Non-paying buyer disputes as a way to block feedback

[Modee]

If your buyer did not pay you, or if you can somehow claim that your buyer did not pay (and UNMARK it as paid in your MyEbay), opening one of these will block the buyer's ability to leave you any feedback at all if:

1 - You open the dispute, AND
2 - the buyer does not respond, AND
3 - you close the dispute after eight days.

EBAY is making this harder to track, because they no longer mark the opening date for you. SO, whenever you open one of these, click to "add note" next to the item in your MyEbay and mark the date you opened it. Exactly eight days later, be on top of things, and close it.

Now, what if the buyer DOES respond?

Well, you are still not entirely out of luck. True, if you close it after he responds, the buyer will still be able to NEG you. However, many buyers view these disputes, while they are open, as a potential bad mark against them. While you have this weight against them, offer to close the dispute amicably (not giving them an unpaid item strike), if they will agree to not leave you a negative.

Of course - if the buyer really did pay and you were just hoping to pull a fast one on them, this whole thing could backfire and make the buyer angry. But in some cases, if used properly and strategically, this sort of buyer dispute can really help you have at least a little weight on the buyer.

[Modee]

In general nowadays sellers are at the mercy of buyers when it comes to feedback
Sellers Give Negative Feedback on eBay Changes - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

but, Modee techniques can remove feedback in almost all circumstances, including when the buyer has responded to an unpaid buyer dispute, or even where there has been no unpaid buyer dispute at all:
Feedback removal - in the modern EBAY era - Free EBAY, PayPal, Business and Law Forums - Ebay Suspension, PayPal Limited

[Modee]

Note that unpaid buyer disputes have CHANGED slightly. Now, you may not open a dispute if the buyer has paid with PayPal. Also, you may not close the dispute and give the buyer an unpaid item strike if he pays with PayPal after the dispute is opened.

In other words, the disconnect between the record of PayPal payment and an unpaid item dispute has been closed. Ebay's system now logs PayPal payments for purposes of unpaid item disputes.

All the more reason to move beyond PayPal and get your EBAY account approved for merchant account only (NO PayPal) status.

[Modee]

Lately even after a successful unpaid buyer dispute where the buyer never paid and did not respond, EBAY is not automatically reversing the auction listing fees! Greedy EBAY is rather making you re-list the item to get a free auction. Well, what if you don't want to relist and just want your money back?

Now you have to write to EBAY Customer Service to request the fee credit or refund.

[Modee]

The latest is of course that unpaid buyer disputes may be opened FOUR days after auction's close, and then closed FOUR days after that if the buyer does not respond. So the process is streamlined.

BE CAREFUL when you close the dispute, because the default box that is checked indicates that you HAVE received payment. If you rush through the "close this dispute" process, you may end up indicating that you have received payment, when you have not!