selling trailer on ebay - bidders with zero or low feedback...

luckilotti

Well-Known Member
Joined
8 January 2006
Messages
2,176
Location
Lancashire
hillhousestables.co.uk
after a bit of advice, i am selling a trailer on ebay and so far all of the bidders have either low or zero feedback. 1 seems local so not worried about that one, but one of the others has zero feedback but has been registered since last june. Just to make sure they are genuine, i emailed them asking for them to confirm this, and asking how and when they would intend to collect (it will need 4 new wheels to move it....) this bidder has been on ebay since my message and placed some more bids - but not replied to my message at all....
I know i should really have added that if they had less than 10 feedback or something to contact me or their bids will be cancelled but its too late now.
I dont want to loose a genuiner buyer due to a bidder thats going to mess me around, yes they may be genuine but then surely they would reply to my message?
i would have also expected them to ask a question etc before bidding as there is only 1 photo on and my description doesnt paint it in the best light! (rather be fully honest etc).

I'm not sure if i should cancel theirs bids or just wait and see what happens??
 
If they're not replying to your messages, I would cancel the bid, personally. I was selling a mobile phone a few years ago, and I had to list it 5 times until I got a genuine buyer. I don't know why people feel the need to mess sellers about!
 
Theres a gut feeling that i should, not totally sure if i can as it ends really soon. i did have a thought, what if they are bidding via their mobile? i guess they cant see my messages then unless they also check their emails via their phone.
i might just watch it for a while and see if any other late bidders come in?

my hubby also had 'issues' when he sold an old mobile on ebay and it took him a few times to get it to sell to someone who actually didnt close down their account or want it to go to Nigeria!
 
If they dont contact you within 7 days of sale, report to ebay and open a dispute.
After that you relist it and state anyone with less than 10 positive feedbacks should message you before bidding or the bid will be removed.
 
i've just had a message via ebay... but this time asking questions about the horsebox i have on there - asking the questions whereby the answer is in the listing! guess what, thats another with zero feedback, at least though i can see that this member is only about an hours drive away.
 
i did put they had to pay a deposit within 48 hours of auction ending but i dont think there is much way i can enforce it.

the crazy thing is, yesterday my mum and i were cleaning out the said trailer and decided what we can do with it should it not sell, i came home to see the bidding had begun lol.
 
well, another zero feedback ebayer has joined in the bidding now! my mum thinks it's quite funny, it's giving me quite a bit of entertainment for the evening though.

miss_bird - i think its definatley a good idea to put something about low/zero feedback members at the bottom. Also, its better to accept cash i believe rather than paypal for the full amount as otherwise they can open a dispute when they've had it for ages... and good old paypal refund them straight away. What i've said is 10% deposit via paypal within 48 hours of the auction ending, then the rest cash on collection.
 
Well, buyers can only get positive feedback if they buy things.

If, like me, they have loads of +ve feedback from buying small things like grooming brushes then that will look fine, but doesn't mean they can afford/collect a trailer.

On the other hand if they live near a tack shop/other shops they may not have many previous purchases and you can't expect them to have bought loads of other trailers before!

Keep an open mind, they might be fine.

But don't shell out anything yourself just in case!
 
A story for you that is true..

i but my 1976 rice trailer on ebay, lots of pics and stated it needed new floor., also had viewing welcome, and that a deposit of 100 must be made by pp within24 hours of end of auction.

well i had a buyer with 0 feed back and had just registered asking questions. she won the auction.,

i heard nothing, so got a bit stroppy and messaged with you can pay into my bank etc as apparently no paypal. and in the end said right can you at least call me or im relisting.

They called.

turns out they were in liverpool., im in devon.. so im still smelling a rat.

however pick day was arranged, and i went with it, they turned up in 40k worth of 4 x 4.. from liverpool for a battered 500 quid trailer. where chuffed to bits with trailer handed over cash gave reciept and off they went..

LOL list, it, go with it. but dont let the trailer go until you have cash in your in hand!
 
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Really???? Thats quite a way to travel! I have to admit though.... quite a few of the trailers 'down south' do seem to go a lot cheaper than those up my way!

I spoke to my mum and we decided to let it be, i do wish they would at least reply to my message though.

I think for someone to be registered for 10 months yet to have zero feedback is a bit ??? i guess they either are constantly outbid or maybe they are not a very good buyer and as such no-one leaves them positive?

I'll report back later lol
 
If I were you I would cancel the bids you have from the zero feedback members and then go in and Revise your trailer's listing.

When you're creating a listing there's a section (just past the postage section) called 'Other things you'd like buyers to know'. Select 'Add or remove options for additional information'. Under this section you can Block buyers who:

•Don't have a PayPal account
•Have received 2 unpaid item(s) recorded on their account within 1 month(s)
•Have a primary delivery address in countries that I don't post to
•Have 4 breach of policy report(s) within 1 month(s)
•Have a Feedback score equal to or lower than -1
•Have a Feedback score of 5 or lower and no credit card on file

At least that way you'll only allow bids from eBay members who have a proven track record or verified personal details.
 
Thanks for that.
I'll remember it for next time, i very much doubt i could do it now as it ends in about 20 minutes, but i'll def use those settings in the future. Thanks

Ah, in that case you wont be able to Revise. Not at this stage. I think you can do a revision to your auction format listing up to 12 hours before the listing finishes. And you can revise all of your listing terms providing you haven't got any bids against your listing yet (hence why you'd need to cancel any outstanding bids before you make any drastic amendments). However, it being too late for you to do anything now - fingers are crossed your bidder turns out to be genuine! :)
 
whilst it may be true hudsonw, i cant understand why they never replied to my message - which was quite a fair message considering the trailer cannot be towed away! one bidder has been registered with ebay for 10 months, you would expect at least 1 feedback in that time.

anyway, a new ebay member, with zero feedback has bought it so i guess all i can do is watch this space !
(i got more than we expected for it so it may end up fab - finger crossed!)
 
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