Buyer email address?
Just curious, I bought something on Etsy in January and the seller took 6 weeks to ship and when I finally got the items, it didn’t come close to resembling the fotos in the listing. I left a factual one-star review with a photo of what was delivered. Etsy refunded my purchase, not the seller. Next thing I know the seller is sending me emails to my personal account and bypassing the Etsy messaging tool, apparently Etsy gives sellers buyers’ email addresses. That’s insane, who would ever leave a poor review if your gonna open yourself up to harassment by a low-integrity sellers?
My question, is does eBay give sellers buyer’s personal email addresses?
26 comments
simply-the-best-for-you
·5 months agoeBay DID used to give email addresses to people involved in a transaction. They do not anymore.
I don't know about Etsy, but I would NOT conclude that they gave out your email addy. Give me a name & unless it's John Smith or I don't know anything else about you, I can probably find your email addy for free in under 1 minute. As well as your voter party registration, your religion & much more. I'm not kidding.
I had a mechanic I loved & suddenly he disappeared from the business, that one took some effort & about 5 minutes (long time for expert searchers like hubby & I) & we found his phone number, but we weren't sure if it was the right Robert (not his name). Not only was it the right one but he told us his number was unlisted! At first he was angry thinking the new biz owner had given out his phone number, but when we explained how we'd found it, he said that was "fair & square", plus he liked us, so he was helpful😀 But yeah, give me 5 minutes & I'll find out more about you than you ever realized was available. For free. I'm sure more can be found if I was willing to pay. It's creepy how much info is out there. I don't want to know my neighbor's religion or politcal party, I don't care!
grann-4629
·5 months agoI would assume that eBay, like other large companies, sell their email lists to other companies. It's data, which has become very marketable.
house*of*paws
·5 months agoRe the confusion between Etsy and eBay: The OP described a situation they encountered on Etsy … and then asked if eBay handled things in the same way. 🙂
soh.maryl
·5 months agoThank you for that clarification -- guess I did not read carefully enough.
roccotacodad54
·5 months agoJust mark it as spam.....................
stephenmorgan
·5 months agoNo they don't. However after paid Transaction you are allowed to exchange contact information for 15 days. After the 15 days you will get a warning that you are not allowed to exchange information. So unless you provided your eMail during a paid transaction they got it somehow other than by eBay.
stainlessenginecovers
·5 months ago@tex-421 @varebelrose @44012 @ryry-jj @wpt05
Ebay gives the seller the Email Address and the Phone Number.
There's a couple good reasons that info is there:
a.) some carriers use it/require it
b.) Buyers buy things that don't fit their car (compared to what they state the car is or from previous purchases) or are personalized and do not respond to messages so the order cannot be fulfilled and needs to be cancelled/refunded if you can't get the buyer to respond. So, sending an email stating order on hold- I sent you a message through ebay, please read and respond has worked for me at least 1000 times in 15 years.
All a seller has to do is click the 12 digit blue 'order' and off to the right, 'contact info' is there, where a seller then has to hover over to see that info.
@reallynicestamps @kathiec @soh.maryl
The original post was inquiring if sellers can see buyers email on EBAY, as they experienced on Esty.
soh.maryl
·5 months agoThe original message said: "I bought something on Etsy in January" which was the reason I asked.
stainlessenginecovers
·5 months ago@soh.maryl I see someone has already helped clarify the original post, so nuff said.
soh.maryl
·5 months agoI had evidently not seen that clarification when I posted.
Sorry. Thank you for your assistance.
jonathanbrightlight
·5 months ago@stainlessenginecovers
Ebay doesn’t give us sellers the buyer’s email address. They give us a temporary email address that routes to the buyer’s address, but not their actual email address, and importantly, it stops working eventually (I’m not completely sure when, but it disappears from the order details at either 60 or 90 days I believe, so probably about then).
stainlessenginecovers
·5 months ago@jonathanbrightlight yes, they do (also their phone number) and I've sent you the proof in a private message (blacked out buyers info but you can see their REAL name is similar to their "ebay id" and also similar in their email address as many people do and it's a REAL email address and not one of those scrambled ones.
Also, as I stated, I've received many return messages "I got your email so I am responding on these messages as you asked" etc.
jonathanbrightlight
·5 months agoI just responded in that PM, but we never see a true email. It is one ending in members.ebay.com
soh.maryl
·5 months agoYou bought something on Etsy inJanuary, andyou're asking about it on an eBay chat site?
reallynicestamps
·5 months agoWhy are you asking about etsy on eBay?
While eBay does not give out member's email addresses, they may appear on shipping labels from some companies, or they can be exchanged after a purchase by the members in the transaction.
varebelrose
·5 months agoThe seller already had your name and address, a google search could easily give your current email address.
wpt05
·5 months ago@tex-421
There is no need for any seller to have your email as eBay wants all communication between buyer and seller to be through eBay Messages.
Member-to-member contact policy | eBay
"We don't allow our members to:"
"Exchange any personal information (except names), including email addresses, phone numbers, payment information, social media links or accounts, or other contact information"
ryry-jj
·5 months agoAt one time, eBay showed your email, but not recently. The email is an "eBay" internal code that just lets member contact each other through eBay.
Also, in the OP situation, its just an email, ignore it...report it as spam. After all, they mailed you an item so they have your street address too.
tex-421
OP5 months agoI’ve been using eBay for over 25 years and I’ve never received an email directly from either a buyer or seller. I’m thinking I’ll close my Etsy account, it gives me the creeps thinking about what other private information they disclose to whomever wants it.
glenvonnie
·5 months agoUnfortunately, that horse is out of the barn. Somebody, and countless more somebodies, worldwide, already know more about you than you do.
Every business, institution, and even the government collect information about you and sell it.
It's a total waste of time to try to hide anything, I just lie a lot. I'm worth $100 billion, own farms, ranches, businesses, have five Masters degrees, 14 kids, 6 wives, homes and businesses in foreign countries, belong to every political party, six Rolexes, I am a retired Lt General in the Army, various elected officials, law enforcement officers , professors, scientists, and use government officials as references including presidents.
I get an ad from MS on every email, in every email folder, I report them all as offensive to drive the AI in circles.
If I go to a doctor, or even the VA Clinic, as soon as I get home I'm getting emails from companies offering me the products or medications that i was just prescribed or that were ordered for me for the exact same conditions they were prescribed for and ordered for.
How would they know that I was just prescribed insulin and Ozempic?
pickapaper
·5 months ago@glenvonnie
You are absolutely correct. It just amazes me sometimes about emails and advertisements I get after a visit to a doctor or a search about something on the internet.
I Googled myself one day and found so much misinformation, it was ridiculous. One site had my neighbor as the owner of my house. Another had my mother as owner of my house. Have no idea where "they" might have gotten that because neither have ever had anything to do with my property.
One place that really bothers me is FB. I don't "do" FB but once in a while, I will look to see if a certain person is on there. Sometimes I just want to know if that person is still alive (I'm old and a lot of old acquaintances are no longer living) or maybe check on someone I heard about. Next thing I know, I'm getting a "friend request" from that person. Maybe I don't want that person to know I've been looking at their FB page. FB says they don't alert people but it sure looks like they do.
kathiec
·5 months agoI'm completely confused. In both your original post and here you're jumping back and forth between eBay and Etsy. You realize they're two completely different platforms, right?
grann-4629
·5 months agoI have received email from other sellers, but not from eBay directly, but from members of this forum, which is eBay's playground.
stephenmorgan
·5 months agoWere these eMails directly from a person's personal eMail account or were they thru eBay Massages who then forwarded it to your personal eMail?
You can get eMails from eBay members but it will come thru eBay Messaging and forwarded to your eMail. You will not know their actual eMail address and to answer their eMail you will have to do it thru eBay.
The only time you are allowed to exchange contact information is within 15 days of a paid transaction.
grann-4629
·5 months ago@stephenmorgan You're right, I think! These emails that come to my email address also show up on my eBay messages.
Thanks for clarification.
44012
·5 months agoI am not aware that seller's or buyer's email addresses are disclosed.
The communications go through ebay's messaging system as far as I have experienced.
I have never received an email or a text in all the years I have been on ebay, buying and selling.