What all does blocking a buyer....ACTUALLY block?

[gurlcat]

A couple days ago I made a lonnnng post about a payment dispute situation I'm in, the result of which is still TBD. No need to rehash the whole story here, but something crucial and almost 'separate' has occurred to me, a detail I hadn't considered relevant to the situation, but really want to know now.  See, in the several emails this buyer sent before even paying for her auction win, and in the 3 she sent after delivery, trying to get a partial refund, the badness of her English was just off the charts, as was the neg she wrote about me.  I guess the "worst" thing she said about me was "she refuse to help".  On the contrary, I offered the ultimate help, a free return label for her to get a full refund.  And of course her statement to Paypal was also a crazy word salad and chock full of bee ess.  But only after days of thinking about it do I realize that one phrase was remotely true, or I THOUGHT only remotely: "she block to avoid hepl me". 

I didn't even consider that part; I was more focused on the bad advice the phone CSR gave me about handling the dispute and how messed up it is that scammers can just skip ebay's money back guarantee if they want to simply get free stuff.  If I thought much about any of this buyer's wackadoodle words, it was her calling me "savage" (which I kinda love) and claiming that she was getting headaches from smoke smell (from jewelry, lol)!  But the thing is, I did add her to my blocked buyers list, after her 3rd post-delivery email to me.  I just wanted to make sure she couldn't buy from me again, and I thought that's ALL it could do.  But now I think she may have actually tried to write me again, found she was blocked from doing so, and even though she still could have filed an ebay return, being cut off from writing may have been the thing that inspired her to go straight to Paypal. 

So today I posted about it on Ebay For Business on Facebook, asking what exactly blocking does and doesn't do.  An employee gave a nice thorough answer, including stuff like how blocked buyers can still see your listings, etc.  As for messaging, she confirmed that YES, blocking them DOES block messaging, but not while a transaction is "open."  Well, that just leaves me wondering, when is a transaction closed?  Upon delivery?  At the end of the 30 day return period?  Or when?  I replied to ask for this clarification, but from what I've seen, the EFB people tend to give only one reply, no follow ups.  

So my best guess here is that the transaction is closed as long as the item has a delivery scan and no open return request, and if that's the case then this buyer wasn't exactly lying.  I blocked her, not to refuse help or avoid her, just to reject any future business from her.  Had I known I also blocked her messaging me, I might have waited a bit longer to add her to my list,  could have just IGNORED her subsequent emails until she gave up.  That wouldn't guarantee the outcome would have been any different, but considering she mentioned the block in her claim to Paypal, it apparently was an important factor to her. 

What really bugs me is, MESSAGING IS NOT MENTIONED ONCE IN THE HELP ARTICLE ABOUT BLOCKING BUYERS.   That is a HUGE oversight. 

[gurlcat]

You mean 2 'ever' or within the same order? 

[rosachs]

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@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

Also, a past thread reported an experiment in which a blocked member could not contact a seller through the "Contact seller" link in one of their listings, BUT could still send a message by using the "Contact member" link on the seller's feedback page.

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This makes logical sense, even tho it appears not to on the surface.

The BBL is for Blocked Bidders -- bidders being someone wanting to bid or buy one of your listings.  So blocking communications from the listing makes sense.

Using the Member page to 'Contact Member' is not related to a listing, therefor the member is not a 'bidder' and the BBL does not apply.

Which is just another example of the apparent fact that eBay is being designed by folks who don't really know how eBay selling works and why this or that should work is a seemingly non-logical way.  The BBL should really be the BML - Blocked Member List, used to block any/all communications from any member found on the list, and if the member uses an alternate ID to get around the list (which is a thing with the BBL and Customer Service -will- deal with it), they should be suspended (put in 'eBay jail', kinda like 'Facebook jail') for a period of time that increases with each repeat offense, up the actual de-registering the member's ID and blocking them from creating a new one.

I want to make sales as much as the next guy... but I don't want to make sales to folks who have already shown me they are mega-entitled and have foul language skills.  Life's too short to have to spend any more of it dealing with these folks.  So I'm not worried about having a 5000 member block list as compared to the millions (?) of members on the site in general.  eBay might be... but how much of their income stream has been disrupted (sellers getting fed up and leaving) for the sake of these disruptive 'buyers'?

-Bob.

[rosachs]

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@gurlcat wrote:

Ah!  Fascinating, that would explain a wee mystery I've had.  ...  So, you're saying those are people I've BLOCKED, just watching my stuff that they can't buy?  

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Sending Offers go to more than just Watchers.  It will also go to members who have looked at your listing for more than a set amount of time (measured by when the page was sent to them and when they request a different page) - these are 'interested members'.

We do a lot of our pricing research on the eBay site, and sometimes I'll be on a listing page for several minutes as I try to determine if what I have is what the seller has posted.  From time to time I'll get Offers from these listings... even tho I'm in no way 'interested' and am not a watcher.

It's an extension of the "other members who purchased this item also (looked it/purchased) these items" messages seemingly every commerce site has.  Useful for Millennials who don't know what it is they want to buy but do know they want to buy something.  Not so much for us Boomers who have already researched what we need and are much less affected by advertising (having grown up with B&W TV and Radio ads since our childhoods).  🙂

-Bob.

[coolections]

How you block is just delete the message. It sounds like you get way too into it with your buyers. Just delete and move along.

[gurlcat]

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@coolections wrote:

How you block is just delete the message. It sounds like you get way too into it with your buyers. Just delete and move along.

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Maybe because I didn't KNOW that deleting accomplishes blocking them from messaging?  Also I wouldn't be "way too into it" with this buyer if she hadn't been a nightmare before, during and after the sale, culminating to a Paypal dispute.  I'm just trying to learn everything I can about this area of my rights and responsibilities while it's a relatively small-dollar item, so I know what to do when it's a big one.  I know how much "into it" I want to be with my buyers, no need for your opinion. 

[gurlcat]

Okay so maybe not official watchers but at least 'lookers' that are on my blocked list.  That's what he was talking about with offers sent that come back as unsendable.  

[coffeebean832]

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@chevy_327 wrote:

The exemption list is not just for people on your block list. I have a 2 item limit on certain items so people are blocked after they buy 2. But only on that item. Once in a while I'll get buyers asking me if they can buy more then 2 so I put them on the exemption list.

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I've exempted buyers for pretty much the same reason. I've also added buyers to the exempt list that were blocked by my too many unpaid item settings because they explained whatever happened and the item they wanted was fixed price- so I added IPR to the listing then exempted them- probably did that 10 times in the last several years and every transaction went off without a hitch. I've also exempt buyers in locations where I don't normally ship- but it was a loyal repeat buyer that moved so we worked it out- I added a new shipping option for them and exempt them from the block.

To the OP- since you were in a recent transaction with the blocked buyer, their messages wouldn't be blocked yet- but, they wouldn't be able to buy anything else with that ID. So if the buyer knew they were blocked, they probably attempted to make another purchase and ran into the error message letting them know they couldn't complete the transaction and that's how they found out.

[chevy_327]

@gurlcat 

In the last 10 days. They can buy one on Mon, then another on Wed. (or in the same order). It's one of the options on the buyer management page. After 10 days they can buy 2 more.

https://www.ebay.com/bmgt/buyerrequirements

[chevy_327]

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@coolections wrote:

"How you block is just delete the message."

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The OP wasn't asking how to block a buyer.

Looks like you've never looked at the "Buyer Management" page or don't care about the different options you have there, but a lot of people do, including myself.

That was her whole point in posting this was to see how it works.

[femmefan1946]

If a Blocked member sends you a Message, you can delete it.

You don't have to read it.

If you recognize the ID you can delete it.

You can mark it read, so you are not reminded that you have Messages filed away.

Just delete it.

Similarly, if she sends an email, you can delete it.

You don't have to read it.

For that matter, it is not necessary to answer the phone when it rings. You don't have to have voicemail on your phone. You can ignore people knocking at your door.

[exclusive*elegance]

Keep in mind your blocking a USERNAME, not an IP address. If your picking up what I’m putting down? without totally giving away my point here. 

[gurlcat]

Of course.  But it's like any other precautionary measure, worth doing even if it isn't foolproof.  Not using BB because some number of them might have one or more other usernames or know they could create a new one simply to buy your item would be like not locking your house doors because there are good lock-pickers out there.  
I will say I have let my imagination run wild at times, picturing a BB using an alternate username to not just enable a purchase from me, but to then use their know-how to pull a foolproof return scam on me, revenge for trying to block them.  If any of my ugly returns WERE this kind of scenario I'm not aware of it, so they didn't give any indication to let me know they were a username who I had blocked.  Anyway I'm virtually scam-proof because I know how to use Seller Protection in every conceivable scenario, so the worst that has ever happened was having to pay return shipping (at Ebay's bulk discount shipping price) to get items back and sell them again, to better people.   

[Anonymous]

once every 30 days
It's the name other eBay members see when you're buying or selling with them. You can change your username in the personal information - opens in new window or tab section of My eBay or by selecting the button below. You can only change your username once every 30 days.

[kh-vince]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.