Changes to Buyer Blocks

[wastingtime101]

Heads up to sellers: there have been some changes to how buyer blocks work.

On the Buyer Management page, sellers can add buyer IDs to their Blocked Buyer List. There's a setting on that page called "don't allow blocked buyers to contact me."

In the past, that setting affected both buyers blocked by the BBL and buyers blocked by buyer requirements (location, UPI strikes, etc).

eBay made a change. That setting now applies exclusively to buyers blocked by buyer requirements.

When the 'don't allow blocked buyers to contact me' setting is disabled, it no longer applies to people on your BBL.

If a buyer is on your BBL they are blocked from messaging you, even when there's a recent transaction.

Sellers that choose to allow communications when buyers are blocked are now out of luck when they want to protect their accounts from future purchases while simultaneously communicating with a buyer to work out any issues.

There is another block function which is through eBay messages. When this first rolled out we were told 'block this member' blocked only messages and did not add a buyer to your BBL. Using that function does add a buyer to your BBL as confirmed today by Kyle from the Community Team.

[gurlcat]

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@ajs_coins_and_alchemy wrote:

sometimes I like to just temporarily block buyers if they start a return, and will unblock them after the return is complete and goes smoothly.

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Huh, I wonder what happens if they wrote during the period they were blocked, if you then unblocked them, would their previously-ghosted messages finally drop in your inbox?  

[ajs_coins_and_alchemy]

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@gurlcat wrote:

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@ajs_coins_and_alchemy wrote:

sometimes I like to just temporarily block buyers if they start a return, and will unblock them after the return is complete and goes smoothly.

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Huh, I wonder what happens if they wrote during the period they were blocked, if you then unblocked them, would their previously-ghosted messages finally drop in your inbox?  

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Two great minds think alike @gurlcat , I have also wondered this since I learned of this change.

You know, I will actually raise this a step further ... we have options to automatically (transiently) block buyers if they have purchased X number items in a given time from us, why don't we have the ability to automatically (transiently) block if they have open return cases with us? That's a no-brainer to me ... am I wrong?

[gurlcat]

I'm the wrong person to ask that because (swear I'm not taking this opportunity to brag) I so rarely get a return, because of how clearly I describe and photograph my stuff.  So, when I do get a return I know it is buyer remorse, or rather spender remorse, someone making their money problems my money problems, so I block them and throw away the key, LOL.  I don't need that impulsive-buying-then-regret-having person buying from me ever again.  

[wastingtime101]

This continues to be a problem. I've seen numerous sellers affected by this over the past few months. I've had additional experiences (including 2 weeks ago) where I wanted to block a buyer but couldn't because it also blocks communication. @iamalwaysright had the same issue today with an abusive buyer.

If you don't mind brian_burke@ebay, I'd like to loop you in here and ask if you'll review this discussion and consider sellers' feedback.

It's not OK that eBay took away the seller's choice to block or not block communications with buyers on our BBL.

It's very common for sellers to run into abusive and problematic buyers we want to block from purchases to protect out selling accounts, but keep communications open to provide good customer service as we deal with returns, claims, disputes, post-purchase issues and more.

[mam98031]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

This continues to be a problem. I've seen numerous sellers affected by this over the past few months. I've had additional experiences (including 2 weeks ago) where I wanted to block a buyer but couldn't because it also blocks communication. @iamalwaysright had the same issue today with an abusive buyer.

If you don't mind brian_burke@ebay, I'd like to loop you in here and ask if you'll review this discussion and consider sellers' feedback.

It's not OK that eBay took away the seller's choice to block or not block communications with buyers on our BBL.

It's very common for sellers to run into abusive and problematic buyers we want to block from purchases to protect out selling accounts, but keep communications open to provide good customer service as we deal with returns, claims, disputes, post-purchase issues and more.

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I agree.  These use to be two separate functions, but now they are one and the same and it simply should not be that way, they should be separate.  I know I complained when I learned about this late last year and I know many others that complained too.  It could be that they just wouldn't consider it during the Holidays, hopefully now I hope you can get some attention to what I see as a very serious matter for sellers.

elizabeth@ebay 

kyle@ebay 

devon@ebay 

[iamalwaysright]

Yes I agree. Not sure if this was discussed previously in here, but I tested the system myself just now. And not only does disabling the "don't allow blocked buyers to contact me" toggle not work, but the blocked buyer is "allowed" to send the seller a message without any prompt or notification of blockage. The message successfully gets sent in the buyer's eyes and the message just goes into ebay limbo never arriving to the seller. This is a big issue because now the buyer will accuse the seller of seeing their messages and not responding to them anymore.

[wastingtime101]

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@iamalwaysright wrote:

The message successfully gets sent in the buyer's eyes and the message just goes into ebay limbo never arriving to the seller. This is a big issue because now the buyer will accuse the seller of seeing their messages and not responding to them anymore.

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Which can hurt the seller if the buyer decides to file a payment dispute and use "ignored" messages as "evidence" for their claim.

Or it can escalate a buyer's agitation when they are already unhappy about a return.

Not to mention, sellers that don't know about this 2023 change have no idea their buyers are being ignored.

[devon@ebay]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

This continues to be a problem. I've seen numerous sellers affected by this over the past few months. I've had additional experiences (including 2 weeks ago) where I wanted to block a buyer but couldn't because it also blocks communication. @iamalwaysright had the same issue today with an abusive buyer.

If you don't mind brian_burke@ebay, I'd like to loop you in here and ask if you'll review this discussion and consider sellers' feedback.

It's not OK that eBay took away the seller's choice to block or not block communications with buyers on our BBL.

It's very common for sellers to run into abusive and problematic buyers we want to block from purchases to protect out selling accounts, but keep communications open to provide good customer service as we deal with returns, claims, disputes, post-purchase issues and more.

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I agree.  These use to be two separate functions, but now they are one and the same and it simply should not be that way, they should be separate.  I know I complained when I learned about this late last year and I know many others that complained too.  It could be that they just wouldn't consider it during the Holidays, hopefully now I hope you can get some attention to what I see as a very serious matter for sellers.

elizabeth@ebay 

kyle@ebay 

devon@ebay 

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Hey @mam98031! We will be sure to have this shared over with the team in charge of the blocked buyers list and if there is any insight that we get back that can be share we will be sure to let you know.