Is it Okay to contact a seller about something I'm selling?
So I sell USED empty 35mm film cartridges from my work that people on Ebay reload with new film and sell. I've only been selling these 15 days and I was thinking it might be a good idea reach out to the other sellers on Ebay who will need empty film cartridges for reloading. I guess, I'm now one of their 'suppliers' and they will eventually need more empty 35mm canisters to refill so they can sell their film to everyone else. So, it is okay to just contact a seller and say, "Hey, If ever you need more empty film cartridges, consider me. I'm the new kid on the block." Is that allowed on Ebay or discouraged? Thanks.
14 comments
candd205
·1 year agoIf the price is right, they will find you just based on your eBay listings.
johnrj1226
·1 year agoIf there is a demand for these and a total purchase cost* that they can turn a decent profit margin people will find you. Many sellers are buyers too.
*(item + shipping + sales tax - where applicable)
momtoabeautifuldaughter
·1 year agoDon't do this. It could actually get you permanently banned from selling.
mam98031
·1 year agoTry selling several of them in a Lot on Ebay. See if that brings in any of those other sellers to your listings.
annadryl
·1 year agoThere is no need (and it's not really good form) to try and set up trade relationships outside of your listings and sales. If a buyer had a good experience at a good price point they will find their own way back to your offerings and re-stock when needed.
One thing I might suggest: There should be no reason you don't accept returns. That can invite false claims for refunds and there is no such thing as no refunds. But returns should be rare anyway for things of this nature. Good luck~
wastingtime101
·1 year agoIt's not allowed @youarehomeschooling . I have seen sellers get warnings, and even formal policy violations for doing what you're proposing.
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/member-behavior-policies/membertomember-contact-policy?id=4262
We don't allow our members to send each other spam. "Spam" is an email (or part of an email) that is both unsolicited and commercial in nature.
Unsolicited means the person who received the message didn't request it. Commercial means the message discusses buying, selling, or trading of goods or services.
Some examples of spam include:
- Unsolicited email offers sent to potential buyers
- Email messages sent to a member on a mailing list without that member's prior permission
- Invitations to join a mailing list that aren't related to your eBay Store
- Offers to buy or sell off eBay
- Email sent using eBay Messages (or features such as the Contact member link) to send unsolicited commercial offers
fbusoni
·1 year agoGlad you brought this up; maybe you can shed light on something.
I receive unsolicited "offers" periodically in my eBay message mailbox.
These "offers" are for identical items, being sold by other eBay sellers, that I am selling.
Not sure if these are directly from sellers, or if they are from eBay (acting without the seller's knowledge?).
In any event, I find these intrusive and no different from spam.
Any ideas? Thank you.
mam98031
·1 year ago@fbusoni
If they are coming from a New member, it is far more likely there is some kind of foul play in the air. Report the message.
If they are coming from more seasoned members not so much. But keep in mind, sellers can send offers to another member just because they viewed the item, that may be where they are coming from.
I agree with you. Offers coming from me just viewing something I find annoying. Most times I was just doing some research.
wastingtime101
·1 year agoThose are seller initiated offers @fbusoni , not spam. In some cases sellers are manually sending and in other cases they are automatically sent by eBay based on the seller's offer settings.
You can turn them off in your account settings > communication preferences.
Under Buying Activity, uncheck both "offers to buyers" near the top and "competing offers" at the bottom.
If you still want to receive offers as a buyer, but don't want to receive offers for items you're researching then what you'll need to do is use a different account and/or use a different browser and/or use private browsing mode while not logged in when you research items.
RE: 'they've viewed your listing multiple times' - in some cases buyers are reporting getting offers after viewing only one time.
fbusoni
·1 year ago@wastingtime101
Thanks for your reply, much appreciated. I see that I unchecked one, but not the other.
If you still want to receive offers as a buyer, but don't want to receive offers for items you're researching then what you'll need to do is use a different account and/or use a different browser and/or use private browsing mode while not logged in when you research items.
There is so much about eBay that I do not know or have not thought about. regards
youarehomeschooling
OP1 year agoThank you for responding. Yeah, I wasn't sure if that was okay so that's why I asked. The weird thing is when I was searching for sellers who sell their bulk-loaded film, I started to follow one of them. I thought to myself, "Maybe if I ever need film, I might try one of these bulk-loaders." The next day I get an email with an offer for the film for $1.00 discount each. I wasn't looking to buy *yet* but I did follow him. Somehow he reached out to me - sooooooo, I did decline his offer and just kindly explainted why I looked at his listing and if ever in the future he needed any more empty film canisters, to consider me. He contacted me first - I just replied with a "no thanks...but since you contacted me, then this is why I was looking" kinda response - LOL. I'm so new at this and I found it annoying too. So how is it he can email me with an offer I wasn't wanting (he doesn't know why I'm following the listing) and not get into trouble. Is there an allowable way to contact people without them contacting you first? I'm confused too.
youarehomeschooling
OP1 year agoThank you for that clear information. Since I pretty new here, I was just wondering. You see, I received an email for a lower offer just because I looked at a listing. I viewed a $9.99 listing of bulk loaded film just to see what they are doing with the canisters I sell. The next day I received an email from them offering me to buy for $8.99 when I just glanced at it. I hadn't contacted the seller nor did I even put on in my cart - I was just curious. So then I took the liberty then to email them back - declining the offer - but telling them why I was looking and if they wanted more supplies consider me, but I'm not interested in their offer. Did I do okay? I'm confused - did they do wrong? Is it okay to sent an offer to someone who just viewed it and never contacted them? I may have put them on the watch list too - but only for future use. When is it okay to send lower offers to potential customers and when is it not? Thank you.
wastingtime101
·1 year agoWhat you're referring to is a SIO = Seller Initiated Offer @youarehomeschooling
That's different from unsolicited messages. If you don't want to receive SIO you can turn them off in your account settings > communication preferences.
Under Buying Activity, uncheck both "offers to buyers" near the top and "competing offers" at the bottom.
If you still want to receive offers as a buyer, but don't want to receive offers for items you're researching then what you'll need to do is use a different account and/or use a different browser and/or use private browsing mode while not logged in when you research items.
Bottom line: you can't just randomly message people to solicit sales. As a new seller you do not yet meet eBay's requirements to send SIO. When you do qualify, eBay will notify you. Here's a page about how it works:
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/adding-best-offer-listing-using-reply-offer?id=4144#section4
mam98031
·1 year agoNot really a good idea. Ebay might think you are trying to sell something without listing it on the site and paying the selling fees. They don't like that too much and consider it a pretty serious offense.