An EBAY seller BLOCKED ME!
MapsOnFire
Posts: 235 ✭✭✭
This was many years ago. I had been collecting these VOC duits for my son, who wrote his dissertation on the diamond industry in The Netherlands. The coins were struck in The Netherlands, but circulated where the diamonds were mined.
I have hundreds of them, most purchased for 50c to $15.00.
A seller had a pair for $60., nothing great. I let them simmer for a few weeks. Then I offered $20 for 1 of them. No response.
Over the next 7 months the price came down, $5. per month, to $25. for the pair. So I tried to buy them. No dice! I was blocked!
Down to $20. Down to $15.
So I called my sister, who bought them for me.
I never was able to even contact the seller.
It was a tiny saga in human history, but an interesting one.
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So the seller cut off their nose to spite their face. Interesting move to block someone who expressed interest and made a reasonable offer on a niche item. Oh well, they possibly cost themselves 25 bucks and you got the coins cheaper than you had hoped for!
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Happens to me all the time after I cherry pick them and they discover after the fact.
OT. I've included a duit in my "foreign coins that circulated in the US" type set. Remarkable that so many are available in uncirculated condition.
So as @DeplorableDan said he cut off his nose to spite his face because he didn't like your offer. That's actually kinda rude... But I guess you got the last laugh after all!
I would never block someone for making an offer. Just say no and move on. Had a guy recently offer less than half of what a coin is selling for. Simply said thanks but I'm going to have to pass.
Some people just have no customer service skills.
https://www.the4thcoin.com
https://www.ebay.com/str/thefourthcoin
Is it possible the seller blocked you when you offered $20 from a list price of $60.00?
If so many sellers do not maintain their blocked bidders' list so as the prices came down over the months/years you
were still on his blocked list, even though you would have been a good customer.
Perhaps a quick message to the seller would have taken you off the list.
I am sorry you had to resort to methods of difficulty and slight underhandedness to acquire the coin.
peacockcoins
This might not be the case with the original poster, but questions often inspire most eBay sellers to look at the feedback the buyer leaves for other sellers. If it suggests you have a problem buyer on your hands, a cautious seller might block the potential buyer.
I recently had someone send me a message asking for a lower price on eBay (without making an offer-just asking for a discount). I went to check that buyer's feedback left for other sellers and noticed a long list of negatives. Some seemed reasonable while others seemed petty. I understand that there are bad sellers but when a buyer leaves a ton of negatives, that is a warning sign. Now I did not block them but did reply that the price listed was the best (I figured that would make them move on, which it did). I can easily see another seller blocking that buyer though.
I was blocked once by a dealer whose coin I returned which was not the same coin advertised. Later seller had a coin I wanted so I just had my son buy it for me. It's odd that ebay blocks buyers/sellers from even messaging each other to attempt to straighten out an issue.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
Being blocked actually saves me money at midnight!
"When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"
Sellers blocking buyers is not a problem for the buyer or really even the seller, So, I don't see why Ebay does it the way they do. In extreme abuse cases I can see it..
I was blocked for asking how a seller had ascertained the genuineness of a 3 dollar gold piece. I have since purchased a number of coins from him - using my wife’s account.
Smitten with DBLCs.
Their loss on that
I was blocked after I returned a cleaned coin. The seller mostly offered clean and problematic coins, so it was a blessing in disguise.
I can confirm this. If I get a question that is at all off, I’ll dig a bit. If something looks amiss, it’ll be a block. There are too many good buyers to risk a sale going south with one who gives me a reason to expect a problem.
The problem is that it’s all or nothing. Yes, a misunderstanding could be resolved, but if a buyer is really angry over a block (or was blocked because they’ve already been abusive at some level) then it’s sensible for the seller to not want them to be able to make contact. But the seller has to choose yea or no for everyone, not individually for each blocked buyer.
I once bought an item from an overseas buyer. The listing warned that their mail system was slow, but when a month passed and it was nearing the end of the time for me to file a non-receipt with ebay, I had to initiate that process in order to preseve my rights.
I was happy to let that process drag out a bit to give more time for the item to arrive, but the seller promptly refunded and blocked me.
A few weeks later the item showed up but I could no longer message the seller to arrange payment.
The girls all get prettier at closing time!
To my knowledge, I have never been blocked by a seller. I have made offers on items, and been rejected and accepted. My offer was always fair, so likely that is why no blocks... or just lucky. Cheers, RickO
The weight class seems to go down too.
Interesting. Nearly all of the blocked bidders on my list have been blocked over those $5 to $15 items. They are always after the sale and delivery, ironically.
Either it was feedback extortion or just gaming the system…. it’s “petty”, as in "petty cash" vs. pettiness.
In OP's case I'm thinking he got blocked right after the initial $20 offer. Some sellers jump the gun in that regard. We've done eBay since 1998 and our blocked list is actually fairly small. Sellers can block for any reason they wish; it's pretty much the last vestige of control they have over their own listings anymore...but as shown here, buyers can still circumvent that, and even leave retaliatory negatives via other accounts.
RIP Mom- 1932-2012
The only ones I have on my block list is someone who tried to scam me with a drop ship request... Nope can only ship to address on file! And the address was Alaska 😬
https://www.the4thcoin.com
https://www.ebay.com/str/thefourthcoin
I once blocked a bidder who retracted bids on multiple items of mine and I then saw he had over 500 retractions in his 4 months on eBay, even though he’d also won a few items and paid (I told him he needed to stop the retractions). He used a second account to buy a lot of items and then left negative feedback for all of them. The raw coins he claimed to be counterfeits and the slabbed ones he just wrote something dumb. Mind you, he never tried to return the four figures of “bad” coins he bought. I pointed out to eBay that his two accounts had addresses a mile apart, and the language used in his negatives was almost identical to negatives he left with the original blocked account. They removed them all.
I want to ask a question of what % of offer is considered proper? If a house listed for million would you offer 500k? Would your agent even present that offer to the seller? If not then why this kind of behavior considered ok on coins? I have a coin listed for 200 a buyer offered me 50 twice until I blocked him because I know he will never be my buyer.
I’ve been selling on eBay for 23 years. I have one hard and fast rule, I block anyone that asks me a question. No matter how innocent a question is…blocked. I have zero problems, close to zero returns. What I noticed early on was the customers I had the most problems with all had one thing in common, they asked a question.
First we need to know whether the listing price is "proper." If it is proper, a bidder will be wasting effort if she offers less than 75%. The seller in the OP demonstrated that his listing price was fanciful when he lowered it many times over a long period of time. I knew the market for those coins, yet still offered more than the one coin was truly worth.
Proper would be based on market research... Coinfacts and other sources, and offering within a decent amount of that established value. At $10k, 5% might be considered decent... At $1k, 10% might be decent. At $1 million, $500k generally wouldn't be considered a decent offer. There is no right answer, other than what's acceptable to the seller. As a buyer, I do my research before making an offer exactly so I don't insult the seller. If they are asking an outlandish amount to begin with I just move on. If it's a bit high, I will often make an offer I feel is reasonable based on my research.
As a seller I generally know the value of a coin I'm selling and my investment since I researched it before investing in the first place, so unless I just want to offload a dog, if it's a) more than I invested, and/or b) within a reasonable amount of the perceived value, I'll sell. I'm not in it to make bank on any one sale. A profit is a profit. Usually half of my asking isn't going to be a profit.
In short... It depends!
https://www.the4thcoin.com
https://www.ebay.com/str/thefourthcoin
I sent a friendly message to an eBay seller that there was an error in their listing. Never replied or updated their listing so tried to follow up a week later. They blocked me. Maybe it was you. LOL
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Sounds like you did a lot of serious buyers a big favor.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I’m wondering if @MapsOnFire offered $20 for one of the two items that were listed at $60 for the pair, rather than “$20 from a list price of $60”.
He wrote: “A seller had a pair for $60., nothing great. I let them simmer for a few weeks. Then I offered $20 for 1 of them.” So I’m not sure whether it was one pair for $60 or two pair at $60, each.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Yes. Two coins in the $60 lot, different dates. I offered $20 for one of the dates. Not a rare date; it had smaller digits.
It really shouldn't be that hard for buyers to figure out a reasonable offer. Simply use eBay's own advanced search feature to look up sold items similar to the one you're considering. That way you can get a feel for what they bring and can tailor your offer accordingly. If someone has absolute moon money on a BIN it's a pretty safe bet they're fishing for a sucker, and you aren't going to get the item bought... so just move on to something else priced realistically. Also, offering half or less of bid or half or less of what something is actually bringing on the venue isn't shrewd; it's an insult- and moreover, it's a waste of both your time and the seller's. Buyers who get a rep for doing this end up on a lot of blocked lists, which are often traded back and forth by sellers to avoid problem buyers.
As to blocking buyers for simply asking a question? Not a smart idea in general (but perhaps it depends on the question).
RIP Mom- 1932-2012
That's a good way to narrow your customer base real fast. With customer service like that, I'd be glad you blocked me. You'd never make it in the real world of retail with that kind of attitude. Part of customer service is answering questions.
I've never had a problem with a customer that asks a question before a purchase. I'd rather that be asked up front then have them disappointed on the back end of the sale because they didn't know something up front.
But, to each their own. If you don't mind losing potential sales and customers, that's your call.
https://www.the4thcoin.com
https://www.ebay.com/str/thefourthcoin
You can get a feel by looking at a seller’s sold items to see how prone he might be to accept an offer.
That would be unfortunate if a buyer with a full shopping cart asks seller if he combines shipping.
Early on was 23 years ago.
Yeah, yeah—I as well, I’m an authority too.
I have never blocked anyone. Lest not for asking a question. Some ask for a better picture. Some ask if I would consider discounting a coin, etc? With that said, if a buyer asks too many detailed questions about a coin, the scans, etc I start to worry that the coin will be returned. I am not trying to deceive anyone but I can't display the coins in pictures as accurately as in person. Shows, where you can see the coin in person certainly has merits. If my spidey sense tingles when the potential buyer appears too demanding I try to explain that I don't believe that the coin is what he/she is looking for. If the buyer is looking for a potential upgrade or a coin that will probably CAC the show is the place to be.
To date my return rate is less than 1 % so I am happy with the results.
OP, I would imagine they had an intuition, or their feelings were hurt, as yours are now.
Don’t take it personally, move on.
More than once, I have told potential buyers that they might be happier buying from someone else.
It's easy to have zero problems and near zero returns because maybe your sales are close to zero? Oh oh, that was a question!
Thanks for outing yourself as a seller I'd totally pass on Ebay.
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Meh... I block people all the time. It may not seem fair, but a red flag is a red flag.
I recently had someone send me a bunch of questions about packing and safety and even mentioned all the lost packages in his neighborhood. So, what are the odds of a bad transaction?
I also blocked someone this week for sending me lowball offers. Now, I know, I could just ignore the offers but why do I want to have to sift through them, not to mention the justifications for them which are borderline insulting when he's offering significantly less than I paid.
99.99% of eBay users are a delight. If i can weed out a couple of the 0.01%, all the better.
That’s not extreme.
So if you have a return does that buyer get blocked too?
When you were in school if you asked a question would it have been ok for the teacher to give you an F for asking a question?
Lafayette Grading Set
That was a good question about blocking a buyer who returns an item. However your analogy about a student asking a question was so poor that YOU get an F for it.😉
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
I have blocked a buyer who returned a coin but it's not automatic. It depends on how the transaction goes.
They don't get an F... we throw them out of class.
I block all returns UNLESS it's a repeat customer or there was a real issue. In other words, I block 98% of returners.
You don't say!
Why not simply adjust your offer settings to eliminate lowballs?
People just circumvent the offer feature by sending the seller a message saying what they want to offer
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Don't know about @jmlanzaf, but I don't set up an auto-reject on my listings because I have a handful of buyers who will make offers on 15-20 items at a time and I'm willing to accept an occasional lower than desired offer from them that would otherwise be rejected. I don't want these buyers to get the idea I'm trying to squeeze them for the last dime by having one of their offers rejected automatically.
You can't stop email. Often, they aren't even official offers. Also, if you allow counteroffers, it allows lower than minimum counteroffers.
I also got a long email from someone in Poland who mentioned import duties, VAT, and the war in Ukraine in justifying his lowball offer. I almost said, "I can't sell you this coin in good conscience. War time resources are to valuable to be wasted on this coin."
I got blocked when I said I wasn’t happy with the coin I received and wanted to return it.
I blocked someone yesterday for aggressive counter offers.
The coin (Swiss) is listed for $129. [I paid 100 FWIW]. He emailed me and asked for my best price. I sent him a 115 offer (break even). He sent me an offer at $50. I declined. He then sent me an offer at $60. I told him that he was wasting my time since he had my best offer (break even) and I blocked him.