Non-paying bidders look out!

[Gamereviewgod]

***Educational Pop-Ups for Non-Paying Buyers***
Date: 09/22/03 Time: 02:47:05 PM PDT


Beginning today, eBay buyers who have received a Non-paying Buyer (NPB) alert from eBay will see an educational pop-up window when they sign in. The new NPB Alert Pop Up is an educational reminder to buyers that they need to complete the transaction and pay for the item.

Our data shows that in many cases when an NPB alert is filed, the buyer and seller are able to work out the issue and complete the transaction successfully. To make this process even more effective, in addition to the email that eBay currently sends on behalf of the seller, the new pop-up alert will be shown to buyers that log in within seven days of receiving the NPB alert. The pop-up will identify the item that needs payment and provide friendly guidance on how to pay or contact the seller.

We would like to remind sellers of a few simple steps they can take to decrease the likelihood of encountering a Non-paying Buyer:


Make it easy to pay by offering PayPal and eBay checkout.
Provide details on shipping and handling information in the shipping details or item description.
Make it easy for the buyer to contact you by including accurate and up-to-date contact information.
Avoid private auctions.
Use the Non-paying Buyer reporting system which you can access via our Help page.
The key to successful transactions on eBay is communication between buyers and sellers. We hope that this new feature helps both buyers and sellers complete their transactions successfully.

Regards,
eBay

[chadtower]

That's pretty cool.

[GrandAmChandler]

At least they are recognizing the problem with NPBs

[Darth Sensei]

Yeah, but do you really think that a simple pop-up window is going to affect that problem to any degree?

I doubt it myself.

[rbudrick]

Jeez, I can already see the problems this will cause:

"But I have a pop-up ad killer on my PC! I never saw the popup!"

-Rob

[1bigmig]

Jeez, I can already see the problems this will cause:

"But I have a pop-up ad killer on my PC! I never saw the popup!"

-Rob

They'll still get the email though.

[mcgrail0007@netzero.net]

I am getting so many non paying buyers that I am thinking of taking legal action against some of them. eBay needs to boot off people who do not pay. I think that eBay should put some kind of restrictions on new accounts so that they can't go and bid on 50 items and then not pay.

I would say that 90% of the time that I fill out the non-paying bidder form that I do not see the payment. I now give only 7 days to pay because I came to the conclusion that if I didn't get paid in 7 days that I never would.

[Achika]

eBay does have a restriction. It's up to the sellers to place NPB's on file and collect their credits in a timely matter. 3 (three) NPB's from different sellers WILL get someone booted.

Most of my NPB's are people who are only bidding on a few items anyhow. There is no sense, because usually they are low ticket items which makes it such a headache for me as the seller. Why in the world would you NPB on a $3 sale? :angry:

[Darth Sensei]

I'm asking this as someone who's never sold anything on Ebay but has bought extensively.

Don't you think that at least some of these people who are NPB'ing you guys are people who are disgruntled in some way? I can see someone being irritated with a seller because of bad packing, late shipping, or any number of imagined problems, registering other accounts and then punishing the sellers by not paying?

Any opinions?

Dave

[Sylentwulf]

I NPB EVERY TIME someone doesn't pay. Even $1 items. I don't care about the fee, I want them kicked off ebay. And you'd be surprised how many people "suddenly remember" after you send a npb notice out, then they pay right away and everyone is happy.

[Lady Jaye]

Too bad things aren't so easy when it's the seller who bails out on you. I recently went on a baseball card buying frenzy (nothing rare, just trying to get as many Montreal Expos cards as possible). Anyway, I won two auctions from the same seller, among a batch of other auctions. Total amount of these two auctions, including combined shipping, was $5.50 US. It's fortunate that it was only this amount, cuz the seller never sent me my cards, despite cashing in my cheque on Sept. 18 (besides, shipping from Nova Scotia to Montreal shouldn't take more than 2 or 3 business days). Turns out that her email address is no longer valid (with Bell Sympatico!) and that she did the same fucked-up trick to others too, to the point that she is no longer registered. It's frustrating cuz when I bid, her feedback record was very positive (I always check feedback to minimize the risk of frauds like her).

Yes, I know, it could be a lot worse and all. Anyways, I found a phone number in canada411.com (same last name, which is pretty uncommon, living in the small Nova Scotia village I sent my money to... hmm, they're probably related). I'll try to reach out someone at that number. Maybe, just maybe, if I'm lucky, it'll turn out to she's a teen or whatever and the phone number is her parents'. It's worth a try, just in case I can reach someone reasonable enough who'd either send me my money back or send me the cards (yeah, uh huh, dream on!!!).

[chadtower]

I'm from a small Nova Scotia 'village' where nearly everyone has the last name. :D

What is the town?

[Lady Jaye]

Port Williams, in King's County. And the person's last name is De Graaf.