I just received a strong offer on one of my eBay items ($200 range) from a zero feedback buyer in Ireland.
I just want to know general thoughts, especially from the experienced sellers here. Do you have bad experiences with zero feedback buyers? Do the vast majority of these sales go fine? Is there anything a seller can do to minimize the risk of the buyer getting away with some underhanded scamming tactic?
And yes, I realize “everyone starts from 0 feedback” but that doesn’t take away from the fact that there is more risk in selling to a zero feedback user than a 200 feedback user.
The only special treatment they get from me is I’ll counter offer the same price back to them. I’ve found that a lot of the zero or low feedback individuals account for the most non paying buyers, and by counter offering them there’s less chance they won’t pay. I theorize it’s because they have to actually log back into their accounts, to accept/get the item sold. A lot of low feedback accounts just don’t have a lot of follow through if there’s no response within a few minutes.
Other than non paying, I haven’t had any issues with zero/low feedback buyers at a significatly higher rate than another other feedback users. They’re more likely to cause/have problems, but it’s not a high enough rate for me to make changes or ignore them, other than the counter offer strategy I use.
My zero feedback buyer experience has only been domestic and only a small number of sales. So far, I’ve had no issues, but personally I wouldn’t sell anything to a zero feedback buyer that’s international over $100. I add a disclaimer in my listings to message me if they need international shipping outside of GSP as conditions apply.
I think the counter strategy is a good idea. Or send them a message asking them to confirm their interest in the card at $200. If you can get some type of response you can be a little more confident they are legit.
I’ve had zero problems with 0 feedback buyers who purchase for the buy it now price and pay straight away, even international purchases in the 1-5k range, but have had a few unpaid items when accepting offers from 0 feedbackers.
