posted on September 28, 2000 12:36:40 AM
I have a bidder with 10 negs, 7 in the last month , as the only bidder on a nice plate . Negs have been for bounced checks (2)and the rest non-response to EOA notices , e-mail , even phone calls ,and subsequent non-payment. Since the negs. he's got a few positives , and has a pos. fb of over 200. His earlier negs. were the same...refusal to respond , bounced check , response and payment only after NPB filed , while continuing to bid.
I've never felt the need to cancel a bid before , but this sounds risky . I have another of these Royal Copenhagen plates up , and I praythat he doesn't bid on that too , they're sort of a pair , but got listed days apart due to AW's launching fiasco . He leaves very erudite and gracious feedback , no ignorant slob he ; but no response to the negs either .
So should I magnetise other bidders to my auctions to outbid him , or " cut him off at the stocking-tops " , as my mother used to say ?
posted on September 28, 2000 12:43:32 AM
uglimouse -- If I have a bidder whose feedback concerns me, I usually e-mail them while the auction is still running and express my concerns. Sometimes there is a reason behind a person's negatives (although, granted, the ones about the bounced checks would make me that much more leery).
The response you get (or lack of!) will tell you whether you want to deal with this bidder. If you decide to cancel his bids, I would ask him not to bid on your auctions again and CC it to Safe Harbor just to be sure.
Edited to add: Besides, he might get outbid before the auction is over!
[ edited by thedewey on Sep 28, 2000 12:44 AM ]
posted on September 28, 2000 01:52:45 AM
I had one a few weeks ago that had a bid right away from someone who's feedback made me nervous too. I decided to wait and see. Sure enough, they were outbid and by quite a bit. You just never know. (If it had gotten to the last day or two I probably would have cancelled their bid.)
~~MouseSlayer is not a cat =^..^= ~~
Yes, I'm MouseSlayer everywhere. It's a great name, so I use it!
posted on September 28, 2000 02:47:48 AM
Ten negs in the past month would probably prompt a bid cancellation from me. This many checks says the bidder knows he can't afford the item and is just playing games. Tho' I could be wrong.
I had a player last month. She bid in several of my auctions and then refused to pay because I wouldn't ship COD or accept her personal check. (Ad stated money order or credit card only.) In one of the auctions, she upped the bid from $50 to $200, then got outbid. I actually made $150 off this deadbeat. On the other hand, she wrecked a few other auctions. By the time I figured out what happened, the runner-up bidders weren't interested.
I'm so tired of non-paying bidders, I'd probably cancel it NOW and not wait for the bad news.
posted on September 28, 2000 11:40:21 AM
Thank you all for the replies .
I like the suggestion of e-mailing him first ; it seems somewhat more courteous than just giving him the axe , and I , too , like to think that there may be a personal explanation for a string of negs. He has only left one himself , and obviously doesn't feel the need to justify his bad reputation , which has an arrogance about it that alerts me. But we shall see.
kellyb1 ,No matter how nice your auction is, people just aren't going to bid against someone with a grand total of 7 negs.
Do you mean that other bidders would check out the fb of the high bidder and decide not to bid ? If it paints him as a deadbeat , they'd be " next in line " at a lower price wouldn't they ?
or do you mean that he'd jack the price up higher than they'd care to bid ? I'm sorry to be dense here !
posted on September 28, 2000 11:48:49 AMNo matter how nice your auction is, people just aren't going to bid against someone with a grand total of 7 negs.
I disagree -- I think it's very rare for bidders to check the feedback of those they're bidding against. Even when they do, I'm not sure most would be deterred by competitors with questionable feedback.
posted on September 28, 2000 11:59:21 AM"I disagree -- I think it's very rare for bidders to check the feedback of those they're bidding against."
I'll look and see if I'm possibly bidding against a shill account, if another competing bidder has a feedback of 200 I'm not going to suspect that's a shill account. Shill accounts are the only thing I'm concerned about bidding against.
posted on September 28, 2000 12:25:42 PMuaru I hadn't thought about checking fb for shills as a matter of course ; good idea though , thanks. I think I'd just see the number of fb's in the " bid history " to discern this , as you do , rather than opening their fb file. I usually look at the numbers in " history " but only read the fb of high bidder .
I've just e-mailed him this letter:
[i]Dear Sir ,
Thank you for bidding on my item , xxxx ebay # xxxxx.
Upon reading your feedback profile , I notice that there was a period during the last month in which you received many negatives , allegedly for bounced checks or non- response or payment As you chose not to respond to these feedbacks in the public feedback forum , which of course is not obligatory , I as a seller , feel somewhat anxious about accepting your bid.
If you care to e-mail me at xxxxx to discuss this on a private level I may view your bid with less apprehension .
I hope you can appreciate my position in this matter.
Kind regards,etc[/i]
Hopefully this will give him time to respond and other bidders time to come out of the woodwork by the wee hours Monday am , ( thanks to AW ! ) when it ends .
posted on September 28, 2000 07:01:53 PM
I'd have just cancelled his bid. No waiting around for a snow-job email reply as to why the bidder's feedback is what it is. Being uncomfortable with a bidder's feedback is a legitimate reason for cancellation at eBay.
Even if the item closed with no bids, I'd rather relist it later than be stuck waiting around for a deadbeat to pay or risking bounced-check fees and aggravation.
Good luck, and let us know what happens with this one!
posted on September 28, 2000 08:04:35 PM
"people just aren't going to bid against someone with a grand total of 7 negs. "
That's crap, bidders dont check other bidders feedback.
I'd let it ride. It may result in other bidders outbidding him. And if he ends up the only bidder, nothing is lost (Don't ship until you get the $). And if he's high over others and doesn't pay, offer it to the underbidder.
He is helping jack up your final value.
