posted on June 21, 2000 07:07:35 PM new
Okay, I just started selling on Yahoo! I have been selling on eBay for a couple of months and instead of relisting some stuff that didn't sell (and paying eBay yet again) I decided to try Yahoo! Well, I was impressed to see that you could select what the minimum FB rating for a bidder could be, so I selected "0" on all of them, and though I got excited when I saw a bid on 1 of my auctions already, that quickly disappeared when I saw that this bidder has a rating of "-1"!!!! How can this be? The bidder's most recent feedback is in April, so it's not like when she bid it could have been a "0" and it changed after she bid. What's the point of having you select a minimum FB rating if they're going to let anyone bid anyway??? Ugh. Has anyone else had this problem?
posted on June 21, 2000 07:31:49 PM new
porcelaingirl - I don't have specific knowledge about this, (how he got his bid in) but I would not worry about it. Yahoo is profoundly seller friendly, and if your auction ends and this person is the high bidder you may:
1) complete the transaction
2) cancel his WINNING bid at your discretion which will automatically contact #2 bidder (if there is one) to ask if they would like to buy for their high bid. If there is no other bidder, just cancel and relist.
You have to keep reminding yourself that there are no fees so it does not matter. Welcome to stress free selling Yahoo style. If he wins and pays, great. If he wins and does not pay, relist. In the meantime, the bid makes your auction more visible.
posted on June 21, 2000 08:15:22 PM new
The minimum bidder rating does not exclude anyone, it only requires them to enter a credit card (that only Yahoo can see) to place a bid. If they have a neg 20 or whatever, as long as they are willing to enter their card # they can bid as much as they want.
We'd of course love Yahoo to change that to your way of thinking but it's not so, for now. Let's keep sending it to their suggestion box.
posted on June 22, 2000 09:25:41 AM new
kasmoon, thanks! I didn't realize that, I guess I just automatically thought that entering a minimum feedback meant that a bidder would have to meet that minimum to bid on my auctions. A credit card would make more sense if we could tell Yahoo to bill charges to their credit card if their check bounced or they didn't follow through on payment, eh? Entering a credit card doesn't really protect a seller much when you think about it.
VeryModern, I've thought about what you said and you're right. Yahoo is totally free, so I shouldn't worry about possibly having to relist if this bidder doesn't follow through, but I guess what's really bothering me is that I say in my auctions I accept checks, and if this bidder sends me a check I am in Canada and (assuming the buyer is U.S.) it takes at least a month to clear a check so I always ship on receipt of check. I haven't had any problems with checks at all yet, but if I do with this one and get hit with a hefty NSF charge from my bank, etc. Do you think because of this person's -1 FB I could say in my EOA that the bidder must pay by money order? I know it's a no-no to change terms after the auction, but isn't this a special case?
posted on June 22, 2000 09:37:36 AM new
too bad you cant accept paypal payments why not in the future accept cashiers checks and moneyorders
K MCDONALD
posted on June 22, 2000 09:41:13 AM new
porceliangirl - the plot thickens!
You can let the auction run and if this person is your high bidder, tell them "based on your feedback .. blah blah blah" or if it is really bothering you and your gut says "trouble!!!" just go in and cancel the bid. Click "manange this auction" and you'll have that option.
Did you read the - fb? What did it say? I had a -2 bidder win an auction in the middle of the night (I use 1 bid wins) and paypal the money so the deal was done before I even woke up.
Guess what the paypal note said? "Sometimes I don't pay and sometimes I pay too fast." That prompted me to check the fb and I had to laugh.
posted on June 22, 2000 07:49:52 PM new
Speedticket - Tell me about it! I wish I could use PayPal too... The only CC company for Canadian sellers is CC NOW, and I haven't signed up with them (though I'm still thinking about it) because they charge 9%!! I sell mostly small ticket items so if I have to pay 9% on the bid price AND the shipping, it would eat a lot of profits, so it's really not cost effective. Plus, they only pay you once a month, and it takes a couple of weeks to get the payment after that, so I figured it out from what they said, and it could take up to 2 months after an auction closes to get your money if it ends at the beginning of a month! PayPal keeps saying they're going to go international but I'm not going to hold my breath as they've been saying that all year. Anyway, what can you do, eh?
VeryModern, yes, it gets more complicated by the minute, doesn't it? Well, I took a good look at the feedback, and basically, she has 3 FB, the oldest 2 FB (the negs) say that she didn't pay and didn't communicate with the sellers or anything. The most recent one is a positive that says she paid fast. And that was in April. Now, if that had been a check, is there a way with Yahoo for that seller to add an additional comment if the check had bounced later? If so, I think I might just let the bid stand, and put in my EOA that based on FB I would prefer a money order, and see what happens. I believe in giving people a chance, since the most recent one is the positive and she followed through quickly.
posted on June 23, 2000 09:30:25 PM new
Yes, you can change your feedback later if necessary. A couple of other possible suggestions: Depending on the price of the item, you may consider an escrow service such as i-escrow (which also offers credit card acceptance, usually at a lower rate than cc now and without the wait for payment). Also, instead of changing the terms and insisting on a money order, maybe add a stipulation in your EOA such as "Payment by check may be held up to 4 weeks for check to clear before shipment, payment by money order ships within 1 business day of receipt." That usually encourages a money order payment, if not, you can wait to ship the item until you are confident that the check has cleared.
posted on June 26, 2000 04:08:13 AM new
I once bought from a Canadian dealer and they required me to get a US Postal International Money Order to pay for my transaction. It doesn't cost any extra to get it versus a regular money order and will eliminate the headache of you either having to ship without verifying funds or your customers having to wait a month to receive their goods.
Well, I took a good look at the feedback, and basically, she has 3 FB, the oldest 2 FB (the negs) say that she didn't pay and didn't communicate with the sellers or anything. The most recent one is a positive that says she paid fast. And that was in April. Now, if that had been a check, is there a way with Yahoo for that seller to add an additional comment if the check had bounced later? If so, I think I might just let the bid stand, and put in my EOA that based on FB I would prefer a money order, and see what happens. I believe in giving people a chance, since the most recent one is the positive and she followed through quickly.