Ebay and non paying bidders-GET A GRIP!

[Jeffreysmile]

I am a novice seller on Ebay, I have sold a few things on Ebay, including a 9,000 dollar camper. I do not sell on a constant basis, only when I have something I no longer want, and worth value. I just recently sold an Xbox 360 game on Ebay. I had this douschebag bid on my auction in the final few minutes of the auction, outbidding the previous bidder by 50 cents. I send him the invoice, after a few days of emailing the bidder, I get no response or payment. Mind you, this bidder has over 100 feedback points on Ebay, I thought he was a legit bidder. No, no no. Ebay has the feedback system so screwed up on their website its rediculous. A few years back, you used to be able to leave a buyer or a seller negative feedback if you were not satisfied with the transaction. Not any more. Now buyers can leave negative feedback at will, while sellers can't do anything but take it as the buyer wishes to dish out. But WHO pays Ebay? The sellers! Now i have to go through the hassle of filing a non-paying bidder form to get credit on my auction so I can relist the game and start back at square one possibly taking a loss if the auction doesnt get as many bids as the first time. Meanwhile, this douschebag non-paying bidder gets off scott-free so he can go on and bid on whatever he feels like, and pay for whatever he wants to and sellers have no recourse. EBAY, IF YOU ARE READING THIS, FIX THE FREAKIN FEEDBACK SYSTEM!

[Ian]

Amen brother. I ran into a similar situation last week. I recently sold some Lego sets on ebay and I thought this one guy wasn't going to pay. Two invoices and a week later, he finally pays for his crap. In the past, I could give him feedback, saying he's slow to pay but not any more.

Craigslist is a huge PITA too. Someone would be well served to come up with a decent alternative to eBay.

[Dartman]

You could always offer the second highest bidder the items if your sure this guy has flaked out and will not pay. I agree that the seller should be able to leave feedback but I guess they thought too many were leaving retaliatory feedback to get back at buyers or force them to pay for something they didn't bid on.
But if anyone does that I'd think they could eventually get kicked off and they have so many rules and fees for a seller now it's not funny. You live and die by your feedback and if both sides can't give honest feedback anymore what's the point.
I've been on Ebay since Feb 14 99 and have bought quite a few things over the years, some were smokin deals, some were things I wanted or needed that aren't easy to find locally and you always have to be aware what something is worth and not get sucked into the I wont be outbid crap.
And if your selling be ready to get less then you hoped for maybe, or set a starting bid and be ready to ship quickly and take your chances. I sold one thing with a reserve years ago, it got the reserve and no more, I got excellent feedback from the seller and made most of the least I was hoping for after the fees.
I got taken by one seller a few years ago who got bogus feedback buying 1 cent download items, then listed about 10k or more worth of things he never had. I got taken for 122 cash, I heard from other users who lost MUCH more money, their resolution center was useless. They wanted a receipt for proof from the post office in Florida he used to cash my money order and I had no idea how I was supposed to get that so I lost out. He made lots of money and disappeared.