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I am raging, absolutely raging Not something which happens to me often.
Quite often on ebay, I'll notice a series of auctions from the same seller and bank on winning a few of them, combining the postage costs and paying a reasonable price overall.

This has just been scuppered by a seller whose ID is bigbear-75

Having just won the first auction I thought I'd do the reasonable thing and message to explain that I was watching several more of their auctions and could I hold off paying to see what else I won. I particularly didn't see a problem as each one of his auctions says something about 'cheap combined postage'. Next 3 things I try to bid on I am blocked because I have bought something within the last 10 days from this seller. How the hell was he/she/it going to combine postage then? Nowhere in the listing is this 'Buyer Requirement' listed obviously.

Has this nonsense happened to anyone else?

Ewan,

I dont understand why you were prevented from making a bid on other items the chap was selling.

Did the seller personally block you because the invoice for your win hadn't been settled??

Were does it say in the ebay rules that if you win an item from a seller you have to settle the bill for that item before you can bid on any other items he has for sale?. It is utter nonsence, the seller gains nothing from using this tactic.

Is this another example of more ebay gone mad????

I am confused on this one.

I am confused too - especially when the seller is saying they offer great postage discounts which seems to be encouraging you to bid on several lots. There is no mention of the fact that the first invoice hasn't been paid when a bid is blocked, just that I've bought an item in the last 10 days from this seller. It's coming up as a 'buyer requirement' which I think are set by the seller. I've messaged and am awaiting a reply. All this just strengthens the case for using the forum auction in my book.

This is something the seller has set up in his seller/buyer preferences. A seller can opt to limit the number of items a buyer purchases within a certain time period. There are some default settings for this option and a person needs to be aware of these settings and select the options that best suits their needs. Once a seller selects the option, that preference is set on all concurrent and future auctions.

The seller probably isn't aware that he has his preferences set to such a narrow choice and needs to check and change his settings. I would send them an email letting them know they have selected to limit repeat customers within the 10 day period and that if they change their settings, they will get more customers including you.

Here's what my settings look like. As you can see I do not restrict buyers as the box is not checked. A single buyer can buy as much as they want as long as they have 0 or higher feedback (negative feedback buyers are blocked). Trouble "children" with numerous unpaid items or other violations are also blocked (if they meet the noted criteria).

You were right Tinman, and to be fair to the seller he's managed to sort it out before too many of the other lots have ended. My blood pressure has returned to it's normal low level. Karma being what it is I won't be in the least bit surprised if I fail to win any of the other auctions - it'll teach me not to get so wound up

It is getting worse each time i switch the tinternet on,fleabay certainally are not user friendly with all there little box's you need to check.