Weird Ebay issue

[tongueriver]

In the last few weeks I have bid on (and would have won) two knives from two different sellers. I received an announcement from Ebay that the seller would not receive a bid from me. Reasons unknown. So I tried to message the seller. Messages not receivable from me. No possibility of any interaction from either of the two sellers to find out the problem. I have never corresponded with nor purchased from either seller. My feedback as a buyer for many years is 100%. What is going on here?

[herbva]

I suggest that you call ebay. Most of the time I have found them to be very helpful. If you don't have an excessive amount of negative feedback or unpaid item strikes, this definitely should not be happening to you. FYI, I have twice had negative feedback that was total B.S., and after talking to the ebay rep. it was immediately removed. I remember that one was because I refunded the excess postage that someone paid after I combined shipping on multiple wins. Good luck.

[XX Case XX]

I suggest that you call ebay.

I concur. Just make sure you have a large cup of coffee handy while you're waiting...

_________
Mike

[just bob]

The fact is a seller can block you for almost any or no reason and when they do they can also check a box and you can no longer contact them. Ebay may confirm you are blocked but most likely won't know why. Only the seller does. This is from the ebay seller's page showing the blocking bidders options.


Select requirements





Important: Select buyer requirements carefully - they may reduce your selling success. The requirement(s) you select will be applied to your current and future listings, except as noted. eBay encourages you to learn more by visiting the Buyer Requirements Help page.






Buyers with Unpaid Item strikes

Block bidders and buyers who have received Unpaid Item strike(s) within month(s)

This requirement can help you avoid bidders and buyers with a history of not paying for the items they have agreed to purchase.







Buyers in locations to which I don't ship

Block buyers whose primary shipping address is in a location I don't ship to.

This requirement can help you avoid buyers who agree to purchase your items without realizing you don't ship to their location.







Buyers with a negative feedback score

Block buyers who have a feedback score of or lower.

This requirement can help you avoid buyers who have received more negative than positive feedback from other eBay members bidding on your item.







Buyers who may bid on several of my items and not pay for them

Block buyers who are currently winning or have bought of my items in the last 10 days.


Only apply this block to buyers who have a feedback score of or lower.

Consider selecting this requirement if you are selling expensive items and don't want to sell over a certain number to any single buyer. Learn more about how this requirement works.




Apply above settings to active and future listings.
Existing bids will not be affected.

Turbo Lister will pick up these settings after you sync each item with eBay. Third-party listing tools will pick up these settings after you synchronize the tools with eBay.





Don't allow blocked buyers to contact me. (Buyer won't see the "Contact Seller" button on your Q&A page.) Note: Buyers can still contact you about existing transactions, unless you add them to your blocked list.

[just bob]

I might also add I'm getting ready to block a bidder. I just picked up an old collection of Zippo lighters and have been listing a few here and there. Every time I list one I get the same message from Capt. Zippo or some other similar user name wanting to see high resolution photos of the lighter from various angles with the insert in and out. I was polite the first couple of times, but then I noticed this clown had never bid on any of them at all. I suspect he is writing a book or cataloging Zippo lighters and is using the ebay listings and photos for his own purposes. I won't take anymore pictures for him and would prefer he'd just go away and leave me alone, so I will also block him from sending me messages.
In a case like this he will never know why I blocked him and even if he contacted ebay they wouldn't be able to tell him why.

[tongueriver]

Well, I don't have a clue. I have never contacted or bid on any of these two sellers' items. I have 100% feedback over many years. I have always given good feedback to everyone, even if they don't always deserve it. I have never been later than a few hours paying for any item. It is just a mystery. Is it possible that using a sniping service to bid has some marker on it that certain sellers won't recognize? The two auctions that I am in a fuss over were sniped by me and would have easily won even if there had been some other higher bidders.

[herbva]

The only bidders I have blocked were those who didn't pay and didn't even bother to give me some excuse or even reply. So I was thinking that blocking a bidder usually is connected to not paying. But Bob has a good point - there may be other reasons, and that is good information about also being able to block communication. In your situation, I would still call ebay and give them the same details you recounted above. They may know, or be able to find out more than you think. I know for a fact that they save and can easily read all messages between ebay members that have gone through their system.

[kootenay joe]

I wonder if seller has made an error. Perhaps he had a negative experience with a buyer with a similar name and blocked you thinking you were someone else.
I am blocked by 2 sellers because i asked a question, legitimate questions, no accusations, one that most sellers would be happy to answer.
kj

[zzyzzogeton]

Create a second fleabay account for use in rare instances when this occurs. Use it initially with a bunch of B-I-Ns for stuff you can use to get more than 10 feedbacks so that you get over that seller imposed hump. Create a special gmail or hotmail or yahoo email address to associate with the account so that it is not tied to the currently blocked account. Set up the fleabay account using your middle name as the contact info and use your PO box as the address.

If you don't have a PO Box, get one. It is safer than a home address. I have only had 2 packages go astray in the nearly 10 years since I got a box. I was having 3 to 4 packages a month go missing due to porch pirates and mailbox shoppers prior to the move, so it is cheap package insurance at about $60 per year, more or less depending on your local PO box rates. The larger POs even accept FedEx and UPS deliveries if you use the physical address of the PO with "UNIT # XXXX" rather than "PO BOX XXXX".

Occasionally, I run into the odd seller that fleabay reports won't ship to a PO box. I just message those sellers about why I use a PO address and they almost always are accommodating. I have only had one seller refuse to ship to a PO. That seller went on my "Don't Buy From In The Future" list.

[tongueriver]

Thanks for the good tips, ZZ. I have done some BIN items off ebay recently with no problems. The problem seems to be confined with my sniping service bids on two items. I just got off the phone with ebay and went through the endless boilerplate looping with a very nice lady for 20 minutes and came up with absolutely nothing. I am going to snipe bid something tomorrow and if it works, great. If not, I still have my money and will go to plan B23g. I have a feeling that it MAY be a problem with my sniping service.

[kootenay joe]

The seller can only suspect a bid is a snipe based on how many seconds from closing the bid came in. I do not think his computer can tell if bid placed by you, or for you, by a snipe service.
Please correct if i am wrong.
kj

[tongueriver]

I don't know the answer to that, Roland. I got an email answer from the sniping service and he assured me that there have been no bugs in that system.

[MP95B20]

No way to tell if you're using a snipe program, JustSnipe is free and gives you 5 hits a week. Ebay cant tell the difference between a snipe bid and a manual one because JustSnipe uses your Ebay account to place the bid. A seller can block a buyer for any reason. And all sellers should have buyer requirements set up. Another account is only way to get you there. Next time try placing a bid yourself before it ends, just to see if it takes it, and an Ebay seller doesn't usually care where the bid comes from if it's high. I've been with Ebay since 99. I really hate the 3rd party sellers who pull from big box stores and have no investment or anything in it. I don't like ordering on Ebay and getting an Amazon order.

[MP95B20]

No way to tell if you're using a snipe program, JustSnipe is free and gives you 5 hits a week. Ebay cant tell the difference between a snipe bid and a manual one because JustSnipe uses your Ebay account to place the bid. A seller can block a buyer for any reason. And all sellers should have buyer requirements set up. Another account is only way to get you there. Next time try placing a bid yourself before it ends, just to see if it takes it, and an Ebay seller doesn't usually care where the bid comes from if it's high. I've been with Ebay since 99. I really hate the 3rd party sellers who pull from big box stores and have no investment or anything in it. I don't like ordering on Ebay and getting an Amazon order.