eBay sellers reported Tuesday receiving irate letters from long-ago deadbeat customers. Non-Paying Bidders (NPBs) are high bidders who don't follow through with payment to the seller for auctions they've won on eBay. The issue was a hot topic at the eBay Live convention in Orlando, Florida last month, where eBay announced programs to try to reduce the numbers of NPBs.
CEO Meg Whitman announced in her keynote address that Non-Paying Bidders would receive a reminder popup of their obligation when they logged in to eBay, an announcement that received applause from the crowd. However, sellers report that angry deadbeats are now asking them to remove NPB reports filed against them, sometimes months or years after the original report was filed.
Sellers may not file for a "NPB Warning Removal" if more than 90 days have passed since the auction ended. Some sellers expressed concern that the buyers would want the items they reneged on months after the fact, when the item may no longer be available. It also costs sellers money to remove NPB warnings, since eBay reverses the Final Value Fee credit applied to their account.
The new NPB pop-up reminder feature was scheduled for rollout in September. While the popup reminder to deadbeats might seem like a good idea, it appears the last thing sellers want is for eBay to tell deadbeat bidders to contact them months (or years) after stiffing them the first time.
