Blocked bidder rules
Summary: The discussion centers around a misunderstanding regarding eBay's policy on guest purchases when a user is blocked. simba6 expresses doubt on whether making a purchase as a guest is appropriate after being blocked by a seller. kathiec and others discuss how the current policy does not specifically address guest purchases, suggesting it might be an oversight. Multiple participants advise against trying to circumvent a block, mentioning potential consequences if caught. albertabrightalberta shares a confirmation from an eBay representative clarifying that using guest checkout to get around a block is not allowed, even though it's not explicitly stated in current policies. Overall, the consensus is to err on the side of caution and respect seller blocks.
Customer service said I could purchase as a guest from a seller that blocked me without breaking the rules. That does not seem right.
simba6
OP1 week agoI never intended to make such a purchase. Was just pointing out what I was told.
albertabrightalberta
·1 week ago@janet9988 @kathiec
I'm not sure whether you saw my post in which I'd copied a response from "the team" (and specifically from Kyle) when I asked about this specific thread.
I got permission from @kyle@ebay to copy his reply to my question:
janet9988
·1 week agoI would guess that it would be hard to report the customer service agent who gave the wrong advice.
stainlessenginecovers
·1 week agoThat's why I keep a list of EVERYONE on it; name, street/city/state so if they 'circumvent' I just cancel/refund and then block that 'new' name. Not sure if blocks work on guest accounts as I've only had it happen 3ish times.
airsheep
·1 week agoI think you are right to err on the side of caution. Ebay has been known to rely on its own interpretation of the rules, and this sounds like a place where they could go either way, depending on the phase of the moon and if they had a bad burrito last night. Why chance 'um?
broto_64
·1 week agoWhat I find irritating is seeing items in search results from a seller who has blocked me... If I'm logged in, ebay should hide those items, since that seller clearly doesn't want my business - When such an item still shows up and I go to buy it, I only find out about the block when I get ready to pay (in fact actually paying, then it errors out on me) - This kind of thing doesn't put me in a good place mentally as it feels like a knife being twisted to remind me that I'm such a bad bad buyer.
albertabrightalberta
·1 week ago · EditedBecause of the unclear wording of the unwelcome buyer policy, I asked the team for a straight answer to this question and @kyle@ebay responded and allowed me to copy his reply.
"Hey @albertabrightalberta that's a great question. While it may not be called out explicitly in the help pages that were being cited in the thread, using guest checkout to circumvent a BBL is still circumvention that is not allowed and should be reported."
Hopefully the policy will get the updated wording it needs to clarify and specifically address that particular violation of the unwelcome buyer policy.
robot-hands
·1 week agoBeing wrong or right has no bearing on the matter.
soh.maryl
·2 weeks agoIf you have a feeling that it's wrong, why even ask? The seller has made it pretty plain that they don't want you as a buyer.
nut4barbie001
·2 weeks agoIt's not right and what a terrible thing to encourage with members that want to do the right thing and do follow rules. If the seller that blocked you has your info documented to keep track of for the future and you're the same person regardless of your buying as a guest, they just have to report you and ebay will determine the consequence of you breaking that rule. Some sellers know how to track IP addresses and in that case, they don't even need to supply your personal info when filing a complaint. I've caught more that a few blocked members in my 25+ years here trying everything they can think of to get around it my blocks and the majority were caught through IP addresses. In fact, if this rule is violated enough times, they don't shut your member ID's down, they shut down the entire IP address to keep you from doing it ever again. If you do make the purchase ebay monitors the entire sale until the very end so you better leave stellar fb for that seller so ebay will then leave it alone. Ebay then advises the seller to complete the transaction if it's been paid for regardless, they want to be sure the seller has clean hands as well. If you do anything negative whatsoever, they'll violate you for disrupting seller transactions, since you broke the rule they automatically assume you're willing to do anything your and you'll have no justification for your actions regardless of where your advice came from. I hope you documented the cs rep, if not you should always do so. I hope this helps and I'm glad you inquired elsewhere. That rep's advice was utter bologna.
kathiec
·2 weeks agoWhile I agree that it's poor form to try to circumvent a seller's blocks, the rep's advice wasn't "utter bologna". If you actually read the current policy on circumventing blocks it only deals with new or existing accounts. Guest purchases are neither, thus the policy is mute on their use. Perhaps it's an unintended loophole, but it's there.
nut4barbie001
·2 weeks agoTechnically when you register as "guest" you are creating another account. As I said, they don't go by user ID, they go by your actual name, address and anything else that identifies the person. A person can interpret a lot of things in a way to support one's agenda according to laws, the Bible and a slew of other so called 'contacts', but it's the way they are implimented that matters and that's exactly how ebay impliments this. When a seller turns a buyer in for this, ebay expects the seller to provide them with the name, address and anything else they can find to prove the seller knows exactly who it is, that's even more important than providing the ID's. And please don't think I'm saying you're intending to support a personal agenda, I'm just stating what's a fact of life and this one is. When you're as large as ebay, you can pretty much do whatever you'd like and in this particular case I'm glad they impliment it as they do. But most people don't have the funds or knowledge to fight against what they feel has slighted them and what's truly intended by their statements. From experience dealing with my own nuisence blocked buyer's, that's exactly how they impliment when circumventing buyer requirements. This is now getting more complicated than I'm sure any of us wants it to be so I'll just repeat what I already said and that is the cs rep is handing out some very bad and untrue advice that one should not take to heart. Peace and have a great Sunday evening.
kathiec
·2 weeks agoNo matter how huge a wall of unbroken text you create the fact is that no, you don't create an account when you make a guest purchase. EBay quite clearly states this in every communication surrounding guest purchases. As stated in another response, eBay's not including guest purchases in the policy may be a result of the fact that guest purchases didn't exist when the policy was made. So again, CS is giving information based on what the policy is, not what you think it should be. If that upsets you, take it up with eBay.
nut4barbie001
·1 week agoNot trying to cover up a thing with a huge wall of words. As I said myself, this became more than anyone probably wanted it to be. I was only trying to explain it enough for others to be able to make a well informed judgement before moving forward. I'll just borrow something wise from another very smart ebayer above. "I can explain it to you but I can't understand it for you." - albertabrightalberta. I also now see where he went to management to get a confirmation and just as we've been saying all along, you will have a problem if using guest services to circumvent being blocked. Again, your identifying info is what they look for as well as any other ID's a seller can discover. But it's not my intention to try and sway you. You're welcome to do anything you desire, just pray you don't find any of the many sellers out there that are bright enough to catch you. No one will be there to say "told you so" while you're trying to find what you desire elsewhere. And please, don't pass your misinformation to others. Hopefully we're here to help rather than to sabotage.
albertabrightalberta
·2 weeks ago@simba6
CS gave you bad information.
You cannot use another ID in order to circumvent a block.
From the abusive buyer policy:
Acceptable buying practices include adherence to the following policies.
Using multiple accounts: Registering new accounts or using other existing accounts to avoid buying restrictions, limits, or other policy consequences is not allowed. See our Multiple accounts policy for more information.
Full abusive buyer policy:
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/rules-policies-buyers/abusive-buyer-policy?id=4374&st=3&pos=4&query=Abusive%20buyer%20policy&intent=blocked%20buyer&lucenceai=lucenceai&docId=HELP1318
There's a similar rule in the multiple accounts policy:
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/identity-policies/multiple-accounts-policy?id=4232
Not allowed
Registering new accounts or using other existing accounts to avoid buying and selling restrictions or limits or other policy consequences.
janet9988
·2 weeks agoGuest purchases do not fall under other existing accounts.
kathiec
·2 weeks agoNo, for once CS didn't give bad information. The policy that you cite (and that I previously cited) is mute on the issue of guest purchases, which definitely do not fall under the umbrella of a "new or existing account". In fact, they're not an account at all. I'm perfectly willing to chalk it up to sloppy writing of the policy, but sloppy writing doesn't mean you get to read into it things that aren't there.
mudshark61369
·2 weeks ago@simba6 ,
If you try buying as a guest you may get caught trying to circumvent the seller's block if your ISP and/or home address and financial info is recognized by ebay's computers. Unless the item is very rare and the only one available on ebay, I wouldn't risk having my account suspended.
kathiec
·2 weeks ago · Edited@mudshark61369
EBay policy is silent on making a guest purchase to circumvent a block, so I don't see how they can take action on a prohibition that doesn't exist. The current policy only applies to registering new accounts.
simba6
OP2 weeks agoSuppose you used an account you already had? Not a new one? I do agree it's best not to get cute with the rules.
#retracts claws#
kathiec
·2 weeks agoI guess I don't understand why you would want to make a purchase from a seller who has clearly stated they don't want your business? If a brick-and-mortar store banned you would you put on a disguise to try to get in? Maybe a fright wig and Groucho glasses?
simba6
OP2 weeks agoI did not intend to buy. It just got me thinking about the rules.
nut4barbie001
·2 weeks agoIt's not worth arguing with you but I'd be careful in making assumptions. They also shut down family members, friends, etc for purchasing for blocked members even if they live around the corner from you. If the seller can give them the personal info they've found upon researching, ebay will act upon it whether you're using your ebay ID or a temp guest registration.
simba6
OP2 weeks agoI was not going to try that. As a feline, I noticed guest purchases were not included.
nut4barbie001
·2 weeks agoYou're correct. Ebay doesn't care about the blocked ID, they care about the name, address, any other personal info and IP addresses of the purchaser. You can not use the guest option to make breaking the rules non existant.
kathiec
·2 weeks agoTechnically that is apparently true. The policy states that "registering new accounts to avoid buying and selling restrictions or limits, or other policy consequences, is not allowed on eBay." So while the policy is mute on purchasing as a guest it seems clear that it's poor form to use a guest account to purchase from a seller who doesn't want your business.
albertabrightalberta
·2 weeks agoSince I don't have positive proof of this, I have a guess as to why the policy doesn't specifically mention guest accounts.
It looks like the policy hasn't been updated since the time ebay began allowing guest purchases. (Previously, any buyer had to have an account in order to buy on ebay.)
Is it possible that the reason the policy doesn't specifically restrict or mention guest purchases is that the policy hasn't been updated to include them?
kathiec
·2 weeks agoI think that may very well be the case. It's a huge loophole that eBay should definitely address. But until they do, CS is giving out the correct information.