Ebay: The Leading Cause of Virtual Death in America

“There has been a death in my family. Therefore, I cannot pay for this item at the moment.” We’ve all heard it before. As an Ebay seller, these dreaded words resound in our minds and wake us up with a cold sweat in the dark of night. And the fear is really not the part about death. It’s the part about not getting money for something you sold. It happens a lot more than you think. 7-10% of all sales on some months. The Non-Paying Bidder epidemic requires mindful sellers to include expectations of non-payment, and lower sales figures, into their monthly calculations.

I have seen every excuse in the book, and outside the book. From stolen accounts, to bankruptcies, to Radon gas contaminations. But the one constant in the Ebay universe, is that bidding on an Ebay item greatly increases the chance that a death will occur at some point to prevent paying for said item. The rule is always true that if a death were to occur, you also could no longer pay for the item, no matter how cheap it is. Sometimes it’s a distant family member. Sometimes it’s an immediate family member. But the most intriguing ones are where the original account holder was the one who passed. In this scenario, a family member will promptly contact you in a Non-Paying Bidder dispute and notify you that the original owner of the account has recently died. They then ask to have the dispute removed.

Lets think about this. If your family member had just passed, would you be checking their Ebay account to respond to disputes? Would you even know their login? Would you even know that there was a dispute? Would keeping an Ebay account in good standing for the deceased rank high on your priority list? If someone in my family passed away, the LAST thing I would be doing is responding to their Ebay emails. What? Was it in their will? “I will miss you all. Oh, and one more thing, please keep my Ebay account in good standing. Login: XX / Pass: XX.” You have got to be kidding me.

Ebay has never publicized this phenomenon, but it is apparently of great concern. So save yourself and your family. Take great care when bidding on Ebay. You never know if something will happen and you won’t be able to pay for an item. While at the same time maintaining your account in good standing.