How To Block eBay Buyers

As an eBay seller, you have the ability to block buyers from purchasing from you in the future. This is helpful to prevent future issues with buyers that are known problems. This handy guide details how to block buyer usernames from your seller account.

Quick Shortcut

Want a quick link to the buyer block page? Go here and bookmark this page: https://www.ebay.com/bmgt/BuyerBlock

Why Block a Buyer?

Maintaining a successful business means occasionally making tough decisions about who can purchase your items. While most buyers are legitimate and respectful, some customers can create significant problems that affect your bottom line and peace of mind. Non-paying bidders, excessive returns, and buyers who leave unfair negative feedback are common issues that might warrant blocking a particular user.

Sometimes you’ll encounter buyers who make unreasonable demands, repeatedly violate your policies, or engage in problematic communication. You might also want to block competitors who seem to be monitoring your listings too closely. In these situations, eBay’s blocking feature serves as a valuable tool to protect your business and prevent future issues with problematic buyers. Remember, blocking a buyer is not about being unfair – it’s about maintaining a healthy, sustainable business environment where you can continue to serve your reliable customers effectively.

Steps to Block a Buyer

eBay maintains a help page on Blocking a buyer on eBay.

Blocking a buyer on eBay is a straightforward process:

1. Sign in to your eBay account
2. Go to your Seller Hub or Account Settings
3. Click on the “Block Bidders” under the Shortcuts box.
4. On the “Buyer Management” page, click on “Manage List” under the “Manage blocked buyer list” section.
5. This brings up the block buyers page.
6. Enter the buyer’s username in the blocked buyer list, making sure to separate names with by a comma.
7. Click “Submit” to add them to your list

You can also save this URL to go directly to it in the future: https://www.ebay.com/bmgt/BuyerBlock

Important notes:

• You can block up to 5,000 buyers
• Blocked buyers cannot bid on or purchase your items
• They will not be notified that they’ve been blocked

Screenshot from eBay site:

Here’s what the Block Buyer page on eBay looks like:

Unblocking a Buyer

To unblock a buyer username, simply follow the above steps to the same webpage and delete their username from the blocked buyer list. When done press “Submit” to save the changes.

Why Buyer Block Lists Don’t Exist Anymore

In the past, eBay sellers could share and download lists of problematic buyers, creating a community-driven system to protect against known difficult customers. However, eBay has since discontinued this feature due to several important concerns. Privacy issues were at the forefront, as sharing buyer information could potentially violate user privacy rights. There were also legitimate concerns about the potential misuse of these shared lists and the risk of unfair buyer discrimination, which could lead to legal issues for both eBay and its sellers.

Another significant limitation of buyer blocking, even with individual blocklists, is that buyers can easily create new accounts with different usernames. This means that a blocked buyer can simply create a new account to bypass your blocklist, making the blocking system less effective than many sellers would hope. While eBay’s current blocking system still provides some protection, it’s important to understand its limitations and use it as just one part of your overall strategy for managing your eBay business. This reality, combined with eBay’s focus on protecting both buyer and seller rights, has led to the current system where sellers can only maintain their own individual blocked buyer lists rather than sharing them with other sellers.