Received a warning for cancelling my item

[fortyfive2life]

I had an item listed for sale, and didn't have much interest after a couple weeks (1 offer, but it was too low).  So I pulled the listing tonight, and immediately received a warning email from Ebay about selling outside of Ebay.

I'm not selling outside of Ebay, and I have no intention to.  In fact, I get offers to do so and always turn them down; I won't even ship to an address that is not the verified PayPal address, and I always require a signature. 

Most of the few items I sell are pretty expensive, and I don't take the risk.  But it's a little ridiculous that as soon as I cancel an item, Ebay decides I'm selling off the site and warns me.  The email says "at this time, no restrictions are being placed on your account".  Fantastic.  So if I list another item and in a couple weeks decide to cancel it, will it be different?

I really wish there was a good alternative to Ebay.  I've sold thousands of dollars worth of items just as most of you have, and Ebay has profited greatly from it.  I appreciate the opportunity to reach a lot of potential buyers, but not the strong-arm tactics.

Thanks for letting me vent.  First world problems right?

[missjen831]

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@kattinsanity wrote:

It appears the OP was the one that made the mistake that caused his own problem.  You don't cancel a listing and THEN offer it to someone for more money right through ebay messages

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Thats not fair at all. He didn't make a "mistake" or a stupid one at that. He did something completely normal that many sellers have done or will do. Only a crazy warped paranoid place like ebay would implement this kind of policy and not give the seller the benefit of the doubt. I understand very clearly what the OP did and why the series of events triggered a nuclear reaction from the stupid bots. Again...only on ebay!

[kattinsanity]

AND rightfuly so.  A seller who gets 2 offers from a potential buyer, turns down the 1st offer of 2500 and doesn't answer the 2nd 2700 offer and decides to end his listing BUT then turns around 2 days later and makes a counter offer on the ended listing offering to sell it for 2900 THROUGH EBAY MESSAGES isn't the smartest turnip on the truck.  Ebay monitors messages just to find sellers/buyers like the OP.  

[escuintla]

Well, it seems Ebay is barking at many trees.
I got a situation. I put a huge lot of CDs, and while I was taking pictures for more items to list on Ebay my darn dog came inside the room and peed on them. And its pee stinks. So, it got 2 bids, good for me, but when I wanted to cancel the bids or cancel the listing I was warned that if I had done the same actions this year I "may be charged FVFs". No problem, I will pay, my fault. I canceled an auction days ago for reasons of insanity, I had listed something and I pulled it off. If paying fees is what it takes to comply with Ebay rules, so be it. I will relist them later when I am finished cleaning them or I will dump some that I can't salvage.
Now, if I clean the CDs and somebody offers me let's say $5,000 for the lot, who cares! The final fees and Paypal and so on will be all legal. Everybody wins. I may understand bidders getting upset, but remember, I am here to make money. Do I love to please my Ebayers? Definitely. But first is me, only me. Ebay will get its cut, and so is Paypal.

Now, doing it out of Ebay, I agree, there are consequences for your actions.
Oh.....I've seen sellers with their phone numbers right there on the listing. What's going on?

[kattinsanity]

OMG~~that is sad and funny at the same time.  I have a female chocolate lab.  When she was a tiny tiny puppy she was whining one night and I didn't know what she wanted until she pee'd on the floor.  THEN I knew what she was trying to tell me and it never happened again.  I'm lucky (and so is she) that I live in the middle of nowhere so I just open the door and let her out~~no walking her or having to put her on a leash.  I used to have cats years ago & that was a common occurance~~got rid of the cats and no more cats for me.

[myangelandmyprincess]

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@kattinsanity wrote:

AND rightfuly so.  A seller who gets 2 offers from a potential buyer, turns down the 1st offer of 2500 and doesn't answer the 2nd 2700 offer and decides to end his listing BUT then turns around 2 days later and makes a counter offer on the ended listing offering to sell it for 2900 THROUGH EBAY MESSAGES isn't the smartest turnip on the truck.  Ebay monitors messages just to find sellers/buyers like the OP.  

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I think you still have the series of events wrong.  And while I agree in not sugar coating I think you're wording it becoming increasingly more harsh and it's unnecessary.  Many people have gotten this dumb paranoid email from eBay and many of them were not trying to sell off eBay.   So saying the op got it because they deserved it nah. This is eBay overreaching again. Here is how I've understood the ops events.  

The buyer offered $2500 the op declined.   About a week later the op ended the listing.  The buyer than messaged a few days later offering the 2700. Op said the buyers second offer was not an official eBay offer.  When they said through "eBay email" they meant just directly through messages.  The op had

responded saying they couldn't go lower than 2900.  I get why eBay sent a warning in this case but again they need to chill out.   The op responded to the offer of the buyer and could have relisted at the 2900 if the buyer agreed.  Without contact information being exchanged there was no threat of it going off eBay so eBay needs to chill out.  

[kattinsanity]

The OP declined the 2500 offer.  The potential buyer came back with a 2700 offer which the OP didn't respond to~~that offer was only good for 48 hours.  A few days later the OP ended the listing~~AFTER the 2700 offer had already expired.  A few days after ending the listing as no longer available  the OP sent a message through ebay messages offering the item to the potential buyer for 2900. 

Who's to know if the OP may have sent the potential buyer an invoice or request for money through pay pal to avoid ebay fees?  Maybe he sees this as after having ended the listing it was his to do with as he pleased not knowing it is against policy to have USED EBAY as a means to find a buyer?

[lookng2015]

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@kattinsanity wrote:

AND rightfuly so.  A seller who gets 2 offers from a potential buyer, turns down the 1st offer of 2500 and doesn't answer the 2nd 2700 offer and decides to end his listing BUT then turns around 2 days later and makes a counter offer on the ended listing offering to sell it for 2900 THROUGH EBAY MESSAGES isn't the smartest turnip on the truck.  Ebay monitors messages just to find sellers/buyers like the OP.  

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 It was NOT a "counteroffer". They merely responded to a message that they wouldn't have considered taking less than $2900. The item had ALREADY ended

Ebay can make all the presumptions and assumptions they like, but unless they can PROVE (which they can't and neither can you) the seller intended to make an off eBay sale they should just stop with the accustations (and so should you btw)

[kattinsanity]

See OP's post #3~~"And I understand the reason for the email, it's just the tone and inference  that I'm probably guilty of breaking their rules:  if the email just said "hey, please be aware that cancelling to sell outside of ebay is against our policies and here's why" (because it's dangerous for the seller but also because we want our cut) then I would appreciate it more".

So if ebay had just told the OP it was against policies to cancel & sell outside ebay & given him the reasons why the OP would have been  appreciative of the e mail he received?   

[myangelandmyprincess]

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@kattinsanity wrote:

The OP declined the 2500 offer.  The potential buyer came back with a 2700 offer which the OP didn't respond to~~that offer was only good for 48 hours.  A few days later the OP ended the listing~~AFTER the 2700 offer had already expired.  A few days after ending the listing as no longer available  the OP sent a message through ebay messages offering the item to the potential buyer for 2900. 

Who's to know if the OP may have sent the potential buyer an invoice or request for money through pay pal to avoid ebay fees?  Maybe he sees this as after having ended the listing it was his to do with as he pleased not knowing it is against policy to have USED EBAY as a means to find a buyer?

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No the op says the 2700 offer was not an official eBay offer and just though eBay email aka eBay messages.   So op responded back through messages that 2900 was as low as they would go.   And someone else has looked at the completed listing and it only shows the one rejected offfer 

[myangelandmyprincess]

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@kattinsanity wrote:

See OP's post #3~~"And I understand the reason for the email, it's just the tone and inference  that I'm probably guilty of breaking their rules:  if the email just said "hey, please be aware that cancelling to sell outside of ebay is against our policies and here's why" (because it's dangerous for the seller but also because we want our cut) then I would appreciate it more".

So if ebay had just told the OP it was against policies to cancel & sell outside ebay & given him the reasons why the OP would have been  appreciative of the e mail he received?   

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The op didn't like the tone that they didn't something wrong when they didn't.  They didn't intend on doing an off eBay sale. They were responding to a message the buyer sent with an offer.   No one likes being accused and threatened for action against them when they have not done the crime they're being accused of 

[kattinsanity]

Of course there was only 1 rejected offer~~the 2400 or whatever it was.  It was then he told that potential buyer he wouldn't take less than 2900.   He never responded OR rejected to the 2700 offer and instead ended the listing a few days after the 2700 offer was made.  THEN a few days after ending the listing he responded to the potential buyer that he would sell it to him for 2900.  Had he offered to sell for 2900 WHILE the listing was still active there wouldn't be any problem.  He ended the listing and THEN offered to sell it to that person for 2900.00~~THAT is considered by ebay as attempting to make an off ebay sale.

Whenever I get offers they come through ebay messages.  They don't come through the listing.  EBAY notifies me through EBAY MESSAGES that an offer has been made.  Where do YOU think offers come from?  Ask seller a question?

[myangelandmyprincess]

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@kattinsanity wrote:

Of course there was only 1 rejected offer~~the 2400 or whatever it was.  It was then he told that potential buyer he wouldn't take less than 2900.   He never responded OR rejected to the 2700 offer and instead ended the listing a few days after the 2700 offer was made.  THEN a few days after ending the listing he responded to the potential buyer that he would sell it to him for 2900.  Had he offered to sell for 2900 WHILE the listing was still active there wouldn't be any problem.  He ended the listing and THEN offered to sell it to that person for 2900.00~~THAT is considered by ebay as attempting to make an off ebay sale.

Whenever I get offers they come through ebay messages.  They don't come through the listing.  EBAY notifies me through EBAY MESSAGES that an offer has been made.  Where do YOU think offers come from?  Ask seller a question?

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Please go back and read the previous post by the op stated that the 2700 offer was through eBay email (messages) and NOT an official offer.  Even if the seller had not responded and let it autodecline it would show in tbe offer history. It doesn't show there.  The buyer offered the 2700 the op intially did not respond to this message but later responded saying they could not go less than 2900.  They responded to a message the buyer sent with the offer     

This im sure is why they they for the email.  It's ridiculous because with no contact info shared there is no reason for eBay to assume it's going to be done off eBay 

[myangelandmyprincess]

Post 131

[lookng2015]

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@kattinsanity wrote:

Of course there was only 1 rejected offer~~the 2400 or whatever it was.  It was then he told that potential buyer he wouldn't take less than 2900.   He never responded OR rejected to the 2700 offer and instead ended the listing a few days after the 2700 offer was made.  THEN a few days after ending the listing he responded to the potential buyer that he would sell it to him for 2900.  Had he offered to sell for 2900 WHILE the listing was still active there wouldn't be any problem.  He ended the listing and THEN offered to sell it to that person for 2900.00~~THAT is considered by ebay as attempting to make an off ebay sale.

Whenever I get offers they come through ebay messages.  They don't come through the listing.  EBAY notifies me through EBAY MESSAGES that an offer has been made.  Where do YOU think offers come from?  Ask seller a question?

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Actually they can. Quite often if a buyer sends an ASQ, there is a button right there for the seller to "reply with offer" if they wish to. THAT makes it a formal OFFER. Just responding they'd only take xxx amount is NOT an freaking official OFFER

[kattinsanity]

When they contact a member who previously made an offer  that  they will take 2900 freaking dollars on an item that is no longer even listed it is "initiating an off ebay sale".  OP told the "buyer" he wouldn't take less than 2900 when the buyer made his FIRST OFFER OF 2400.  His next contact with the "buyer" was AFTER he ended the listing.  No offer, counter offer or any contact should have been made by the seller to the "buyer" after he chose to end the listing.