Selling high priced item buyer has 0 feedback.

[plight]

I just sold an an antique black americana puppet /dancers to someone with 0 feedback.
I was so excited to sell it but now I’m worried because they have 0 fb.. It’s a $150 sale and I’m nervous to sell it. I have sold low priced items to people with low fb before but never for so much money.

i thought I had some restrictions turned on where do I do that again?

With all the free returns issues it really has me nervous. Should I cancel the order?
For me this is a big sale it just makes me wonder why someone with 0 fb would make that their 1st purchase. I guess i’m a little paranoid.

• This topic was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by plight.
• This topic was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by plight.

[Jay]

Walk us through your thinking why this may be a problem? Why is having no feedback mean you expect a return? Have you had issues before?

[plight]

Thanks for the fast response.
No I have actually had very good luck with very few returns. A few cancellations but I just gave them their money back.

I’m also not a power seller which I’m sure if I sold a lot more I would ultimately get some returns.
This is a delicate item and if someone were to ‘return’ it it would need to be packaged well in order to not become damaged. So I take it you don’t think its a problem?

[Jay]

Well, we all have been first time buyers on eBay. We sell to new people all the time. We’ve sold 30 items this week, and 3 buyers were brand new. That’s not uncommon. I’m glad new people are joining eBay!

But I hear you’re point about this being a delicate, expensive item. Could it be a disaster? Maybe. But more likely this is a collector who joined eBay to buy this specialty item. They joined because they want this item.

I’d say pack it super well and ship it fast. Let’s hope for the best.

[Sharyn]

Sometimes someone will be looking for a particular item. Let’s say that they are looking for your antique puppet. They do a Google search, and your listing comes up. So, they click on the link, look at your listing, and decide they want to buy it. However, they have never bought anything on eBay before, so they have to create a new account.

Of course, it also could be someone trying to scam someone. They have to open a new account because their old account was closed by eBay due their previous scamming.

How many new buyers vs. scammers do you think are out there? I have two years of selling on eBay. I have had maybe one person sort of try a scam and they lost. I’ve sold plenty of items to people with new accounts with no problems. I believe that they found my item in a search and decided to sign up with eBay in order to buy it.

If you cancel a sale because you are nervous about it, you will get a ding on your rating and the buyer can leave negative feedback. You can do things like look up their address and check that it is a valid home or business. Check to see that eBay lists it as confirmed. Maybe these things will help smooth out your concerns?

[T-Satt]

The only issue we have had with 0 feedback buyers is non-payment. And even that is rare.

99% of the time it is no issue.

[plight]

Thanks for all the advice. So I just went to send a note to the buyer and at the top of the ebay messaging system I see this.

The user you are contacting is registered on another eBay site and may speak a different language. Your message will be sent exactly as typed below.

He paid for it on paypal and the address seems to be registered to a florida address but I could not find a photo off gps site. Should I contact ebay is this still okay?

[Jay]

If you’re ever worried about anything, call eBay. They are your partner in this business.

This is likely a buyer in South America who purchased and is shipping through a freight company. (I assume it’s cheaper and maybe avoids local import fees.)

One of the great things about eBay/Paypal is that they do protect sellers. If you ship to the address that they give you, delivery is confirmed, and a problem occurs, then you’re covered.

Just curious: can you sketch out your nightmare scenario? Sometimes it’s good to verbalize your fear to make sure it’s based in reality.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by Jay.

[plight]

Jay you crack me up.
I’m just doing my due diligence have only sold a few items over $100 to people with registered addresses and fb and many through gps.

I did call ebay they could not tell me what country their account was registered to, that this was a guest checkout and when she googled the shipping address she said it was a post office box when I googled the address I saw an old house. So I don’t know about that..

I spoke to paypal who said it was a valid paypal account and as long as I have tracking nothing will happen.

Just doing my due diligence you know. I have heard all kinds of horror stories and don’t want to be one of them. I always get good advice from everyone here and have probably avoided many problems by listening and reading the forums.

[Jay]

Understood. What’s the horror story? Sketch out what you think could happen, then other sellers can help you understand what is fact or fiction.

[Author]

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