Does eBay Have A Secret Trusted Buyer Program That Gives Some Users Special Perks?
UPDATE 8-16-24
eBay has still not provided any comment or confirmation about the existence of a Trusted Buyer program, but a recent survey they're conducting about changes to Auto Parts returns showed a very interesting reference that seems to bolster the possibility of such a program providing special perks to certain buyers - like the ability to receive an immediate refund as soon as they file a return request.
Liz Morton
My-Cottage-Books-And-Antiques also provided an update on the unpaid item that was mysteriously exempted from immediate payment, showing that buyer certainly cannot be "trusted" to honor their purchase commitment.
Was gone much of today, and hadn't noticed---until now---that apparently the four days for unpaid items ended this morning, and ebay auto cancelled for non payment and auto relisted (per my setting in Preferences)
So, my "Trusted Buyer" apparently could not be trusted to actually pay.
All of this does not alter the fact that I was told about a "Trusted Buyer" program, and we still have had no follow up explaining the program (or verifying its existence)..
Longtime eBay users are likely familiar with eBay's Top Rated Seller program, but does eBay also operate a secret stealth Trusted Buyer program that allows some buyers to bypass seller payment preferences and other perks?
eBay seller and community member my-cottage-books-and-antiques relates a strange customer service interaction that raises serious concerns about transparency and fair application of policies on the platform - specifically, does eBay have a secret list of buyers who are exempted from certain policies and if so, does that override settings or requirements a seller may have intentionally set for their business?
So, I'm one of those sellers who activated auto payment on buyer offers in my Preferences. The way it works is, the buyer must designate a payment method before making the offer, and if I accept the offer, ebay automatically bills that payment method, so that I get paid "immediately" (or very close to it). No need to wait for payment.
This has been working fine. Receive offer, accept offer, get paid, ship.
Until my most recent offer. I accepted the offer, and......nothing. Listing went into my "Awaiting Payment" section in "Orders".
It's only been two days, and I know buyers have four days, so....OK, I can wait the four days, and if I'm still unpaid, buyer gets Unpaid Item Strike and I relist. No big deal.
BUT.....
Why wasn't there an immediate payment?
An ebay glitch, perhaps?
Apparently, not a glitch.
What Customer Service told me is : Just as some sellers are TRS, some buyers are "Trusted Buyers". "Trusted Buyers" are NOT required to provide the payment method before they make an offer (regardless of my selected preference). Trusted buyers have the four days to pay, period.
However, as far as I can tell, unlike TRS sellers, Trusted Buyers are not publicly identified as such.
The CS could not tell me anything more about the TB program, and could not find it in the Help pages, but promised to do further investigation and email me when she finds something.
Experienced sellers know that eBay support isn't always known to be the most reliable source of information and it's entirely possible if you were to ask another rep, you could get a completely different answer.
So it's certainly possible there could be a misunderstanding or the rep provided inaccurate information, but the answer as relayed here seems oddly specific for that.
My-cottage-books-and-antiques tagged me and asked if I had ever heard of a Trusted Buyer program. Unfortunately, I have not - nor is any such thing to be found anywhere in any of eBay's help or policy pages or any other public facing information as far as I can tell.
However, it did jog my memory to the early days of Jamie Iannone's tenure as CEO at eBay, when "trusted buyers" was an oft repeated phrase when talking about authentication programs and other initiatives in media appearances and earnings presentations.
For example, when laying out his strategy during the Q2 2020 earnings call, Iannone said:
"As we look to the future, our vision is clear - we will build on our powerful strengths to become the best global marketplace for buyers and sellers through a technology-led reimagination. We will accomplish this vision through three key priorities: build compelling next-gen experiences for our enthusiasts; become the partner of choice for sellers; and cultivate life-long trusted buyer relationships."
eBay also launched the Top Star buyer loyalty program in 2021, but it was geared very specifically toward the sneaker category with perks including exclusive access to hot, in demand shoes at retail prices and occasional special events - and to my knowledge never would have included anything that would have overridden seller payment preferences or anything else outside of that very narrow window of Top Star eligible sneakers.
Liz Morton
At the time, those previous references to trusted-buyer relationships and experiences seemed to be about improving/building on the trust buyers (should) have in eBay, not the other way around with a heavy emphasis on authentication and other trust-enhancing services or experiences being added to the platform.
But this community post now raises questions about whether the "trusted buyer" concept went deeper than that and if there might be additional unknown perks to being internally flagged with that designation, like what other policies might be being overridden and does eBay give "trusted buyers" more leeway on potentially abusive returns or feedback?
eBay has been on a multi-year journey to "fix unpaid items on the platform" but these efforts have met significant resistance from some buyers who have balked at the idea of having to provide information upfront for offers and auctions.
Liz Morton
In fact, the issue of trust around payments was considered so important to eBay, it was the topic of an entire presentation at eBay Open 2023 by Senior Director Trust, David Newman that even included a screenshot of an article I had written on the subject.
Referencing that article and others about unpaid items on eBay, Newman said:
It takes a lot to build trust with our buyers and sellers but as online guides like these reveal it only takes one negative experience to break trust.
Ultimately eBay sellers and buyers need to trust the platform and each other. Anytime a customer has to ask if they can trust another buyer or seller, it reminds us of the work we still have to do and that's why there's so much energy going into our trust initiative to make every process better.
He then went on to confirm eBay's commitment to solving the problem, while admitting it's taken longer than they intended to "unwind 28 years of buyer behavior."
With best offer, the feedback from sellers has been incredibly positive and we're glad you are seeing our commitment come to life. That said we're still listening and acting on your feedback on how to make the experience even better and we have begun our work on auctions.
Jamie committed we would solve this problem and admittedly it has taken longer than we intended. The reality is that unwinding 28 years of buyer behavior in a way that is net positive to your business requires a great deal of testing and we'll remain deliberate and thoughtful in our approach.
Was a secret Trusted Buyer program that would allow some buyers to skip the immediate payment requirements eBay's answer to the pushback and if so, what is the criteria and how does eBay ensure it is not being abused?
How could eBay possibly square all those nice sounding words about trust with operating such a secret program without informing sellers it even exists, let alone that it may completely disregard their intentionally created seller settings and policies?
I'll keep digging to find more information about whether a formal but secret trusted buyer program really exists at eBay, but in the meantime - let us know in the comments below if you've ever heard of such a thing or believe that eBay does allow some buyers to bypass seller settings in this way!
