Buyers Should Have Easy Ability to Block Sellers

[tjs_treasures]

There is already a post about this on this forum where someone asks how they can block a seller so they don't accidentally buy from them.  That post is marked as "Solved" and is not open for further replies.  However, I do not think the question has been considered sufficiently.

Sellers can easily  block buyers with a simple big blue button readily available to them.  And I don't think it times out ever unless the seller unblocks the buyer.  It is a way a seller can easily protect their self from a particular buyer for whatever reason... and without reason.

However a buyer does not have this same ability to protect their self against sellers.  The ability for a buyer to block a seller, without an expiration on the block, and without reason, is not available to sellers.  But it should be.

Allowing sellers to block buyers is giving the seller the ability to protect their self against a buyer for whatever reason that seller has for doing so.  i.e. - without reason.  It is a way a seller can basically tell a buyer "You are not welcomed in my store any more" and not allow them in.

Why should buyers not have an equal ability to block sellers?

By not providing this easy ability, eBay is forcing buyers to view products from sellers that they don't wish to view.  It is basically taking the buyer and shoving them in through the front door of the sellers store.

I suspect part of the reason for this might be that sellers complained much more than buyers did about needing the ability to block someone.  I suspect eBay also has a monetary motivation to not provide this block ability to buyers.  And here is where I think eBay may want to take a closer look at this.  There may be a legal issue here.

If a buyer wishes to block a seller because the buyer (not eBay) finds the sellers store and/or products offensive, they should be able to block that seller, without having to provide a reason and without having to file a complaint.   

If a buyer wishes to block a seller because the buyer (not eBay) believes that the sellers sales tactics are deceptive, the buyer should be able to block that seller, without having to provide a reason and without having to file a complaint.

A buyer should be able to block a seller 

without having to provide a reason and without having to file a complaint, just like a seller can do to a buyer.

This is eBays domain of course.  You agree to their terms.  And so they can set their own rules... as long as those rules don't violate applicable laws.  And this is where I think eBay may want to take a harder look at this.  Is eBay failing to provide eBay buyers with the ability to protect their self in situations where the buyer may have a valid legal right to having that ability?  Unless eBay provides this full and complete ability to eBay buyers, the only way this would be settled is in a court of law probably by class action law suit.

This is just a suggestion to eBay to take a closer look at this.  They may have some risk and liability here.

[myangelandmyprincess]

"Why should buyers not have an equal ability to block sellers?"

Because ultimately the buyers are the ones choosing the sellers when they make a purchase.  Whether they realize it is someone they didn't want to deal with or not they are the ones who choose who to do business with. A seller doesn't really have any way of choosing except the block bidder list.  

Edited to add the user agreement say you agree to not file class action lawsuits. 

[house*of*paws]

Hi @tjs_treasures 

You seem to want eBay to protect buyers from themselves.

You want to be permanently blocked from seeing the Usernames of sellers you don’t want to buy from … and you think eBay can be sued if it refuses to keep you from buying from these sellers.  Have I got that right?

Buyers are able to ‘Exclude’ individual sellers from our searches.  We can make a list of sellers we want to avoid buying from … or put Post-it notes on our monitor with the names of bad sellers.  We also can ask sellers to put our name on their Blocked Bidders List.

Sellers cannot force their listings on us.  We have to open them.  eBay is basically a computer.  I don’t think it can be turned into a nanny for adults.  I personally prefer to take responsibility for which listings or stores I visit.  

[ed8108]

Ebay does not provide a buyer the feature for which you argue.

If a big blue button were made available to buyers to block a seller, would you pay ebay a fee to use that button ?

Have you submitted your suggestion which appears below to ebay's legal counsel for their review, & comment ?

" This is just a suggestion to eBay to take a closer look at this.  They may have some risk and liability here."

---

[tjs_treasures]

This isn't isn't about eBay protecting buyers from themselves.  That is simply an insinuation that buyers who would use this functionally are weak or insecure.  That statement is not applicable and overreaching.

And this isn't about what I want or don't want. This is not intended to be personal. Please do not make this specifically about me or about you. Try to see the bigger picture and bigger topic here. This isn't about me or you specifically.

You then said "You want..." Again, the topic is not what I personally want or don't want. The topic is much larger than you or me personally or what either of us want. So, no, this isn't about what I want or don't want.

And it isn't about seeing or not seeing the Usernames of sellers that "you don’t want to buy from." The sellers Usernames are not even mentioned. It's not about the Usernames. It's about the list of items (by various sellers) that eBay presents to a buyer, not the Usernames. And again, the statement "you don't want to buy from" is off topic. This isn't about me. And it isn't about you.

"Have I got that right?"

So far - No, you do not have it right. So far, you do not have it right because you are focusing on me and not the actual issue on a bigger scale than just you or me.

Now the statement "Buyers are able to ‘Exclude’ individual sellers from our searches." was helpful. It does look like this can be done. I did a search for "Exclude" (not "block") sellers and did find a blog that describes how to exclude sellers from searches by using the "Advanced Search" page. I do find that page on the website.

(This is actually turning out to be helpful. Thank you!)

I don't find it in the phone eBay app. If you know where it is in the phone app, can you describe how to find that?

In the blog that I found it says to:

(A) go to the "Advanced Search" page and then
(B) go to the Sellers section.
(C) Check "Only show items from", (<-This is hard to find in all the options on this page. I had to search for "only show items from" to find it. But, it's there.)
(D) choose "exclude" then enter the seller username(s).
(E) Then hit the blue search button at the bottom of the page.

Well, this isn't as simple as being able to press a "Block this seller button" but it does look like it does what I was suggesting. So - Thanks!

BTW - It appears that sellers don't even have a "Block this buyer button" and have to manually enter the names of buyers also. Seems like it would be a lot easier on both sides if you could simply push a "block" button rather than manually enter names. But, it does appear the functionality is there, albeit not conveniently or easily.

Also, I called eBay support and they didn't even know about this ability to "Exclude" a seller. So, the key here is use the word "Exclude" not "Block" when searching for this.

"Post-it notes on our monitor with the names of bad sellers. We also can ask sellers to put our name on their Blocked Bidders List."

I don't think these two ideas are such a good idea. But, if it works for you, go for it.

I did not say that sellers are able to "force their listings on us." I said that eBay was not giving us the ability to "Exclude" (is the word I use now) users listings from the results presented to us. So, that is pointless.

" We have to open them. " Again, this is about being able to "exclude" certain sellers and their listings from appearing in our results in eBay. It isn't specifically about whether the buyer opens them or not. However, I did mention possible deceptive business practices. Something like that could cause a buyer to open a listing that they would not have opened otherwise which is why it is good for the buyer to have the ability to "exclude" certain sellers results from being shown to the buyer if they choose that. If the buyer knows of a certain seller that uses tricky or deceptive listing practices (which some do) the buyer can choose to not see those deceptive listings by that seller by "excluding" the seller as described above.

"eBay is basically a computer."
This is probably one of the biggest and most naïve understatements made on this form. It stands on it's own.

"I don’t think it can be turned into a nanny for adults."
Another insinuation that buyers interested in having the ability to "exclude" certain sellers are weak or insecure. This is simply a weak attempt at insult and not worth addressing further. Yet, again, it isn't about you or me. But, "you think" or "don't think" whatever you want.

" I personally prefer to take responsibility for which listings or stores I visit."
Congratulations. A person should be very proud of that. Please give yourself a pat on the back. Just be careful to not break your spine. But, this was another insinuation. It insinuates that others do not take responsibility for which listings or stores they visit. Whatever. And yes, I threw back my own little insinuation there. Sorry. I couldn't resist after reading all your insinuations etc.

It's kind of unfortunate that you padded your reply with so many meaningless statements, insinuations, and attempts to insult. Because in the middle of all that jargon you actually provided the solution. So, thank you for providing the solution in the middle of all that other stuff.

Does anyone know how to do the "advanced search" on the phone app?

[tjs_treasures]

Sorry.  But, "Whatever!" to that argument.

Also, the solution was found.  The functionality can be done in a web browser on a computer\laptop.  I don't think it can be done on the phone app though.  If anyone knows how to do it in the phone app, please provide that info.  But, here is how to do it in a web browser on a computer.  The key word is "exclude" not "block".

(A) go to the "Advanced Search" page and then
(B) go to the Sellers section.
(C) Check "Only show items from", (<-This is hard to find in all the options on this page. I had to search for "only show items from" to find it. But, it's there.)
(D) choose "exclude" then enter the seller username(s).
(E) Then hit the blue search button at the bottom of the page.

[myangelandmyprincess]

---

@tjs_treasures wrote:

Sorry.  But, "Whatever!" to that argument.

Also, the solution was found.  The functionality can be done in a web browser on a computer\laptop.  I don't think it can be done on the phone app though.  If anyone knows how to do it in the phone app, please provide that info.  But, here is how to do it in a web browser on a computer.  The key word is "exclude" not "block".

(A) go to the "Advanced Search" page and then
(B) go to the Sellers section.
(C) Check "Only show items from", (<-This is hard to find in all the options on this page. I had to search for "only show items from" to find it. But, it's there.)
(D) choose "exclude" then enter the seller username(s).
(E) Then hit the blue search button at the bottom of the page.

---

To be honest I figured this solution had been given in the previous thread you referred to that you said had a solution marked but that you didn't consider that a real solution. Just based on how your original post had been worded. 

[tjs_treasures]

Sorry.  But, another big "Whatever!" to this reply also.

Also, the solution was found.  So, "Ebay does provide a buyer the feature... for which I argue." ... 

Buffy!  Please let the dog out.  It is tea time.  (Sorry.  An insinuation.  I can't help it now.)

 The functionality can be done in a web browser on a computer\laptop.  I don't think it can be done on the phone app though.  If anyone knows how to do it in the phone app, please provide that info.  But, here is how to do it in a web browser on a computer.  The key word is "exclude" not "block".

(A) go to the "Advanced Search" page and then
(B) go to the Sellers section.
(C) Check "Only show items from", (<-This is hard to find in all the options on this page. I had to search for "only show items from" to find it. But, it's there.)
(D) choose "exclude" then enter the seller username(s).
(E) Then hit the blue search button at the bottom of the page.

[tjs_treasures]

The solution was found.  It's not super convenient.  But, it is there.

The key word is "exclude" not "block" when doing a web search for this.

Also, the functionality can be done in a web browser on a computer\laptop.  But, I don't think it can be done on the phone app though.  I can't find it at least.  If anyone knows how to do it in the phone app, please provide that info.  

Here is how to do it in a web browser on a computer.  

(A) go to the "Advanced Search" page
(B) go to the Sellers section.  (or do the search on the screen like I did in step C below)
(C) Check "Only show items from", (<-This is hard to find in all the options on this page. I had to search for "only show items from" on the screen to find it. But, it's there.)
(D) choose "exclude" then enter the seller username(s).
(E) Then hit the blue search button at the bottom of the page.

[tjs_treasures]

BTW - I called eBay support and they didn't even know about this.  The key word is "exclude" not "block".

Thanks all!

[asset_liquidators]

"There may be a legal issue here."

No, there is no legal issue here.

"Is eBay failing to provide eBay buyers with the ability to protect their self in situations where the buyer may have a valid legal right to having that ability?"

No, ebay does provide a buyer the ability to protect themselves, it is called the back button. 

"Unless eBay provides this full and complete ability to eBay buyers, the only way this would be settled is in a court of law probably by class action law suit."

Good luck with that. By using this site we have already agreed not to participate in class action lawsuits against ebay. Even if a class action were allowed, a frivolous suit with no merit such as this would get thrown out immediately and would probably cost the filer a lot of money since they could get stuck paying ebays attorney fees in addition to their own.

"They may have some risk and liability here."

Again, there is no risk or liability here.

[simba6]

That has been a wanted feature since the start of eBay.  That have never addressed it.  

It might be due to sellers pay a listing fee as they would not be getting their full value if blocked ??

Just a guess however.  But yes, it would be a great feature to have.

[downunder-61]

---

@simba6 wrote:

That has been a wanted feature since the start of eBay.  That have never addressed it.  

It might be due to sellers pay a listing fee as they would not be getting their full value if blocked ??

Just a guess however.  But yes, it would be a great feature to have.

---

I have to respectfully disagree.

If a buyer has had that many issues with bad sellers then they are - 

1. Not making aware of/using correctly the MBG (which is foolproof for a buyer)

2. Not doing due diligence (easy by checking feedback first)

3. Online buying is most likely not suited to them

[soh.maryl]

BTW, when a query here is marked "solved", that does not mean the discussion is closed.

A response to that thread can still be entered. 

[li-272476]

You all respond like redditors. There should absolutely be a function to block sellers. Its easy to implement and there is no reason for there not to be one.