Legality and technical feasibility of sharing blocked buyers list

[sagemontco]

Just reeling from another lost $500 from a scam. Thinking about how to avoid future losses, the sort of impossible situation eBay is in trying to tell who is scamming who. It occurred to me that I have a network of a few sellers I trust, each with their own blocked buyer list. What is to prevent us from sharing those lists to cut down the losses, does it violates eBays policies? Is it technically feasible to modify the BBL with the eBay API? Are there other legal entities that might have an issue?

Anybody have thoughts on this?

[robbie31415]

The legality of it would be based on eBay's privacy policy. Sharing such information could be a breach of such policy, which is a legal binding contract. Governments have cracked down on companies that have abused their privacy policies where customers information has been given to others without permission.

A lawyer would be required to comb over the legal verbiage to determine the legality of such actions.

[dbfolks166mt]

     There are already a couple of independent sites out there. I posted a link to them in response to one post and got a slap on the wrist, was suspended from the forum for several days and my post was removed. The sites are not too hard to find using Google search. As to the accuracy of those sites it is pretty much a he said she said situation. 

     Those sites are 100% independent of eBay and there is no private information only account names and the issues. 

[robbie31415]

Ebay obfuscates usernames, and in most cases are only clear to the actual seller.

Referring to them as only usernames doesn't seem completely appropriate.

Nor does sharing them with others who aren't intended to have them.

[fashunu4eeuh]

Trying to stave off scammers by attempting to identify them would be very difficult if not impossible. Sharing lists would get names, but no guarantee of safety from doing so. It is simple enough to open a new account to get around a block list.

In the 15 years of selling here, i have never been defrauded by a buyer. To minimize my risk, i avoid listing anything in high fraud categories: electronics, tech such as pc’s, tablets, smartphones, gaming items, luxury designer things like handbags and sneakers. In addition, high-value items being sold by newer buyers can be targets of scammers.

To avoid bogus Money Back Guarantee cases, i offer 30-day free returns, but my overall return history is very minimal, about one return per every 2-year time frame. I also spend extra time describing my goods in Item Specifics and Descriptions so there are no surprises for buyers.

But the most important thing i do to minimize fraud is to spend time learning eBay policies and procedures. Sellers need to be as well-versed in policy as scammers are. Knowing how eBay works will help prevent mistakes that can play into scammer hands.

Good luck to you moving forward.

PS—By the way—you stated the buyer purchased 5 units and then only want refunds for 3? Was the order a set or bundled? In eBay policy, buyer must return the entire order of bundled goods to be eligible for a return. See link below:

”How to return multiple items

How you request the return depends on how you bought them.

• Sets and bundled items – You need to return the whole lot. For example, if you bought a set of paintbrushes, you can't return just one of them.
• Multiples of the same item – You can return some or all of them, but you can only open one return for the order. For example, if you bought five t-shirts from one listing, you can return two, but you won't be able to return the other three later.
• Combined purchases from the same seller – You can return each item individually. For example, you bought three different books from the seller's store and paid for them together at checkout. You need to open a separate request for each book, because they came from different listings.”

https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/returns-refunds/returning-item?id=4041

[mam98031]

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@sagemontco wrote:

Just reeling from another lost $500 from a scam. Thinking about how to avoid future losses, the sort of impossible situation eBay is in trying to tell who is scamming who. It occurred to me that I have a network of a few sellers I trust, each with their own blocked buyer list. What is to prevent us from sharing those lists to cut down the losses, does it violates eBays policies? Is it technically feasible to modify the BBL with the eBay API? Are there other legal entities that might have an issue?

Anybody have thoughts on this?

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Do you find that you often have buyers in common with your friends?  With 132 million active buyers, it is rather unusual for this to happen.  You can only have 5,000 on your BBL.  If you collected names from other sellers, you may fill that up quickly with IDs that likely would have never purchased from you.  Then what will you do?

[slyders_finds]

Years ago I found a EBay buyer blacklist. It was very basic like an early 90s website. It just had their ID name and a basic problem listed like "chronic returns" or "OCD picky". I guess you could start an IG page, but probably wouldn't be seen by many. 

[mam98031]

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@slyders_finds wrote:

Years ago I found a EBay buyer blacklist. It was very basic like an early 90s website. It just had their ID name and a basic problem listed like "chronic returns" or "OCD picky". I guess you could start an IG page, but probably wouldn't be seen by many. 

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There were tons of problems with sites like that.  It was easily abused.  Some would add members to that list just because they didn't like them or wanted to curb them for many reason, many were not anywhere near honest.  And no one was monitoring it for truthfulness so anyone could post whatever they wanted.

[isaiah53-57]

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@sagemontco wrote:

Isaiah53-57 where did you end up selling besides eBay? For the amount we lose to fraud we are close some months to being able to have a lease for a storefront. I really don’t want to do that for many reasons.

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@sagemontco

Well I took a Part Time Supervisors job at UPS to initially take up the slack which I should have done a long time before - Even when we were selling full time on ebay - The health insurance and savings/retirement programs are incredible.

We mainly deal with collectibles, art, toys, comics, shoes - We decided to quit selling online due to fees and the labor intensive time it takes to list, manage, sell and ship items - We can keep more money in our pocket with A WHOLE LOT LESS effort and risk - We use FB, local venues, fairs, shows, events etc and we have grown a large client base from past sales - We go to 2 Christmas fairs in our area each year and sell out a huge amount of new toy inventory and have brought more each year for the last 4 years - We have been one of, if not the main draw at the two shows for several years...

We keep aside our most valuable items as investments, awaiting a time when it proves to be worth selling online again at some point in the future - It will likely continue to get worse until the situation demands change - Won't get there until the masses quit "adapting to"(as they like to call it here) the exploitations and unfair policies that continue to be dictated with worsening conditions.. If that never happens we'll likely take them to higher end auction houses and be guaranteed no losses due to theft and fraud.

[dbfolks166mt]

Ebay obfuscates usernames, and in most cases are only clear to the actual seller.  Exactly

Referring to them as only usernames doesn't seem completely appropriate.

Nor does sharing them with others who aren't intended to have them.

     There is little entitlement on the internet with regards to personal information. ID's certainly are not protected or I would not get the amount of junk email and telemarketing calls that I receive despite being on the national do not all registry. The entries in/on the sites are done by individual sellers along with information regarding the issue. 

     What is posted on those sites is about as appropriate as some of the buyer feedback and the sellers inability to post negative feedback. Sellers have no other means to try to reduce their risk. 

[dbfolks166mt]

Years ago I found a EBay buyer blacklist. It was very basic like an early 90s website. It just had their ID name and a basic problem listed like "chronic returns" or "OCD picky". I guess you could start an IG page, but probably wouldn't be seen by many. 

     There are several sites still out there and active. 

[dbfolks166mt]

@slyders_finds wrote:

Years ago I found a EBay buyer blacklist. It was very basic like an early 90s website. It just had their ID name and a basic problem listed like "chronic returns" or "OCD picky". I guess you could start an IG page, but probably wouldn't be seen by many. 

There were tons of problems with sites like that.  It was easily abused.  Some would add members to that list just because they didn't like them or wanted to curb them for many reason, many were not anywhere near honest.  And no one was monitoring it for truthfulness so anyone could post whatever they wanted.

     Not unlike the buyer feedback in some cases. 

[bennotbill]

I can understand sharing blocked lists with friends and family.

But even then it seems pointless unless they are selling similar items, attracting similar buyers.

[sextons-sweet-deals]

Electronics is one of the top 5 targets for scammers!

You have to do your homework on your buyer before shipping. Maybe beat to just sell as pick-up only / pay then. 

I could be wrong on this, but I think the charity donation is non-refundable to you.