eBay – one of the oldest and most successful e-commerce websites on the Internet is undoubtedly an extremely popular online marketplace on which users can list items for sale and other users can bid on these in auction. This auction feature makes eBay a unique e-commerce platform, having an utterly capitalistic nature, where an item is worth precisely what someone is willing to pay for it. However, the fixed price selling happens to be the more popular choice among both sellers and buyers as it happens to make process simpler.

eBay is more than just a platform for oddities and collectibles; it is a thriving business with a massive user base. Each day, eBay attracts a staggering number of buyers, around 2 million, who are ready to engage in online bidding and make purchases. This bustling marketplace provides a valuable opportunity for small businesses and individuals to prosper and succeed in the commercial world.
However, not all buyers in this vast online marketplace are easy to deal with. As buyer traffic increases, there may be instances where sellers prefer not to engage with certain buyers. Customer interactions can sometimes be less than pleasant. While there are wonderful shoppers who you would love to have for every selling offer, there are also unpleasant individuals with whom you’d rather not communicate again. Nonetheless, both good and bad customers play a significant role in business growth, so it’s important not to regularly avoid or turn them away.

When an eBay buyer is required to be blocked?

Blocking the rowdy buyers on eBay shouldn’t be a regular occurrence. After all, it’s a business you are running on eBay, and not every visiting customer there would be amiable. However, in some dire circumstances you might require to block a buyer. These circumstances include the following:

• They haven’t paid you for past purchases. If you’ve sent reminders to the buyer and he still does not pay after several days, then it’s time to block them.
• They constantly back out of bids. You might need to block a buyer if they are always bidding on your items and then canceling their bids to gain unfair advantages and also because it wastes your time.
• Interactions with them are always negative or abusive. When a buyer is verbally abusive all the time, or if interactions with them are always negative and difficult to handle, then you should block them.
• They have been flagged for fraudulent activity. If the reviews of a certain buyer, given by other buyers and eBay are on the negative side of suspected fraudulent activity, then you shouldn’t take a risk of dealing with them.
• They are your competitors, and you want to keep them away from your products. If your product is unique and you do not want your competitors to purchase it and duplicate it for their own business, you can consider blocking them.

Though choosing when to block a buyer is entirely up to you as there are no strict guidelines from eBay on when to do it or whom to do it to, but still a buyer –good or bad are serious essentials for a business to grow so you have to be very careful in the blocking option.

How to block an eBay buyer?

If you have any issue with a certain buyer and you do not want them to bid or purchase any of your listed items, then you can add them to your Blocked buyer list.

If you do not wish to sell to certain eBay buyers, you can put them on your blocked list. Members on that list will be unable to bid, buy or make any offer on your listed items for sale until you remove them from the blocked list.

To block/unblock Log in to your account, and go to the Block buyers from your listing page, enter the member’s user ID or E-mail addresses and click submit.

To remove members from the blocked list select their User IDs or Email addresses and delete it from the list. Remember to inform the member after unblocking to resume the bidding again.

Alternatives to try before blocking eBay buyers

Alternatives to try before blocking eBay buyers

While some business interactions may put you off, still these may not justify a complete blockage. To maintain a clear seller profile with minimum negative reviews it is necessary to try other measures which you can opt to keep buyers in check without blocking them entirely.

Set buyer requirements

eBay buyer requirements are a set of restrictions that filter buyers you do not want to interact with. By setting these on, you can limit your interactions with such buyers who might create a difficult business experience for you. Setting up these restrictions are preferable to blocking as it minimizes the chance of interacting with unsavory buyers without entering the negative side of eBay.

Report the buyer in question

Approach every interaction with positivity

Finally, customers come and go, but their feelings and feedback about your service can have a negative effect on other potential customers. So, instead of blocking the buyers once they are unfriendly or uncooperative, try to focus on using positive customer service to win them over. Just a pinch of service would go a long way of making your store a hit among customers!