08-23-2020 04:49 PM
I looked up order details to get a buyer's e-mail so I could send a PayPal invoice for a post-sale requested shipping change. Instead of showing the buyer's e-mail it now shows a string of random letters and numbers @members.ebay.com
Now the only way to get a buyer's e-mail to address these situations is to ask them for it through eBay messages.
I checked some past orders and I can see real e-mails through orders placed 8/19. As of 8/20 things changed.
08-23-2020 04:52 PM
Been like that for a while now. You can see the buyer's email in the order details assuming it is the same as their PayPal email. Otherwise you can call PayPal to get the buyer's email address.
08-23-2020 04:58 PM - edited 08-23-2020 04:59 PM
I'm in managed payments and this is a new change. The order details I'm referencing are on eBay and the change I expect is universal whether a seller is in MP or not.
08-23-2020 05:02 PM
I have orders from 8/21 and 8/22. The Order Details page still shows the buyer's email and phone to me.
08-23-2020 05:10 PM
It's probably a phased rollout then. I see the change on all orders as of 8/20. Phone is available, but e-mail is now a long string of random letters and numbers that goes through the eBay message system which is not useful for sending a PayPal invoice. Redacted screenshot:
08-23-2020 05:15 PM
@wastingtime101 wrote:I looked up order details to get a buyer's e-mail so I could send a PayPal invoice for a post-sale requested shipping change. Instead of showing the buyer's e-mail it now shows a string of random letters and numbers @members.ebay.com
Now the only way to get a buyer's e-mail to address these situations is to ask them for it through eBay messages.
I checked some past orders and I can see real e-mails through orders placed 8/19. As of 8/20 things changed.
I just heard about this happening from another seller. My orders are still displaying the email address. Could be eBay is rolling this change out in phases and it will hit all of our accounts soon? Who knows, but IMHO, this is another example of a change that should be announced.
08-23-2020 11:04 PM
eBay wants to make absolutely sure they get every possible penny of fees and if that means making it impossible for you to help a customer by offering a second item on the same order or otherwise dealing with them outside of eBay or in addition to eBay, that's what they are going to do.
08-23-2020 11:49 PM
For me it started on the 21st. My guess is they are rolling it out and we will have have this change before long.
08-24-2020 01:09 PM
It must be a phased rollout because I'm seeing it on some accounts, but not others just as everybody else is saying.
I wonder though- if you send a PayPal invoice to the members.ebay e-mail- would that go through to the buyer as normal or would it create a problem and/or get blocked by eBay filters?
I use PayPal invoices semi-regularly- shipment is RTS so you have to invoice shipping fees to re-ship, or INR is filed and buyer is refunded then the package arrives later so you invoice the buyer for re-payment.
Managed payments doesn't offer the ability to send an invoice to a buyer for any of these issues. In the first scenario you could cancel the transaction then have the buyer re-purchase, although not only does that result in additional fees- it also has a much smaller chance the buyer will actually re-purchase. In the second scenario I don't know of a way to secure payment within eBay that isn't really convoluted.
brian@ebay - with this new change, has eBay put in additional blocks to prevent the exchange of e-mail addresses post-sale? Were the filters strengthened? As noted above- there are still situations where we may need to communicate directly to issue a PayPal invoice. Especially with the shipping issues going on right now- invoicing a buyer after delivery when an INR was already paid out is more and more common.
08-24-2020 01:12 PM
I'm in MP & it's still there for me, in the order details when you click on the order #. Just used it yesterday to inform a newbie of USPS shipping delays.
08-24-2020 01:14 PM
I sure hope it's not disappearing, I find it super helpful to let buyers know of postal holidays or the current USPS shipping delays. Most buyers don't check their Ebay messages, but check their real emails constantly.
08-24-2020 01:18 PM
Just an FYI...looks like we should all expect to see xxxxxxxx@members.ebay.com coming soon to our orders pages.
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/member-behavior-policies/membertomember-contact-policy?id=4262
08-24-2020 01:41 PM
If anybody attempts to send a PayPal invoice to the members.ebay address- let us know if it goes through to the buyer or not.
I think it would cause an issue because when I receive an invoice I can see it on my PayPal account and pay from there- but if it's going to the members address then PayPal wouldn't recognize it to properly link it, right?
08-24-2020 01:45 PM
You don't need a buyer's personal email address to sent them an invoice.
Just click on the buyer's order link and click "send invoice."
08-24-2020 01:48 PM
If you send a message through Ebay messages, they also get a copy sent to their email address so there is no need to have a buyer's personal email address.
All communication and invoices to buyers can be sent through Ebay.