Local Pickup - Can't give buyer my contact info?

[htwingnut]

I have someone interested in buying an item I'm selling through local pickup only. It's a big fat heavy item that is not reasonable to ship. A potential buyer is driving over two hours to view the item before buying. How the hell am I supposed to let them know where I live if I can't provide them contact information through PayPal messaging? The eBay messaging system says I can't provide my contact info. No way are they going to buy it sight unseen, I don't blame them. They wanted to check it out today, but I can't let them know where I live?

[fern*wood]

I got into trouble over this and the ebay rep told me they need to purchase the item and then you can correspond with them.  If they change their minds about buying, then you can cancel.  The listing shows the town you live in, so they at least have that much ahead of time. 

[1tuna]

messages with a buyer can include contatc info  but they need to be a buyer..........not a looker

the best way to get this done is with a phone number in a messsage.

sellers are aslo allowed to use phone numbers with the contact system,you can have you phone number listed a certain way with the ASQ method......its a pefectly above board way to mention you phone number but I forget how its done

[htwingnut]

Thanks for responses. Ugh, this is a bit ridiculous. So I guess I'll let them know to make the transaction before they arrive and refund if they choose not to see it. 

[fern*wood]

One more thought about my experience.  Even though the ebay rep told me it was fine to give contact info after the purchase, I still had fear of cancelling if the buyer changed their mind.  Being accused of an off ebay sale isn't fun, so I stopped offering this option as a result.  There are much better ways. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

As noted in the other post, the buyer already has your town location information, in the listing.

Surely you can construct an eBay Message which incorporates your street address in a way that the ridiculous bots won't detect.  Perhaps by being chatty with lots of extra words? "When you come to 1234 on the lovely road known as Washington ..." or "When we moved to Smithtown, we noticed that Washing ton st had at least 1234 houses."  Or tidbits in a series of separate messages.... Likewise with splitting up your phone number. Of course this should not be necessary.

[nobody*s_perfect]

---

@htwingnut wrote:

Thanks for responses. Ugh, this is a bit ridiculous. So I guess I'll let them know to make the transaction before they arrive and refund if they choose not to see it. 

---

You really should ask to cash payment for pickup items. Otherwise, you need to familiarize yourself with eBay's new  system for proving the item was picked up, using a code number or QR code.

[penguins_dont_fly]

@htwingnut 

Write it down

Take a picture of the note

Attach the picture to a message.

[jewelbiz]

Obey the eBay rules...

I sold countless items for decades here local pick up only with no problems whatsoever

& met many wonderful people.

[coolections]

You should be providing plenty of pictures and a very thorough description. No buyer is going to drive 2 hours just to take a peek. The buyer should be 99% sure they want the item so there should be no problem. If the buyer wants to waste their time driving 2 hours and unsure about the purchase maybe the buyer should stay home. Also you have about 3 people telling you to violate the Ebay rules.

[nobody*s_perfect]

The OP has no active listings, and has a Sold item listed as local pickup.

[coolections]

Good. Hopefully the OP DID provide very good pictures and wrote a very thorough description so the buyer knows exactly what they are driving 2 hours to buy.

[a_c_green]

---

@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

The OP has no active listings, and has a Sold item listed as local pickup.

---

...and so as it's now sold, the seller and buyer are free to exchange full contact information.

[comics-scifi-collectibles]

---

@htwingnut wrote:

I have someone interested in buying an item I'm selling through local pickup only. It's a big fat heavy item that is not reasonable to ship. A potential buyer is driving over two hours to view the item before buying. How the hell am I supposed to let them know where I live if I can't provide them contact information through PayPal messaging? The eBay messaging system says I can't provide my contact info. No way are they going to buy it sight unseen, I don't blame them. They wanted to check it out today, but I can't let them know where I live?

---

@htwingnut   See if you can add your phone number in the contact info section.

This is from 2018 when they added the option to include your phone number.  >>>

Provide your customer support phone number to answer buyers' questions before the sale

Sometimes buyers have questions about items they would like to purchase on eBay. While buyers and sellers aren't allowed to share or request direct contact information prior to completing a sale for the purpose of making offers to buy or sell items outside of eBay, a new pilot program allows you to help buyers make purchase decisions. With the new pilot program, your customer service phone number will be visible to buyers on desktop before the sale. You can opt into the feature within "Manage communication with buyers" in your account settings.

Update your account settings.

If that doesn't work then the buyer will have to pay for the item and you can refund them if they do not like it.  You can share contact info after a sale.  

[wrong66]

The last time I tried that with the photo, they caught it. However, there is a way to supply a phone number through eBay messaging. I won't state it here, but...