Tag Archives: P&M’s Take on Bogus Buyers

I’m a member of a few Multiply groups and everyday, I get email notices of blog entries. Aside from “For Sale” posts, I often see “Bogus Buyers/Sellers” posts.

As an online seller  and buyer, I can relate to a lot online buyers who get scammed by sellers. We work hard to earn money and we end up losing it because of crooks who want to earn quick bucks.

But buyers are partly to blame. Buyers must exercise common sense and prudence when buying online. The old cliche still works. If it’s too good to be true, it must be.

But my beef is really those blog entries ranting against bogus buyers.

If it’s in eBay, fine. When you bid on an item on eBay, it is considered a contract and, just like in any contract, you must honor what’s stated there. Because eBay takes pride in its feedback mechanism, eBay requires that winning bidders pay the sellers. And eBay has a resolution center for sellers with buyers who didn’t pay for the items.

But whether you have a non-paying buyer in eBay, Multiply or any other online store, why rant publicly about them? Why bother posting all the private information of the buyer? Why raise hell against those who didn’t push through with the transaction? Why waste a lot of time and effort against that one person.

Sellers, when you rant about your customers, it tells the world what kind of seller you are. It says a lot of what kind of customer service you bring. And as a buyer myself, I wouldn’t buy anything from you. I wouldn’t even inquire lest I be accused of being a bogus buyer.

Here’s the thing. I find it disrespectful of sellers to post the names of their “bogus buyers.” Personally, if a buyer chooses not to buy your item, it’s her choice and all you should do is move on. Even if she promised to buy, it’s not a sale until you get the payment.

If the idea of a “bogus buyer” does exist (except in eBay), then I guess it would also be okay for brick-and-mortar store owners to also shout from the top of their lungs if someone enters their stores, try out their wares, and then leave.

Please, sellers, grow up! There are other buyers out there who may be interested in your items. If you rant against a “bogus buyer” for not buying your wares, maybe she was right for not paying you. With an attitude like that, who wants to be your customer?