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Spotlights

Tips & Tools

Buyer Confidence

The more customer-friendly your policies, the more you will be able to convert potential buyers into customers. A few policies of particular importance are:

Payment Method
Buyers are more likely to bid on your items if your payment methods are clearly stated and easy to use. Research has shown that three out of four buyers prefer PayPal. In fact, items that offer PayPal are 50% less likely to end in an Upaid Item claim. Listing with Buy It Now and the Immediate Payments option also ensures that your item will remain open until you get paid.

Be sure to call out eBay Buyer Protection in your listings, which automatically covers buyers for the full purchase price and clearly state the safe electronic payment methods you accept.


Shipping Terms
Specifying reasonable shipping costs is a common best practice, and is now even more important. Buyers on eBay now have an option to sort search results by price + shipping. Make sure you clearly state reasonable shipping costs by either adding the eBay Shipping Calculator to your listing or entering a flat shipping rate. Always make sure your shipping rates are reasonable and do not violate the Excessive Shipping Policy.

eBay Checkout
The simple, streamlined process of eBay Checkout ensures that buyers won't get worried or confused and stop before paying for the item they've won. If you use a 3rd party service provider to manage your listings, eBay Checkout Redirect inserts a "Pay Now" button in your listings that routes customers through eBay Checkout. Please be sure to ask for eBay Checkout Redirect from your 3rd Party Service Provider.

Seller FAQs
Answer buyers' questions quickly. Post your Frequently Asked Questions so prospective buyers can get answers without sending you an email. You can choose to display custom FAQ and other important information to buyers when they click on "Ask Seller a Question" from any of your item pages.

Buyer Requirements
The Buyer Requirements page (available in "My eBay" under "My Account: Preferences") enables sellers to have more control over who may bid on their listings. This feature helps to reduce post-transaction issues and potential unpaid items.

Buyer Requirements allows you to block specific bidders, or any bidders that don’t meet requirements. You can choose to block bidders from a country which do not ship to, biders with a net negative feedback score, or bidders with two Unpaid Item strikes in the last 30 days. You can also add specific buyers to your Buyer Block Exemption List. For example, if a buyer attempts to bid on one of your items and gets blocked, they can contact you to request permission to bid. If you agree, you can add the buyer to your Exemption List., allowing them to bid on your item.

Use buyer blocking wisely. While helpful in reducing the likelihood of Unpaid Items, it may also limit the amount of bidders on your listing.