Haven't sold anything on EBay for a long time because it became too slanted towards the buyer. Put my old van up for auction a couple of days ago, and I've already had two 'negative bidders' (people bidding with no intention of buying). WTF is UP with these people?
 
Rant over.

I don't get it. How does one bid "negatively"?
 

I also had the same Q. I don't really buy from Ebay to know these "techniques".

paulo
I don't get it. How does one bid "negatively"?
 

I couldn't think of another way to phrase it. What I mean is, people who bid on your item without ever intending to pay for it. Trolls in other words. I guess they get some kind of kick out of it.
 
I have a bid on my van from a guy with a feedback score of 6, and 3 of those said 'avoid this buyer, never paid for item'.
 
There's another with only 1 feedback comment, but has been on EBay for years.
 
What usually happens is I ask them to contact me to tell me they're genuine, I never hear back, then I delete their bids.
 
It's a real p1ss-off because it can put off genuine bidders who see the price going up and up.
 
 

jamesg1213

paulo
I don't get it. How does one bid "negatively"?
 

I couldn't think of another way to phrase it. What I mean is, people who bid on your item without ever intending to pay for it. Trolls in other words. I guess they get some kind of kick out of it.
 
I have a bid on my van from a guy with a feedback score of 6, and 3 of those said 'avoid this buyer, never paid for item'.
 
There's another with only 1 feedback comment, but has been on EBay for years.
 
What usually happens is I ask them to contact me to tell me they're genuine, I never hear back, then I delete their bids.
 
It's a real p1ss-off because it can put off genuine bidders who see the price going up and up.
 
 

FWIW I would be one of those with 1 feedback in many years since joining, but that's because on the rare occasions that I actually buy anything advertised on ebay I usually contact the seller and just negotiate a price outside of the bidding process because I can't be arsed with all the waiting around and watching for a week or more just to be gazumped at the last minute, so lack of feedback isn't always an indication of an unreliable purchaser. I have never not bought an item if a price was agreed, but because it was behind the scenes there is no opportunity for the seller to give feedback and I guess the seller wouldn't particularly want to advertise the deal if there was.

paulo
 
FWIW I would be one of those with 1 feedback in many years since joining, but that's because on the rare occasions that I actually buy anything advertised on ebay I usually contact the seller and just negotiate a price outside of the bidding process because I can't be arsed with all the waiting around and watching for a week or more just to be gazumped at the last minute, so lack of feedback isn't always an indication of an unreliable purchaser. I have never not bought an item if a price was agreed, but because it was behind the scenes there is no opportunity for the seller to give feedback and I guess the seller wouldn't particularly want to advertise the deal if there was.

Do you want an '05 Fiat Scudo van with 102,000 on the clock?

I've only been an Ebay seller once or twice, but buy often.  I found advertising on Craigslist or Kijiji to be much better.  Do you have similar online classifieds in Scotland?

Slugbaby
I've only been an Ebay seller once or twice, but buy often.  I found advertising on Craigslist or Kijiji to be much better.  Do you have similar online classifieds in Scotland?

There's Gumtree, but I've never used it.

I've never used eBay but my cousin has used it extensively for years and he's often posted angry Facebook rants about being increasingly messed around by time wasters and trolls to the point where he's now looking for alternative ways of selling his stuff. I guess like everything else on the internet, it eventually fills up with the dregs of society. Craigslist is the same - I remember when that first started it was an excellent resource for buying and selling and renting apartments and everything else, but just a couple of years later it had been infested with weirdos and criminals and then people started getting murdered and raped and whatnot through it. 

jamesg1213

paulo
 
FWIW I would be one of those with 1 feedback in many years since joining, but that's because on the rare occasions that I actually buy anything advertised on ebay I usually contact the seller and just negotiate a price outside of the bidding process because I can't be arsed with all the waiting around and watching for a week or more just to be gazumped at the last minute, so lack of feedback isn't always an indication of an unreliable purchaser. I have never not bought an item if a price was agreed, but because it was behind the scenes there is no opportunity for the seller to give feedback and I guess the seller wouldn't particularly want to advertise the deal if there was.

Do you want an '05 Fiat Scudo van with 102,000 on the clock?

Depends. How much are you prepared to pay me?