form" since I started selling. It has worked well for me. There are some deadbeats who fill out the form and never pay, and there are others who either don't fill out the form and send payment or print and send the form with their payment. In short, I think it may help the deadbeat situation somewhat, but does not eliminate or identify them in all cases. However, I have found a big advantage to using it....it eliminates the need for me to try to decipher the handwriting on the money order for shipping address, etc.
posted on November 21, 1999 01:53:52 AM
The original question on this thread asked why Yahoo attracted more deadbeat bidders than other sites. In the seventies a local theatre in my town decided, because of lagging attendance, to open its doors to a first-run feature film. This "free showing" was advertised in the papers a couple of days prior. I decided to go. Well, I believe that whenever you make anything free, the "scum of the earth" comes out in droves. In retrospect, I would have gladly paid for my seat to "weed out" this motley crew. Do you see the analogy?
posted on November 21, 1999 07:00:26 PM
I have put up 7 auctions, everyone sold to 4 different buyers and every buyer paid!!! If you know what you are doing, your problems will be very small. If you look like a creep they treat you like a creep. I see auctions with starting bid at $1.00 with a Reserve.. this is for ONE card, and the seller says shipping $5.00.. well that is a Creep!! Get my point??
posted on November 22, 1999 06:20:57 AM
gem10a1
If I get your meaning, you are implying it is the sellers fault that there are deadbeat bidders!! I kind of resent that implication.
I am having pretty good "luck" at yahoo although I have one now that is not responding to my email. Things happen, I realize that, so I will just keep plugging away at it.
posted on November 22, 1999 05:18:27 PM
jdamm: You can read what I wrote cant you? If yes, why do you omit the meat of what I said about sellers? It is the creeps that vastly overcharge on shipping, you know what vastly means?? I am not talking about the nice sellers just the misinformation overchargers. And yes by far I think there are more bad sellers than deadbeat buyers on any auction site.
posted on November 24, 1999 06:31:03 AM
So far I had pretty good luck with buyera and sellers. Twice I won an auction and the seller never contacted me and also did not reply to my e-mails. Twice a buyer never answered my e-mails. This out of over 30 completed transaction. Not bad!!!
posted on November 24, 1999 07:44:38 PM
I am really encouraged about yahoo here lately. I am not having any deadbeats. I thought I had one (didn't answer my 3 emails) but they finally got in touch and everything seems to be ok now. I was wondering because they have some good feedback. I am doing better than I expected.
posted on December 2, 1999 03:57:01 PM
Why isnt there a place where you can post a deadbeat, so all dealers can check and then blacklist him/her from there auctions. I for one work too darn hard for my money to waist time and money on these idiots.
posted on December 4, 1999 08:50:30 AM
First off, I'd like to thank all the participants of this thread for sppeaking up so honestly about the difficults they've had with Non-Paying-Bidders. I really appreciate receiving this heads up from all of you before listing mdse at Yahoo Auctions.
There is a real paperwork created by the Non-paying bidder, PARTICULARLY if years from now you get audited by the IRS, and they inquire, "The total sales at these online auction houses is $XXXXX, but YOU only reported an income of $X -- therefore, you owe back taxes, a penalty for late payment, a fine for not reporting income, and back interest on the amount of taxes you should have paid years ago.
The original question of this messagethread is WHY ARE SO MANY YAHOO BIDDERS DEADBEATS?
I'd like to share with you another theory on deadbeats, which I discovered over at the Auctions.com messageboard here at AW.
Very briefly, it is that all Non-Paying-Bidders may not be trolls, pranksters, deadbeats, or intentional auction saboteurs -- rather, they *may* represent acts of RANDOM shilling - by strangers who are bidding up LOTS of auctions, to camoflage the fact that they've shilled up a few of their own with a multiple i.d.
if interested, the details of this theory are set out here:
posted on December 4, 1999 02:12:51 PM
In my opinion I have this gut feeling that some of the sellers will bid on your item if they are selling the same item just so they can sell theirs. I don't know why I think this but it is just a gut feeling. Also, I had this one person bid and win something from me and then never left feedback and so somehow I realized she was a seller also and was selling the same exact thing I sold her even down to the way I sold it on my auction page( the wording and the "free gift". I did get positive feedback when I emailed her about it. Never mentioned that I knew she was re-selling the item.
I also had some bogus bidders and had to leave negative feedback on them. I got discouraged and closed all my auctions early and am still comtemplating whether or not to put them back up or switch to E-bay.
I am glad to know that I'm not the only one who is having this problem with biddrs.
. I did get positive feedback when I emailed her about it. Never mentioned that I knew she was re-selling the item.