eBay

chrisbog · ‎02-25-2018

I was recently contacted by a seller that wanted to purchase an item outside of ebay. Actually, this happened to me twice recently. However, I received a letter from Ebay (see below). I'm not sure why I received this because I wanted to report the people but there is no way to report them. Does anyone have experience with this? I don't want to ruin my name on Ebay, but I was contacted by someone else. I'm not sure why I got this.

We’re writing to let you know that activity on your account may not be following an important eBay policy that requires all transactions and payments to be completed on eBay. Offers to buy or sell outside of eBay aren't allowed. This includes:

- Offering or requesting contact information or links within a member-to-member message without a recent transaction
- Displaying contact information or links in a listing except as allowed in the policy or required by law

We understand that you might not have known about these policies. At this time, no restrictions are being placed on your account. However all applicable fees for the item(s) where this activity occurred still apply. We encourage you to review the details of the policy to understand what you can and can’t do. During the next 3 days, please make sure your selling activities follow these guidelines. If you don't, your account(s) may be subject to a range of actions, including:

- Final value fees may be assessed when you have offers to sell outside of eBay, even if the item didn't actually sell.
- You won’t be able to list or buy for up to 7 days.
- Some or all of your fixed price listings may be hidden from search results for 7 days, and fees won't be refunded.
- You won’t be able to send or receive messages with eBay members unless you have a recent transaction.

coolections · ‎02-25-2018

@emerald40wrote:
Yes, ebay is getting very strict about these types of requests. And they are informing both the seller and buyer that it is not allowed. If you get another request for selling someting off of ebay, do not reply. Delete and block.

@chrisbog Actually even though it is OK to do it that way, it is not the best way to go about doing it. Reason being if for any reason you need to cancel your item Ebay will take that as an outside sale. It is always best to reply letting the buyer know you will NOT take a transaction off Ebay. Let them know that asking about it can be a violation of Ebay's policies and the buyer can be booted for doing so. By replying it makes it cut and dry you will not do an off site transactions.

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emerald40 · ‎02-25-2018

Yes, ebay is getting very strict about these types of requests. And they are informing both the seller and buyer that it is not allowed.

If you get another request for selling someting off of ebay, do not reply.

Delete and block.

chrisbog · ‎02-25-2018

OK Thanks!

city*satins · ‎02-25-2018

I don't know why eBay feels that it has to festoon their message with dire threats of consequences and imply that they're watching you and you better smarten up and fly straight or else.

We've been told by eBay staff that the message is simply a warning and not a threat, but it smacks of threats and eBay staff have even suggested that as sellers, it's supposedly OUR JOB to educate the buyers.

eBay seems to think this is a swell email and doesn't show any signs of recognizing how it comes across to the seller who receives it.

pfft

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slippinjimmy · ‎02-25-2018

@city*satinswrote:
I don't know why eBay feels that it has to festoon their message with dire threats of consequences and imply that they're watching you and you better smarten up and fly straight or else.

pfft

Because many new/naive sellers get suckered by these requests to take things off eBay and once that happens eBay cannot do anything to help them when they get ripped off.

There have recently been people posting on this board about this type of off-eBay transaction that in spite of dozens of posters telling them they are going to get burned they still seem intent on completing this type of transaction.

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep

Anonymous · ‎02-25-2018

Ebay threatens its sellers because they do not like it when sellers bypass eBay to make a sale. Simple as that. From their perspective, they believe that it's unfair to many other sellers who make their sales through eBay. And the rest should be easy for a seller to figure out since that seller will not have to pay any fees to eBay.

city*satins · ‎02-25-2018

@Anonymouswrote:
Ebay threatens its sellers because they do not like it when sellers bypass eBay to make a sale. Simple as that. From their perspective, they believe that it's unfair to many other sellers who make their sales through eBay.

I totally understand that eBay doesn't want that to happen. I just don't like the way they take an attitude like Jack Byrnes in MEET THE PARENTS with the seller - who hasn't done anything wrong.

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Anonymous · ‎02-25-2018

Yeah, I agree with you on that point. I guess eBay doesn't care if it messes up the sellers. After all, they are already on the side of buyers, not the sellers. eBay loves to go after its sellers and letting buyers get away with wrongdoings.

castlemagicmemories · ‎02-25-2018

@chrisbogwrote:
OK Thanks!

Actually it has been said several times by the Blues who frequent this Board that you need to respond to the message with with, I only sell and communicate on ebay.

This is supposed to cover you as CS can see what your intentions were.

castlemagicmemories · ‎02-25-2018

Each party involved gets that email. Ebay notes it on your account. It is just a warning. The message is to inform both parties of policy and I believe it is noted on your account so if the situation arises again, they have a record that shows you were made aware of policy and possible future sanctions (for both buyer and seller).

A Blue, Brian, I believe, stated in a recent Chat that they don't expect the seller to educate the buyer. Actually the buyer gets a message just like you do, informing one of policy, but the contact form states in three places that exchanging contact info is not allowed.

coolections · ‎02-25-2018

@emerald40wrote:
Yes, ebay is getting very strict about these types of requests. And they are informing both the seller and buyer that it is not allowed. If you get another request for selling someting off of ebay, do not reply. Delete and block.

@chrisbog Actually even though it is OK to do it that way, it is not the best way to go about doing it. Reason being if for any reason you need to cancel your item Ebay will take that as an outside sale. It is always best to reply letting the buyer know you will NOT take a transaction off Ebay. Let them know that asking about it can be a violation of Ebay's policies and the buyer can be booted for doing so. By replying it makes it cut and dry you will not do an off site transactions.

emerald40 · ‎02-26-2018

@coolectionswrote:
@emerald40wrote:
Yes, ebay is getting very strict about these types of requests. And they are informing both the seller and buyer that it is not allowed. If you get another request for selling someting off of ebay, do not reply. Delete and block.
@chrisbog Actually even though it is OK to do it that way, it is not the best way to go about doing it. Reason being if for any reason you need to cancel your item Ebay will take that as an outside sale. It is always best to reply letting the buyer know you will NOT take a transaction off Ebay. Let them know that asking about it can be a violation of Ebay's policies and the buyer can be booted for doing so. By replying it makes it cut and dry you will not do an off site transactions.

And saying that could also be for show, whereas you can slip a cryptic message to your buyer on how to contact you.

I will still continue to do it my way, delete the message and no response. And if it happens again, block him.

Blocking should be obvious to ebay that you are doing nothing wrong.

castlemagicmemories · ‎02-26-2018

Emerald, with all due respect, if it were obvious to Ebay, they would not have stated several times that you need to send the buyer a message stating you only sell and communicate ON ebay.

The Blues have said that way, there is NO doubt in their mind what you have been doing and what your intentions are/were.

castlemagicmemories · ‎02-26-2018

@emerald40wrote:
@coolectionswrote:
@emerald40wrote:
Yes, ebay is getting very strict about these types of requests. And they are informing both the seller and buyer that it is not allowed. If you get another request for selling someting off of ebay, do not reply. Delete and block.
@chrisbog Actually even though it is OK to do it that way, it is not the best way to go about doing it. Reason being if for any reason you need to cancel your item Ebay will take that as an outside sale. It is always best to reply letting the buyer know you will NOT take a transaction off Ebay. Let them know that asking about it can be a violation of Ebay's policies and the buyer can be booted for doing so. By replying it makes it cut and dry you will not do an off site transactions.
And saying that could also be for show, whereas you can slip a cryptic message to your buyer on how to contact you.

I will still continue to do it my way, delete the message and no response. And if it happens again, block him.

Blocking should be obvious to ebay that you are doing nothing wrong.

in reply to 07-14-2017 10:57:32 AM

@becksrelics wrote:
So , many sellers are concerned about bots gone wild , flagging ebay messages for offsite transactions...some sellers are getting suspended , restricted .
tyler@ebay trinton@ebay alan@ebay points of clarification...

If a buyer asks a question on an item..for example-"will you take 35 ?" or "is x still available" (closed listing) or "I cant make my paypal work" or "I need help with my x , call me 123 4567" ...AND that listing ends due to 1. It being sold somewhere else, ie Bonanza, Shopify etc OR 2. The item gets ended by seller due to it being listed incorrectly , breaks , misplaced etc..NOT a natural ending /time runs out...
Will the seller get a violation , ie listing must've sold off ebay due to the question and ending of the listing ?
Any more precautions , suggestions , points of clarification appreciated, thanks! (yes I have read what was previously stated)

When any action is taken on an account, we review the communication between both parties and the surrounding details of the listing to see if there is reason to believe the transaction was taken off eBay. I recommend that sellers make it clear to buyers that they will only sell through the eBay site so we can see this as a part of any needed investigation. While I cannot go into some of the specifics you have listed as going into too much detail on our process can lead to exploitation, I can confirm that we understand there are times where a buyer requests an off site sale and by coincidence, the item is damaged or sold on another venue afterwards. While these instances should be few and far between, customer service can review any specific situations you have had where you feel action was taken incorrectly.

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