posted on March 31, 2001 04:12:47 AM
I've got an valuable mandolin at auction on Ebay now. The high bidder is a pair of sunglasses with no feedback. Should I be concerned about this? Perhaps there is bid shielding going on? Or maybe it's simply a first-time buyer.
Is there anything useful to be done? Emailing the bidder for info doesn't seem promising.
posted on March 31, 2001 04:16:20 AM
we all had 0 feedback and sunglasses at one time. everyone has to start somewhere. I have only had a bad experience with one 0 feedback person and that had nothing to do with her superfast payment and email.
i find most newbies very eager on their first sales, so excited about winning. you may be pleasently surprised.
posted on March 31, 2001 04:48:31 AM
ANY bidder is a potential source of trouble. The feedback number has little to do with it IMO. The vast majority of ALL bidders are great though, including the newbies. Unless you see something fishy going on, don't sweat it.
posted on March 31, 2001 06:01:25 AM
I agree with duby,
Most bidders are on the up and up. There might be about 2-5 percent that will give you a problem. Sometimes a major headache. This bidder might also be starting another account for an item that he wants for a gift. His other account might be known to the person receiving the gift.
I'm thinking about starting a buying only account. With this new account, I will have 0 FB and sunglasses. However, on my primary account, I have 180 FB and no negs. If all else fails, you can offer it to the next highest bidder.
posted on March 31, 2001 06:29:33 AM
I have three accounts. I use the second one as a buyer's account. I was tired of family and friends knowing what I was bidding on and occasionally I have to snipe a customer of mine. Yesterday, I sent the third account into action for the first time just for the heck of it.
You may be dealing with someone who doesn't want anyone knowing what they're bidding on or perhaps someone who does not usually use eBay but was thrilled to find your item and thus bid.
posted on March 31, 2001 06:56:21 AM
I agree with the others. I now have a second ID for buying only, with shades and no feedback.
I pay with a money order the next business day, read TOS and don't hassle the seller.
I did this after I realized at Christmas I couldn't buy without my family members knowing it. I will no longer worry about a seller giving a neg when I ask them to take their misrepresented merchandise back--
stains on giant advertising magnets, scratched bakelite jewelry, books with insect parts....
posted on March 31, 2001 11:23:37 AM
My dad sells high-end instruments on eBay from time to time. A lot of his high bidders have been newbies with no feedback, and I don't think he's ever had a problem with one of them.
I've also had excellent luck selling to newbies with no feedback. I've had several who placed their first bids ever on my auctions, and they've been a delight to work with. They usually bid higher and often on multiple items, too.
posted on March 31, 2001 01:03:08 PM
It wasn't that long ago that I was running 2 high price items and I had 2 bidders with 0's and sunglasses. I wrote into this forum expressing my concern, I was given the very same feedback you are getting now. Both zero feedback people won, went higher than what I was expecting to get. Paid promptly I would not worry. I did feel much better when I was getting the same advise you are now getting. Hope it goes well for you.
Latte
posted on March 31, 2001 01:36:08 PM
I'm one of those sellers who gets nervous when a newbie starts bidding very high on one or several of my auctions.
I usually pull the contact info from ebay, and request "verification" of their identity by having them email me back before the auction ends. If I hear back from them, they are usually legit.
***IMPORTANT*** I have found the following to be Very Helpful in sniffing out the serious bidders from the kids who might have just gotten a new computer for their birthday, and consider ebay a "fun game" --
Do a Bidder Search for their User ID, and find out how many items they are bidding on.
If they are bidding on 50 or 60 non-related items, or have loads of Adult Material bids (a real giveaway), you are probably getting scammed. I recently had two "newbies" bidding in my auctions, on seperate items -- One guy had over 200 current bids, and the other had 399 !!! My "verification" request was not answered, and I cancelled their bids. They did not complain.
Good Luck !!!
posted on March 31, 2001 02:09:12 PM
How many feedback need to be behind someone's name before you trust them? 1, 10, 100, 1000. When you find out, let us all know, OK.
posted on March 31, 2001 03:40:14 PM
Thanks all for the advice, info and reassurance. Thanks, latte. It's good to know I'm not the only one who occasionally gets a little more nervous than is probably warranted.
posted on March 31, 2001 04:42:32 PM
Sorry to add a bit of bad experience, but here goes:
I sold an expensive new electronic item to a buyer. Buyer didn't like the item, or didn't know how to use it, so requested a refund. My TOS clearly state that I do allow returns, but there will be 20% restocking fee (unless the item was defective). Buyer sent several rude emails demanding a 100% refund, and get this, wanted ME to send the refund first before he returned the merchandise! After about the fifth or sixth nasty email I just quit answering them. We were just going around in circles anyway. So the next day another high value >$500 auction closes, and its a 0 FB sunglass bidder. Then I get an email from the winning bidder - "Its me again (the buyer who wanted the 100% refund) F*Ck You! HAHAHAHA" - Obviously he had no intention of buying the item, but rather wanted to screw me over. OK, fine, I'll just cancel bids from either of his two IDs (which is a pain anyway when have dozens of auctions running at once). So then I notice that every high value auction I've got running has a newbie sunglass 0 Fb high bidder. I check the to see how long the users haves been registered, and every account had been created in the last 24 hours! It appears this loser has nothing better to do but create dozens of Ebay IDs and use them to screw sellers he doesn't like. It a running battle now to keep him away from my auctions, made harder still as I never know which newbie could be him. A very bad situation to which I have no answer other than to start a few new IDs myself. Then if I have this problem again, I'll just stop listing under that ID until things cool off. Any thoughts people?
posted on March 31, 2001 05:45:11 PM
Feedback is arguably meaningless, or meaningful in a manner contrary to conception and perception. I absolutely love first time bidders, since they usually plunge right in, which beefs up the ante for snipes. On the other hand, as a snipe, I'm always suspicious of first time bidders. Gee, I guess I haven't helped this thread at all.
posted on March 31, 2001 06:15:55 PM
I also have a high end instrument up on auction now and with 6 bids here comes a 0
feedback bidder, I really am not concerned
but I did check on what other auctions he was placing bids on and they are all related to mine.
I never worry because I have had bidders with good feedback become none paying bidders. It really depends on the person and you will (and I will) find out at the end of the auction.
I don't feel you need to be concerned but just a thought, maybe your bidder is the same as mine......
Don't spend you time worrying before it's necessary, Life is too short,
Lots of luck with your auction,
