Frustrated sellers have nothing to say when eBay buyers back out

This morning I came across a blogger voicing frustrations about eBay's recent changes in feedback. Her husband was selling a motorcycle on the site, and their 'buyer' backed out of the deal after winning the auction. A winning bid creates a contract, and rightfully, the buyer should be required to make payment and complete the deal.

Frustration was amplified for this couple in that after getting the run-around from the buyer, they were left unable to post negative feedback.


I had a similar experience last week. I sold an outdoor fire pit to a woman who purchased it through eBay's 'Buy-It-Now' for a Father's Day gift. This was the Tuesday before Father's Day. After being invoiced, payment never arrived. On top of that, she resides outside the US. Finally, I received an email from her over the weekend stating that because the package would not have arrived in time for her to give it to her father on Sunday, she decided to instead purchase another one locally.

That's nice. She has a '1' for feedback. I won't be the one to give her number a '2'. But I also cannot report on my experience in dealing with this buyer in any public manner.