eBay

logicloot · ‎07-28-2018

Has the "User Information Request" feature been removed from ebay? Or has it been moved?

I recently purchased a set of items from a seller. I have done business with them in the past. But, 3 of the 4 orders have had issues. They have resolved the issues in the past but when another one came up I wanted to phone them. I attempted to utilize the User Information Request feature but all I get is a "Feature Deprecated" page.

has the feature been withdrawn? How am I supposed to make direct contact with the seller rather than wait on the eBay message system?

castlemagicmemories · ‎01-03-2019

Ebay levied a fee on shipping because of all the fee avoidance that was going on. Sellers would list an item for, say, a dollar with shipping of $49.95, since by rolling the item price into the shipping cost, they avoided paying most of the fees for the transaction.

So Ebay closed the loophole.

Actually Amazon started charging a fee on shipping cost before Ebay did. I don't think either of them would be successfully sued because no one has to make the choice to sell on either site, but if you choose to do so, you are agreeing to the site rules.

castlemagicmemories · ‎01-03-2019

@estate-archaeologists wrote:
As a buyer wanting to reach out privately to the seller relative to recent transaction I was rudely introduced to this new policy when I attempted to get and exchange contact information. Frankly, the word 'deprecated' was unfamiliar to me. So then and when I looked up the primary meaning of this word in a dictionary, the apparent reason for this new eBay policy seems clear to me; Viz: 'deprecate - to express earnest disapproval of.'

In the world of software development, "deprecated" refers to functions or elements that are in the process of being replaced by newer ones. The term comes from the word "deprecate," which means to disapprove of something. ... For example, in HTML 5, several common tags used in HTML 4 have been deprecated.Feb 25, 2011

slippinjimmy · ‎01-03-2019

Sellers are able to share their telephone number with buyers but it's now a SELLER activated feature. If a seller sets this option then their buyers can obtain their telephone number.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/resolving-buyer-issues/contacting-buyer-bidder?id=4083

It's a good thing eBay has done this in light of the current rage for fake payment notifications being texted to sellers.

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep

castlemagicmemories · ‎01-03-2019

Ebay prefers that all communication be done through the Ebay message system, and this is actually to your advantage. CS can read those messages, if need be, and you now have written proof of what was said. This can be very useful when the other party claims you said something you never said.

Many people prefer to use messages instead of a call.

rainbowcolorz · ‎01-04-2019

@estate-archaeologists wrote:
As a buyer wanting to reach out privately to the seller relative to recent transaction I was rudely introduced to this new policy when I attempted to get and exchange contact information. Frankly, the word 'deprecated' was unfamiliar to me. So then and when I looked up the primary meaning of this word in a dictionary, the apparent reason for this new eBay policy seems clear to me; Viz: 'deprecate - to express earnest disapproval of.'

Yes, I believe this new policy (to not be able to exchange contact info) is because some people take sales off-eBay and that is not permitted. However, I have read where contact info is sometimes? provided somewhere in PayPal?

myjunqueyourtreasure · ‎01-04-2019

@castlemagicmemories wrote:
@estate-archaeologists wrote:
As a buyer wanting to reach out privately to the seller relative to recent transaction I was rudely introduced to this new policy when I attempted to get and exchange contact information. Frankly, the word 'deprecated' was unfamiliar to me. So then and when I looked up the primary meaning of this word in a dictionary, the apparent reason for this new eBay policy seems clear to me; Viz: 'deprecate - to express earnest disapproval of.'
In the world of software development, "deprecated" refers to functions or elements that are in the process of being replaced by newer ones. The term comes from the word "deprecate," which means to disapprove of something. ... For example, in HTML 5, several common tags used in HTML 4 have been deprecated.Feb 25, 2011

But most buyers and sellers aren't software developers, so it would behoove them to use terms people using the system to buy and sell actually understand immediately, no?

How hard is it to type in "is no longer in use" rather than "deprecated"?

Reality is the leading cause of stress.

terrio0 · ‎01-23-2019

Or how about they just remove it all together instead of letting you put the buyers ID and research/copy/paste the transaction number?

dontshipups · ‎01-29-2019

I was just able to locate seller information a different way. First check transaction in paypal. If they used a real name your all set. Next grab the city and state from the item page. Put together in google search and your good to go.

It's actually really sad what Ebay is turning into. To many accounts are being hijacked. Sellers who wont ship. Buyers who scam sellers. Sellers who only drop ship from walmart. Its hardly worth the hassle anymore!

Guess I'll have to wait 30 days to get my refund from the hacked sellers account.

bsarafian · ‎01-29-2019

I get the reasons why contact information has been make difficult/impossible to get. That being said, there have been times in the past when it was possible to exchange phone numbers where it had been extremely helpful (and done at my customers request). I understand the world we live in has changed but there is a part of me that misses when 2 parties could work with each other like actual human beings. That probably shows my age - will have to list myself as "vintage."

vitoralgarve · ‎02-06-2019

The seller's address should appear aumatically to the buyer when the sale ends in the case of collection in person

getsteve2011 · ‎02-07-2019

In my honest opinion, eBay is heading in the wrong direction in order to compete with Amazon and taking away features like this that were useful. Not sure if any of you have had the experience of trying to send personal information via the message system or offer a price to a seller to see if they will sell it for a buy-it-now price without having messages and/or account suspended for a period of time because their AI automatically scans messages for this stuff and does it automatically. Then you have to waste time on the phone to call and try to get that suspension lifted.

There are times where personal information is important. This includes if you are purchasing a service and there are other issues besides the one you paid for. I prefer to speak to somebody since eBay will limit your messages after so many for 24 hours and then you can no longer communicate. There are many times that I do not get my messages right away and then they come at some odd hour of the night.

Amazing how Amazon has affected eBay with their stock prices and the tactics used to make sure they are getting every fee. Sometimes people are not trying to avoid fee's, but rather have a smooth transaction. I find myself using Offerup for local sales and starting to expand on purchases, but there are just some things that are only on eBay.

lootfox · ‎08-02-2019

my issue regarding this limitation is i recently sold an item buyer had already clicked buy now but unpaid yet which is pending at the moment. Then buyer sent me a ebay message asking if i can ship it to Korea which i didn't input to allow international sales but i still agree the buyer to ship it with an additional $20 shipping fee that buyer had agreed in reply tell me to sent him the invoice from Paypal so he can complete the payment there. Since this order is in pending already bought im unable to revise this listing and edited to accept international sale in addition of modifying the price. I then sent a following message try to ask for buyers Paypal email address so i can go ahead and sent him a total of the bill in invoice via Paypal but never receive a reply after that, so i waited 24hour still no reply and by that time i decided to "request eBay user information" using the same method that everyone in this forum talked about. I do remember it worked by pulling the users PayPal email but now seems not. The order currently still shown as unpaid its been two days, how do i request buyers PayPal email address without asking the buyer in message? Time is essential

a_c_green · ‎08-02-2019

@lootfox wrote:
how do i request buyers PayPal email address without asking the buyer in message? Time is essential

In the Actions column of your Sold Items page, open the little pulldown menu for that item and scroll down to near the bottom, where you should find the "View report" option. Click on that, and your buyer's full contact info should appear.