Is this a violation?

[richard1rst]

eBay’s policy on outside sales states “Using member contact information obtained from eBay or using any eBay system to offer to sell ANY LISTED ITEM outside of eBay”

If someone who bought from you before asks if you have a spare part available, one that you DO NOT and NEVER HAD listed on eBay, and in an effort to accommodate a previous buyer, you offer it to them by sending an invoice through Paypal. Is that a violation? And if it is then how should it be handled? (The Send an Offer button was not present)

Remember, this is a $6.00 spare part I just happen to have available and I DO NOT HAVE IT LISTED on eBay.

[orangehound]

Yep ... amazingly, that violates the eBay terms of service.

(A lot of people don't abide by that policy, however).

[thallidguy]

Isn't the key sticking point here using eBay's message system to arrange the sale?

I've arranged transactions like that through email, for items that I do not have listed on eBay, with buyers who first discovered me through eBay (and of course, had my email addy from our previous transaction).

It boggles me that eBay would even try to claim jurisdiction over a transaction that never touched their system just because buyer and seller first connected over eBay.

[mg152]

Actually according to the weekly chat, contact info can be used anyway people want to use it after the transaction is complete

[mg152]

They don’t. The response is not correct

[coolections]

I an surprised you had to ask but YES that is an extreme violation of Ebay's policies. What you would have to do is LIST the item and then tell the buyer it is LISTED and if they choose, they will purchase it.

[a_c_green · Accepted solution]

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wrote:

eBay’s policy on outside sales states “Using member contact information obtained from eBay or using any eBay system to offer to sell ANY LISTED ITEM outside of eBay”

If someone who bought from you before asks if you have a spare part available, one that you DO NOT and NEVER HAD listed on eBay, and in an effort to accommodate a previous buyer, you offer it to them by sending an invoice through Paypal. Is that a violation?

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No. You are not taking a listed item off eBay. You have a pre-existing business relationship and can conduct future business however you like, including fulfilling a request initiated by the buyer for an item that you never listed here.

You should, however, take future communication on that topic to email so as to not set off a false alarm with the bots, which could ruin your whole day. You got the buyer's email address via his previous payment, so use that. If he wants a PayPal invoice for the item, you can certainly send him one through your PayPal account directly.

To reiterate, you are not violating a rule by entertaining a future sale with a pre-existing customer, but you should not be communicating through eBay about it unless you want to arrange the sale here as well.

[richard1rst]

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wrote:

I an surprised you had to ask but YES that is an extreme violation of Ebay's policies. What you would have to do is LIST the item and then tell the buyer it is LISTED and if they choose, they will purchase it.

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I thought of that but if I only have one available and if someone beats my buyer to it then I have raised their hopes for no good reason.

And again eBay's policy only makes reference to items which are already listed on eBay. This isn't, never was and never will be..

[coolections]

You could raise the price and add best offer. Only accept your buyer's offer.

[sharingtheland]

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wrote:

I an surprised you had to ask but YES that is an extreme violation of Ebay's policies. What you would have to do is LIST the item and then tell the buyer it is LISTED and if they choose, they will purchase it.

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Oh please ... ebay can't extremely violate anyone over the sale of an item that was never listed here.

I agree that using ebay messages is not a good idea but buyers don't know that.  As soon as the buyer contacted me, I would have used other methods to get back to her/him.

[thallidguy]

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To reiterate, you are not violating a rule by entertaining a future sale with a pre-existing customer, but you should not be communicating through eBay about it unless you want to arrange the sale here as well.

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That's what I thought. It comes down to using their message system. And I can understand why they would resent members using their resources if they don't get a cut of the action. No one likes being played for a chump.

But what I and a trading partner do is not eBay's business at all as long as we're not using eBay's resources and not touching their system. I mean, I send PayPal invoices all the time on business that has nothing to do with eBay — like people who want in on one of my Kickstarter campaigns, but didn't discover it until it was over. How's eBay going to claim any authority over that?

[missjen831]

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To reiterate, you are not violating a rule by entertaining a future sale with a pre-existing customer, but you should not be communicating through eBay about it unless you want to arrange the sale here as well.

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That's what I thought. It comes down to using their message system. And I can understand why they would resent members using their resources if they don't get a cut of the action. No one likes being played for a chump.

But what I and a trading partner do is not eBay's business at all as long as we're not using eBay's resources and not touching their system. I mean, I send PayPal invoices all the time on business that has nothing to do with eBay — like people who want in on one of my Kickstarter campaigns, but didn't discover it until it was over. How's eBay going to claim any authority over that?

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It all comes down to this.....whether eBay likes it it not, they do not own the relationship between you and your buyer. Once a buyer buys from you, there is no law or eBay policy that says he can only ever buy from you ON eBay. It really boggles my mind that sellers are on this thread saying that sending a buyer a PayPal invoice for an item NOT LISTED ON EBAY its a huge violation. How can it violate the off-eBay policy when the item isn’t on eBay?

[chipper01work]

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wrote:

I an surprised you had to ask but YES that is an extreme violation of Ebay's policies. What you would have to do is LIST the item and then tell the buyer it is LISTED and if they choose, they will purchase it.

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So according to you once you buy or sell a single thing on eBay they can lay claim to 10% of everything you own? Give me a break! Buyers and sellers are NOT ebay's property. eBay is entitled to 10% of the items that are listed on eBay and sold due to that item being listed on eBay. The are entitled to nothing else regardless of what they tell you.

[lost-lizard-trading-company]

I don't see where it makes any difference whether the item is / is not listed on eBay.  Lots of sellers have some or all of their inventory on multiple channels. 

If I am listing the same item on eBay, Amazon and my own website, there should be no eBay claim on a sale as long as no buyer / seller contact was made through eBay communication.  There are, however, consequences for sales made on one channel and then unavailable on another channel (eg out of stock defects).  

Some channels charge a fee for items the channel relists to another channel, and then are sold on that channel.  Eg. Bonanza will list all of my inventory on eBay and manage it on both eBay and Bonanza.  I have an agreement with Bonanza that if I sell on eBay, I will submit a small fee to Bonanza.  Bonanza can tell that the item was sold or otherwise removed and charges appropriately.

[coolections]

Looks like someone has things twisted. OF COURSE anyone can sell anything to anybody at any time as long as you DON'T use Ebay. That is a no brainer.