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.

[wastingtime101]

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@sin-n-dex wrote:

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

Adding more info thanks to @exoticatropicals who confirmed:

When a seller messages a buyer on their BBL, the messages do go through to the buyer. When the buyer replies to the seller, on the buyer's end it looks like the messages go through, but the seller will never see those messages.

When a buyer initiates messaging to the seller it again looks like the messages go through from the buyer's side, but the seller will never see those messages. The blocked message appears only if the buyer attempts to purchase an item from the seller.

I'm not a fan of this change. I think the seller should control whether or not they want messages from people on their Best Buddy List to come through for a long list of reasons.

The fact that people on your BBL are blocked from messaging you, regardless of your preferences, and to the buyer it looks like the messages are going through - that's even worse. If buyer and seller are trying to work out an issue, buyer will think seller is intentionally ignoring their messages. Seller may want that buyer blocked to prevent purchases, while still maintaining communication about a recent transaction.

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I'm in entire agreement with you. If I have done a transaction with someone who is upset, and I BBL them to keep them from buying more stuff, I should at least be allowed to see their replies while we sort out the current transaction. I have been known to remove someone from the BBL (when they were on their as a precaution to protect my account, but it was just a precaution).

This might explain a few things about why I haven't gotten replies from buyers... I had a couple buyers that gave bad addresses and their stuff came back. I BBL'd them to keep them from buying more stuff with their bad address, but it was just a precaution until I sorted out the issue with the current package. I messaged one buyer to ask for their current address and never heard back... now I know why. They were only BBL'd to keep them from buying more stuff until they updated their address, not for any other reason. I did reach out, but the new change explains why in 2023 I never heard back.

I also had a problem with a buyer who left a negative and I was sorting out a return. I thought I was being ignored because I never got any replies to my messages, but they may have replied and I didn't see it because I blocked them. (I block anyone who's first action is to leave a negative without trying to resolve the problem).

So what does this mean, I can't block anyone unless I really never want to hear from them again? I only block people to stop them from buying, not to stop them from messaging me. My setting was never selected in my profile to block messages from members.

In some cases the reason was very specific and resolvable, but I wasn't going to attempt to resolve it unless they contacted me first to ask why they could no longer buy. Then I could tell them the reason and attempt to work things out.

I really don't like this new change at all... sellers should be in control of how far they want to go to block a member, not have it be decided by eBay.

C.

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kyle@ebay please see above for several use cases where this block caused issues for @sin-n-dex . Thanks!

[wastingtime101]

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@mam98031 wrote:

@sin-n-dex 

Check your site preferences for Buyer Requirements.  You can turn off or on if you want emails from members on your BBL.

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That's incorrect and the entire point of this discussion. Scroll up to post 1 and see for yourself.

We can only block/allow comms from buyers blocked by buyer requirements. If a buyer is on the BBL that setting has no bearing. eBay auto-blocks comms from buyers on the BBL.

[mam98031]

Sometimes it is better to start a new thread.  IMHO

[wastingtime101]

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@mam98031 wrote:

Sometimes it is better to start a new thread.  IMHO

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And we've been actively using this thread to present use cases to Kyle. There's no need to start a new discussion. All of the info is current; nothing is outdated. It's not even a long discussion.

I've requested for mods to lock several of my own old threads when they were bumped, but I disagree that this thread should be locked.

If the topic is old to you, you are free to not read any further.

[mam98031]

There is no need to get snarky.

[wastingtime101]

I don't see any snark.

[kh-phdan]

Hello everyone,

Since this thread has gotten a bit off-topic, please bring the discussion back to the subject of original post.

Thanks!

[mam98031]

I did.  Your closing statement.  

[kh-phdan]

Hi Everyone,

Since this conversation continues to go off-topic, we're going to go ahead and lock this thread.  If you want to discuss this subject again, please create a new thread, but please remember the community guidelines when posting.