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How Do I Block A Buyer on Ebay?

Customer interactions come in all sizes and shapes for eBay merchants. There are exceptional customers you’ll wish you interact with daily, and there are very unpleasant ones that you never want to interact with ever again.

Ideally, you’ll need both good and bad customers to make profits and remain operational. However, you may want to cut eBay transactions with some of these customers for your peace of mind.

hand holding phone with ebay app open

The good news is that you can block buyers with negative interactions on eBay using eBay’s buyer blocking feature. But whom do you block on eBay, and how do you block an eBay user?

This post will help you recognize when you need to block an eBay buyer, how blocking users works, how to block them, and more.

Let’s dig in!

picture of the ebay website

Why and when to block a buyer on eBay?

You can block an eBay buyer for various reasons, including a broken agreement, abusive messages, and fraudulent activity.

Some genuine reasons you may want to add a user to the blocked buyers list include:

  • Non-payment of purchases: If you send several reminders and the buyer doesn’t pay for days, it may be high time to block them.
  • Backing out of bids or agreed-upon purchases: You may block an eBay user if they are constantly bidding on your items and then canceling the bids – it wastes your time.
  • Abusive language or behavior: If an eBay buyer is verbally abusive or if their behavior is always negative, you may block them for peace of mind.
  • Fraudulent activity: If a buyer has been flagged for fraudulent activity by eBay or other eBay members, you may block them to avoid falling victim.
  • For competitors not to buy your products: It may sound petty, but you may block competitors if you deal with a unique product and don’t want them to buy it.

Ultimately, you decide when and why to block an eBay buyer. eBay doesn’t have a strict guideline on when to block users or who to add to the blocked list.

How does blocking an eBay user work?

Once you block an eBay buyer, the ban applies to all of your listings. This means that the buyer can’t purchase or bid on your listings – this is why eBay warns its merchants to use the block feature sparingly.

After blocking a buyer on eBay, they can still see your listings and won’t know they’ve been blocked until they try to purchase an item. If they try buying your product, they’ll receive the following message, “this seller is not accepting bids from you.”

Blocked users can still send you messages, but that’s something you can also deactivate. We’ll see how to do this later in this article.

Also, it’s important to note that blocks and buyer blocks are two different things, serving different purposes. You use the block feature when you want to restrict users’ access to the seller account, while the buyer block prevents users from buying items from the account.

laptop with ebay pulled up

How can I block a buyer on eBay?

After deciding to block a buyer on eBay, you’ll need their email address or eBay user ID to initiate the block. Once you have these details, proceed to block the users as follows:

Step #1: Go to the block bidders page

This first step is easy. After logging into your seller account, go to the Block bidders or buyers from your listing page.

If you don’t have the link to the block bidders page, you can click the Help & Contact button at the top of any eBay page and type Block buyer on the search bar. Then follow the first link that appears to lead you to the page you want.

Step #2: Key in the buyer’s username

Key in the user ID or email address of the buyer(s) you want to block from your listing in the text box. If you’re looking to block more than one eBay user, separate them using a comma.

Step #3: Submit the blocked buyers

After adding the email addresses or user IDs to the text box, click the submit button to save the list. If you add valid usernames, a block success message will appear.

Otherwise, eBay will let you know if the email addresses or usernames you added are invalid. In such cases, you can edit the usernames and resubmit.

Note: The Restore list button above the text box allows you to restore or view past versions of your blocked bidder list.

Optional step: Blocking messages

As aforementioned, a blocked user can still send messages to you about an item. If you’d like to change this, navigate your eBay account’s Site Preferences and select the buyer requirement page.

Check the box that states: Don’t allow blocked buyers to contact me, and you’ll be good to go. The blocked buyer won’t see the Contact seller button on your listings.

Note: Blocked users can still reach out to you regarding any past transactions they’ve had with you.

Blocking eBay buyers by specific requirements

You can set buyer requirements for your eBay store to reduce the risk of buyers being unhappy. For instance, you can check the amount of time a buyer has been active on eBay, their feedback, the number of completed transactions, etc.

On the eBay Buyer Requirements page, you may block eBay bidders that:

  • Have a low or negative feedback score
  • Have past unpaid items on their account
  • Are well-known for breaching eBay policies
  • Don’t have a legitimate payment method
  • Have a delivery address in a place you don’t service, etc.
  • Are winning

Blocking an eBay buyer by location

eBay sellers can block buyers in locations they don’t want to serve, like individual states in the home country or outside countries. For instance, if you want to avoid international shipping, you may restrict your items to your country

Or, if you live in the United States, you may want to prevent orders heading to particular states – for whatever reasons. So, how do you block a user based on their location?

To block buyers from a specific area, go to your account’s shipping preferences. Then, scroll down and select the Edit button under the section that allows you to exclude shipping regions.

You can then create a list of the excluded shipping locations by checking the relevant boxes. Then, the last step involves returning to the buyer requirements page of your eBay account and checking the box: Block buyers from areas you don’t ship to.

woman shopping ebay on her ipad with her credit card

What is the maximum number of eBay buyers I can block?

You can block as many as 5,000 eBay buyers. However, this can negatively affect your online business. Blocking multiple buyers requires entering the usernames, separated by commas without spaces.

How can I unblock a buyer on eBay?

You can unblock an eBay buyer in several simple steps, as outlined below:

  • Go to the Block bidders or buyers from your listings page
  • Delete the buyer’s username or email address of the member(s) from the text box
  • Select the Submit button

How do I manage potential buyers on eBay?

You can’t simply know the identity of bad buyers on eBay, but you can choose who can and who can’t bid on your items based on their history with your website. To do this, you’ll need access to the eBay Buyer Management page and login in to access your account.

These steps will help you manage your potential buyers on eBay:

  1. First, choose whether or not to block habitual non-payers. On the Block buyers who caused, click the arrow next to the first number and choose an acceptable number of cancellations.
  • Then, click the arrow beside the next number to select the acceptable period.
  1. Second, you can block buyers in an area you don’t serve. The steps to do this are outlined above.
  2. Tick the box next to Block buyers who are currently winning or have bought. Click on the arrow to select the acceptable number.
  • You can also limit people based on their feedback ratings.
  1. You can also prevent blocked unwanted buyers from contacting you
  2. Click the Submit button when you’re done.

If a specific buyer whose feedback profile isn’t the best slips through the net, you can cancel the unwanted bid in several easy steps. Below is a guide to help you cancel an unwanted eBay bid.

How can I cancel an unwanted eBay bid?

It’s always advisable that you watch who is bidding on your products. To do this, click on the eBay member’s username to check their feedback profile.

To cancel the bid, mark the item number on your listing and the eBay bidder’s username. Then, go to the Cancel buyer’s bid page and cancel the bid as follows:

  1. Key in the item number into the first box, then enter the bidder’s username in the second box
  2. Choose a reason for cancellation and then click the Submit button.

The bottom line

There you have it, folks: easy steps to block a buyer on eBay. You may decide to add specific users on eBay to the block list for various reasons, including a bad experience with them, fraud, non-payment of bids, etc.