wow---sellers, total scam alert

[ima_sinnic]

Last night I wondered (in a post that I later deleted--don't want freepers knowing my eBay ID) whether I should cancel a bidder with a high number of positive feedbacks, but also 11 negatives for not paying in the last 30 days. This morning I found even more bidding going on on one of my items by this bidder and looked even more closely at his/her/their feedback. I noticed quite a few saying, in essence, "Google the name, total scammer"--Google revealed a posting on another board where someone said it appeared to be a ring in Korea that does a lot of chargebacks/claiming never to have received shipment.
http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?t=68706

I searched "recent bidding" on eBay and was astounded to see this person or group has bid on more than 7,000 items in the last 30 days:
http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBidItems&userid=geoctober&completed=1&all=1&rows=25&sort=3
I can't believe, per the first link, that eBay has been aware of this scammer since 2004 and still has not shut them down.

Needless to say, I canceled his bids on my item and blocked username geoctober and also greenteapass and geopass, per the feedback remarks, and am going to google some more to see if I find more usernames that should be blocked.
see negs here: http://www.toolhaus.org/cgi-bin/negs?User=geoctober
(by the way, the toolbar plug-in that toolhaus offers is one of the handiest things I have as a seller. I just click in my toolbar, type in a name, and instantly see a buyer's negs and neutrals--good to check sellers, too).

Don't even wait till they scam you--forewarned is forearmed--just block them now.

on edit: long, interesting discussion of the service called greenteapass in Korea, which at some point I guess was legit but has become completely messed up:
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=2000413538&start=0

[eleny]

1. The toolbar plug-in sounds handy

[Vinca]

2. Thanks for the heads up. I'm going to add those names to my

blocked bidders list. Sometimes I get really annoyed at ebay because they seem to cowtow to buyers and let us sellers hang in the wind. I noticed in their latest rule revamping there is something about buyers not being able to get negative feedback. Maybe I misread it, but that will be a real disservice to sellers.

[ima_sinnic]

3. yes, I'm wondering about that too--this very situation is why we need

to be able to leave negative fb for buyers--sheesh, how would I have known?
It doesn't make sense and I need to look into it more closely, too.

[Whoa_Nelly]

4. Thanks

Went to my account and blocked him.

[zabet]

5. Thanks!

Blocked them.

[InvisibleTouch]

6. I will block those names, thanks!

I'm going to e-mail Ebay about that stupid "no negative feedback for buyers" policy that they're starting. Their rationale is that if buyers are afraid to get negatives, they're more inhibited from buying, and that dampens the marketplace - but a legit buyer is unlikely to get a negative, so what would they be afraid of? It's only the scammers that will benefit from this.

I find it very helpful to check a buyer's feedback and get an idea of whether I'll have trouble with this person or not. My latest one was an eCheck payment that was cancelled (after the buyer already left positive feedback, before the payment cleared, and before I ever sent the item - thank gods!), with the buyer giving me some explanation about their PayPal account being hacked. But several other sellers had left a negative already for the same behavior, so I already kinda knew what I was dealing with. It might have been true, I guess, but the leaving of feedback before payment even went through, was a red flag. Buyer is suspended now, but it still was helpful for me to see their feedback from other sellers.

I encourage everyone to e-mail their complaints to Ebay about this new policy. They have been known to listen to a massive outcry.

[suninvited]

7. I havent sold on EBay in a while

I cannot believe that they have taken away the right for sellers to leave negative feedback. Now how would we know if we need to block a buyer or not? This just doesnt seem right to me, it is supposed to encourage buying? To me, it seems like it will discourage selling !!

[ima_sinnic]

8. that is about the stupidest thing they have ever done--eBay was built on FB

and I think without it, eBay will collapse.
I saw a discussion in an eBay forum where a buyer had already tried to blackmail a seller--either do this or that, or I'll leave you negative FB.
This change more than the fee increase has totally killed any desire I have to sell on eBay, which I do during times when my freelance copy editing gets slow, esp. in the summer.
I sent them a long e-mail with my experience with this scammer as evidence that they seriously need to keep negative FB for buyers. All I got back was a perfunctory "thanks for your interest, you know we value your opinion" BS e-mail.
I will NOT be selling on there again and have started putting together a new business to open in one of the untapped niches on many alternatives to eBay, several of which are listed here: http://www.powersellersunite.com/auctionsitewatch.php
blujay seems to be getting busier and busier and is totally free for buyers, as are several others. I like the appearance of wagglepop and eCrater.
The Power Sellers Unite site, esp. the forums, looks like an excellent resource and appears to welcomesellers of all sizes, not just power sellers. The general plan among forum goers seems to be to slowly diversify--keep some auctions on eBay for a while because of the traffic, but open auctions on one or more of the other sites at the same time to get them busier, get exposure, and wean off of FeeBay.

[starchimes]

9. I stopped selling on ebay some time ago. But not because

I was unhappy with ebay's service. I won't go back though because of the new policy. I prefer etsy.com (for handmade arts and crafts only). It's cheaper to list (20 cents) and your item stays on there for 4 months. It not auction style. I also get better prices for my items because people don't go there looking for bargain basement pricing.

[ima_sinnic]

10. I just discovered etsy.com a couple of days ago!

very attractive site. I knit things in between other projects and looking around there inspired me to devote some time and energy to making some items to sell.
So you do make sales there? What is your craft?

[starchimes]

11. I make fused glass jewelry, wind chimes and suncatchers.

I've had pretty good luck with etsy. I get much better prices for my dichroic jewelry than on ebay.

[ima_sinnic]

12. great! glad to hear it. those sound very neat!

I took the first step a little while ago and started putting together the materials for my next knitting project :)
Summers are the slow time in my work of copy editing, so I'm going to see if I can build up to a little inventory of stuff to start listing then.
I've also been working on a retail idea for one or more non-eBay selling venues, something bigger than the used books and knick knacks I've been selling on a real small scale. I noticed in the forums at PowerSellersUnite that many of them are selling on multiple sites--one said as many as 10. When the listings are free, that makes sense! They are also reporting making sales on other sites, though it took a while.
I see eBay is offering 20-cent listing day today, hoping to reel in sellers whose 7-day auctions would then end in the middle of the boycott. hmpf! I didn't fall for it :) The bones they're throwing with reduced listing fees amount to less than peanuts--well, for a small-scale seller like me. Probably helpful for big sellers, but the increased FVFs would have to kill them.