Selling to Zero Feedback Buyers

[Grolim]

Well it looks like I may have sold my first item on Ebay (I don't usually sell on there, just buy, I use a local site for selling mostly). I listed a couple of items and one has a bid from a zero feedback buyer. ($100 + shipping on MF Zombies). Should I be concerned? Is it possible for me to get scammed on this and how do I avoid that? Especially as I'll be receiving payments internationally through Paypal. Anyone else sell into the US from outside and have any potential problems to avoid?

[peeiempee]

Yes my current zero feedback from New Zealand is complaining she never got her item

[Legodog]

Well it looks like I may have sold my first item on Ebay (I don't usually sell on there, just buy, I use a local site for selling mostly).

I listed a couple of items and one has a bid from a zero feedback buyer. ($100 + shipping on MF Zombies).

Should I be concerned? Is it possible for me to get scammed on this and how do I avoid that? Especially as I'll be receiving payments internationally through Paypal. Anyone else sell into the US from outside and have any potential problems to avoid?

I sold my first 4 sets last month and I was absolutely paranoid when 2 of them were won by bidders with 0 feedback. One person actually signed up on eBay the day before winning my auction. They both paid right away and I shipped them out. Everyone left possitive feedback. I'm not saying this is going to be everyones experience but maybe 0 feedback buyers aren't as scary as we think. Most problems with 0 feedback buyers seem to be that they don't pay. So if yours paid then that is a good sign.

[exciter1]

I've had bad experiences with zero feedback buyers recently.

[sadowsk1]

I would worry about zero feedback buyers in the way that they may not clearly read the description of an auction. For sellers it is a good reminder to be specific and clear in your items description so greenhorn buyers can't say they were mislead. It isn't a fool proof defense, but better than nothing. I worry about sellers with low feedback but for that reason I don't buy from sellers that have bad feedback unless they have many other sales to water down the one negative feedback. That's just the law of averages at work.

[Grolim]

Yes my current zero feedback from New Zealand is complaining she never got her item

Damn. We're not all like that here :)

[TheDarkness]

I use tracking on all sales. The evidence will be there that the item has been delivered. I haven't had any issues with people with 0 feedback *touch wood*

[Grolim]

I sold my first 4 sets last month and I was absolutely paranoid when 2 of them were won by bidders with 0 feedback. One person actually signed up on eBay the day before winning my auction. They both paid right away and I shipped them out. Everyone left possitive feedback. I'm not saying this is going to be everyones experience but maybe 0 feedback buyers aren't as scary as we think. Most problems with 0 feedback buyers seem to be that they don't pay. So if yours paid then that is a good sign.

Thanks for this, gives me positive vibes. I want to give them a chance as everyone had to have 0 once.

Just concerned about seeing the funds in Paypal then shipping off the items to then have the payment reversed somehow - is that possible or something that can be avoided?

[CNH1974]

I do get slightly nervous who zero feedback sellers. But I have not had any trouble with them really. I get more nervous shipping to Italy, their postal system keeps losing stuff. I think I have shipped to NZ twice in 8 years. The last was some instructions to someone in Paerora, I thought at the time, I remember that town, its got the big L&P bottle as you drive in. Well it did 20 years ago I had a look at ebay.co.nz. It annoyed me that it was in USD instead of NZD whereas ebay.com.au had it in AUD. Of course, most Kiwi's use TradeMe. Is there a lot of Lego on there?

[Ed Mack]

I was a "zero feedback buyer" once...

[gregpj]

I sold my first 4 sets last month and I was absolutely paranoid when 2 of them were won by bidders with 0 feedback. One person actually signed up on eBay the day before winning my auction. They both paid right away and I shipped them out. Everyone left possitive feedback. I'm not saying this is going to be everyones experience but maybe 0 feedback buyers aren't as scary as we think. Most problems with 0 feedback buyers seem to be that they don't pay. So if yours paid then that is a good sign.

Thanks for this, gives me positive vibes. I want to give them a chance as everyone had to have 0 once.

Just concerned about seeing the funds in Paypal then shipping off the items to then have the payment reversed somehow - is that possible or something that can be avoided?

If you want to be very cautious, make sure you ship with tracking and adequate insurance.

How PayPal holds and releases funds is rather complicated and depends on what the purchase was for (using paypal outside of ebay has less "rules") and how it was shipped - especially for eBay. PayPal Funds Availability FAQ

If you ship through ebay/paypal then your money could be delayed longer. If you ship on your own then I believe paypal releases the funds faster.

I've often seen auctions with "will ship once payment clears" but that could be tricky too.

The thing about 0 feedback buyers is that you really never know. In my house, all ebay purchases are made by me. If my partner ever wanted to buy something on ebay without me knowing or if I wasn't around then she'd be a 0 feedback buyer even though as a household we're pretty far from that.

[CNH1974]

I have seen some ebayers put "if you have less than 10 feedback please contact us first or your bid will be removed..." or something similar. I don't if this is a good idea or if it is enforceable. What if a 0 feedback person placed their bid in the last 10 seconds and wins?? You cannot cancel the contract without ebay's approval.

[hxckid88]

You better sell to them.....Im making a post now about why.