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Repeating Non-paying Buyer

Peter GeldreichPPeter Geldreich
in Questions 3 LikesVote Down
What can be done about a Buyer who continuously bids and wins multiple items and then does not pay? I have one particular Buyer from Israel who continuously bids on my Auctions and then it takes multiple reminder messages after a week to get him to respond/pay. I ended up launching a non-payment claim on one of his orders and he became very upset saying that eventually he will pay and to never cancel his orders again. Well I'm in the same boat again. It has been 10 days since he won 5 lots. No payment received and no response to 2 reminder messages.

In the past you could block a Buyer from bidding, but that is not an option on HipStamp. I cannot continue to have Auctions with him winning several items and then have these items in limbo until he "eventually" pays.

Suggestions?

Comments

  • 19 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • George DeKornfeldGeorge DeKornfeld
    1 LikesVote Down
    First, advise this shmuck that he is forbidden to bid on any more of your auctions, and if he does, his bids will be cancelled. The same applies to any BIN items in your store.
    Second, contact Support and make them aware of the situation.
  • Phil Merrill_Phil Merrill_
    1 LikesVote Down
    I would be more vicious. Let him pay late for something, then refund his payment, saying that you had sold it to someone else.
  • Ted TyszkaTed Tyszka
    edited September 2021 1 LikesVote Down
    Just 2 days ago, I received payment for an auction from 22 months ago, on HipComic. I had cancelled the transaction for non-payment and subsequently sold the 2 books. I refunded the payment, less the $2.29 PayPal fee I was charged. However, that only reduced the buyer's refund. I am still out $2.29 for a cancelled transaction. I would think marking a transaction cancelled would disable the payment link, but evidently not.
  • George DeKornfeldGeorge DeKornfeld
    2 LikesVote Down
    Well, if we're going to consider viscous scenarios (and yes, its against HS policy so its only a "fun" thought, not to be implemented...ahem...): let him pay for something and then simply don't send it. Since its supposed to go to Israel, the buyer will be waiting for weeks, with his tail wagging in anticipation. When the buyer eventually smells a rat, tell him it must have gotten lost in the mail and then refund him. A week later, relist the same item...
  • Ted TyszkaTed Tyszka
    0 LikesVote Down
    George, I had seriously considered that with my comic book bidder, but thought better of it.
  • Phil Merrill_Phil Merrill_
    1 LikesVote Down
    Ooooh, George, that is a thing of beauty..."...best eaten cold."
    .
  • Scott PaytonScott Payton
    4 LikesVote Down
    I really suggest you don't do that. I know we're just "fantasizing" about it, but it will diminish the value of this great platform, as it will erode confidence (people talk). Take the high road instead. Cancel the bid, and then contact support to REMOVE the win, and then they can't pay 22 months later (that is insane... but legitimate reason could be... was in a coma. Was cut off due to Covid and had to swim back from Phuket, and that takes 22 months, so no connectivity with all that arm flailing, you know that kind of thing).
    As a new seller here, I have to say, I am most disappointed that there isn't a way to block bidders, but I also appreciate the policy of the site. It's a strategy, not a bad one, but a different one. In the long term, perhaps it's better. We, so far have 1 user on a "do not sell" list, and if they are stupid enough to ever bid with us again, we won't ship, and we'll just refund and relist. Life's too short to spend so many cycles on such bottom feeders.
  • Don LeischnerDDon Leischner
    0 LikesVote Down
    or just dont do auctions... just sayin. and now that I'm done smart mouthing, back to shopping
  • Bill O'MalleyBill O'Malley
    1 LikesVote Down
    A seller should be able to block a bidder. I had 1 bidder buy 4 auctions using to different names and did not pay for any of them even after I sent him numerous messages. When I did not hear back from him I cancelled the sale. The buyer is no longer listed as an active user.
  • Bob HatchBob Hatch
    edited September 2021 3 LikesVote Down
    Although Hipstamp does not have a "block bidder" feature, they will refund your selling fees if you have previously asked the member not to purchase from you again. I recommend that you keep a record of the Hipstamp message you used to advise him/her not to buy again. If the member does make another purchase, contact HIP Support, and reference the new purchase(s) and date you sent the do not buy request via Hipstamp message. Hipstamp will refund the transaction fees to you after you have refunded the buyers money.
    Note that this process does not appear to be supported by the Resolutions page. You will have to dig deep through several layers to make your claim: 1. Contact Us at the bottom of the page 2, My Account 3. Trust and Safety 4. Community Guidelines 5. Still need help. Use the form that appears here to make your claim. I recommend you add a snip of the email you used to contact the buyer using the "Attach a File" feature
  • Jerry.BurkhartJerry.Burkhart
    edited September 2021 3 LikesVote Down
    another solution is send them a note telling them not to buy as Bob stated.. then simply refund him if he buys again. if he annoys you ignore , if he leaves bad feedback or continues to buy - contact Hipstamp to remove bad feedback with back up details and ask them to tell him ..no more contact or buying. not really your problem as Hipstamp does not offer block option. enough people do this.. it would be advantageous for hipstamp to set up a block option? :-) takes a lot of time and energy to resolve if handled any other way. Don't think for a second the "Esite"'s block list was done to help the seller.. it was created to help the site's employees to not have to deal with these things.
    my opinion
  • Bonaparte MooreBonaparte Moore
    edited September 2021 5 LikesVote Down
    All this record keeping, emails, contacting buyer, contacting Hipstamp about buyer harassing you, submitting a request for a transaction refund, waiting for a response, monitoring feedback. Solution one button "click" buyer blocked, end of story.
  • Scott PaytonScott Payton
    2 LikesVote Down
    Does anyone know what the exact resistance to a "block bidder" feature is?
    Is it philosophical or is it development resource/priority?
    I've seen it's been rejected/ignored for a long time, but I've not seen an explanation as to why...
  • George DeKornfeldGeorge DeKornfeld
    0 LikesVote Down
    I'm betting its Hip not wanting to piss off any buyers (even the bad ones that deserve to be), being worried they might lose participant numbers so, strictly a business decision.
  • Michael AlmondMichael Almond
    0 LikesVote Down
    Scott
    There is no way to know as Hip has always refused to respond to these requests. George is probably correct that they do not want to lose any potential revenue from buyers regardless of reputation
  • Henry BrooksHHenry Brooks
    4 LikesVote Down
    And yet pre SG we were able to block bidders on Bidstart and Stampwants
  • Bill O'MalleyBill O'Malley
    3 LikesVote Down
    What HipStamp obviously does not realize they are pissing off many sellers on here.
    The stupid new listing/editing form.
    Not being able to block bad buyers.
    Ignoring requests from many sellers about many other things.

    We are the ones that are the customers of HipStamp and not the buyers.

    I realized, back in the days before the internet, when I was promoting my weekend card, coin and stamp shows that if you have the dealers the buyers would come.
  • Bob HatchBob Hatch
    0 LikesVote Down
    What I think I'm hearing is that most sellers make refunds to buyers in these situations without requesting a selling fee adjustment from Hipstamp. Is it unfair of me to suggest that Hipstamp would loose a valuable income stream by adding a Blocked Bidder feature??? Too nefarious a notion on my part?
  • Robert ParkinRobert Parkin
    edited September 2021 1 LikesVote Down
    I had a buyer from Canada buy a 20 cent stamp from me a few weeks ago. My shipping to Canada at the time is $11. Yes, I actually follow the USPS guidelines. I figured because he was new, that he probably did not read my shipping instructions. I decided to offer him a full refund at my cost (was not going to request refund from HipStamp because I offered to cancel the sale). I warned him, that in the future, he must read sellers shipping instructions before bidding or taking an order because you have entered into a contract to complete the transaction. Of course he accepted my offer (without a thank you by the way).

    Fast forward a week later, I get another order from the guy for an 80 cent item. I then get a message that he wants to cancel because he shouldn't have to pay $11 shipping for an 80 cent item. I told him I would do it if he covered my expenses and asked him why he ordered from me again when ( A) he knew my shipping policy and (B) I explained to him that he should check sellers policies before bidding/buying. After going back and forth I decided it was worth the couple of bucks to just get rid of him and reported it to the HipStamp Management. They removed the fees for that sale. I told the guy to never buy from me again and promptly gave a negative feedback. I believe I only gave one negative feedback before as I rarely have any issues with my buyers. Hopefully, I never hear from him again.

    Bob
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