Some explanation is needed...

[emporiumdays]

Octavia - it seems to me you've offered constructive suggestions...
It does have the benefit of allowing new buyers to 'get their toes wet' by trying out eBid in a small way before being allowed to 'dive in' and create any kind of splash.

[0ctavias0fferings]

Octavia - it seems to me you've offered constructive suggestions...
It does have the benefit of allowing new buyers to 'get their toes wet' by trying out eBid in a small way before being allowed to 'dive in' and create any kind of splash.

Thank you, I like to think I'm a constructive kind of person ... sadly it's rare for anyone to listen ...

[emporiumdays]

And Octavia puts the case for the newbie buyer perfectly. I have a string of them.. buy, pay... sometimes even email to say they are happy.. but never, ever return once they have the strikethru. I wanted them to come back and buy again!

So I wonder if anyone else has thoughts?

[PoppyGrove]

I agree that eBid need to keep strict policies and at the same time think that when a buyer gets a strikethrough they're not going to bother coming back to buy again. They will, as mentioned earlier in the thread, take their business elsewhere. Regrettably, this will and is damaging the site as it limits the buyer growth.

I'm not sure if this would help in any way, and not properly knowing how things work on the admin side - but, have a 2 tier vetting system - one for buyer level and one for seller. Only allow a person to join as a buyer with basic checks - let them buy what they want, pay and then come back another time to buy more - without shutting them out. If a few days later, they fancy upgrading to seller - great, cos we need more variety on the listing side too - then have a higher level of security check but keep them in the loop so that they know whats happening. Perhaps still keep in force the 'block' that differentiates between buyer & seller while the second tier security checks are done.

I know when I joined I joined first as a buyer allowing me first to check out the site to make sure I'd be satisfied with it if I moved all of my selling accross. It was a couple of days later that I upgraded & paid to seller+.

[dardonboi]

There are at least 2 threads going on this subject now. It does need some checking. I am afraid this problem will get worse because of the influx of new users we are seeing.

[Gothicina]

Here's an example of how it can work ... I won't link to the actual page, that might not be appreciated.

Guest buying requirements
Item must be purchased using Buy It Now
Payments must be made by credit card processed by PayPal. PayPal enables you to send payments quickly and securely online. Your credit card information will not be shared with the seller.
Item price must be £500 or less.
Items must be purchased from sellers who have a feedback score of 50 or higher and have a 98% positive rating.
You can only purchase two items as a guest before you will be required to register

In all honesty, I think that 2 purchases is a bit low to limit 'guest buyers' to, I think it would be more realistic to set the bar at, say, purchasing power up to £200 without a need to register and / or an ability to buy any number of items under the value of £15 (incl postage?).

The latter suggestion is because no-one is going to try and scam a seller for that kind of money. It would be altogether too much hassle.

It would be good to get this right as the current system is preventing buyers from coming back.

I agree 2 items is too low, but unlimited under £15.00 including postage will also cause problems.
It may not be worthwhile for those who will scam sellers, but will leave the door open for auction wreckers, who bid on or hit BuyNow 30 or 40 items then leave the sellers with the problem of sorting out the NPB & fees.

Maybe a cap of 5 items with the total being no more than £200.00, before registering is required.
Payments to be made using credit card via a payment processor

Sellers have the ability to Opt Out - This would have to be a MUST

There would also need to be some sort of minimum earned on eBid (NOT imported) feedback requirement for sellers to safeguard against shill bidders, being used to artificially inflate eBid feedback, & buddy points.

IP address checks would still need to be in place, otherwise some previously banned members could cause havoc. (Madelaine I think you know who I mean )

[adruml]

So I wonder if anyone else has thoughts?

only one. Once your allowed to buy or sell, then get striked through after a sale or purchase is ridiculous. Until you do something wrong and you have already "joined" you should remain a member in good standing. The shoot first ask questions later registration has to go.

[emporiumdays]

I was just thinking of you Adruml, and suddenly you posted !!! Amazing....

[0ctavias0fferings]

I agree 2 items is too low, but unlimited under £15.00 including postage will also cause problems.
It may not be worthwhile for those who will scam sellers, but will leave the door open for auction wreckers, who bid on 30 or 40 items then leave the sellers with the problem of sorting out the NPB & fees.

Maybe a cap of 5 items with the total being no more than £200.00, before registering is required.
Payments to be made using credit card via a payment processor

Sellers have the ability to Opt Out - This would have to be a MUST

There would also need to be some sort of minimum earned on eBid (NOT imported) feedback requirement for sellers to safeguard against shill bidders, being used to artificially inflate eBid feedback, & buddy points.

IP address checks would still need to be in place, otherwise some previously banned members could cause havoc. (Madelaine I think you know who I mean )

That seems quite reasonable but I don't think the auction wreckers really need to pose any problem which would affect the ordinary 'guest buyer'. There must be a way for the site to raise the alarm if a buyer suddenly buys a ridiculous number of diverse items. Perhaps there could be a limit on the number of items which can be bought in any 24 hour period. If that limit was, say, 5 items then the auction wreckers would be unlikely to keep at it day after day.

It would also be possible, I'm sure, to expect a 'guest buyer' to pay for the item immediately - with the item not showing as sold until paid for. If the buyer wishes to purchase multiple items from one seller then there needs to be a way to add those items to a shopping basket - but again, none of them to show as sold until paid for.

[baconsdozen]

I'm afraid that the perception that ebid are only interested in getting as many people to sign up and pay to sell as possible without reallty addressing the problems thiose people then have selling because of silly obstructions put in the way is widespread.
I have sold to a lot of new and first time buyers the vast majority of them have been nowehere near ebid since although a lot have bought from me again,from my own web site and from Ebay and in a couple of cases Ecrater.
Ebis seen as though they are reluctant to address problems voiced by their members,a trait many of us are already used to having encountered the same attitude on ebay.They really do need to wake up and wake up fast,ebay might lose a lot of members but most of them end up going back.
Its easy to see why.