eBay

mondiato0 · ‎05-23-2020

I received an offer (at the starting bid price) from a "person" living in Singapore with a message asking me to text a response to a phone number with a Colorado area code. The bidder apparently "joined" eBay for the first time that day - this was the first action on eBay and the item requires "local pickup" (far from Singapore or Colorado). I replied with an anonymous eBay message but received no answer.

I think this is a troll, looking for personal info (phone number) to use to scam me.

3 "Community" replies to this message confirm it's probably a fake buyer and warn to not send the "buyer" my phone number. One of reply says this "offer" is a violation that can be reported to eBay.

No - eBay doesn't allow me to report this "buyer" because I didn't accept the offer and there was no completed sale.

Why won't eBay allow sellers to report scammers before a sale is completed?!! I've heard eBay can block users....but do sellers have to be scammed before eBay will block a scammer?!!

Is it because eBay doesn't want to be legally responsible for discouraging or preventing scammers on eBay?

Will eBay block me because I'm complaining about eBay policy?

For that matter, why won't eBay allow users to contact eBay (a non-existent eBay "customer service")? Why can I only "discuss" this SERIOUS problem with other eBay users in a community forum?

southern*sweet*tea · ‎05-23-2020

@mondiato0 wrote:
I received an offer (at the starting bid price) from a "person" living in Singapore with a message asking me to text a response to a phone number with a Colorado area code. The bidder apparently "joined" eBay for the first time that day - this was the first action on eBay and the item requires "local pickup" (far from Singapore or Colorado). I replied with an anonymous eBay message but received no answer.

I think this is a troll, looking for personal info (phone number) to use to scam me. Of course it is.

3 "Community" replies to this message confirm it's probably a fake buyer and warn to not send the "buyer" my phone number. One of reply says this "offer" is a violation that can be reported to eBay. If someone wants your phone number or your email address, chances are 99.9999% in favor of that person being a scammer. Send ONE reply, "Sorry, I only do business on Ebay." Don't answer them anymore. BLOCK the id.

No - eBay doesn't allow me to report this "buyer" because I didn't accept the offer and there was no completed sale.

Why won't eBay allow sellers to report scammers before a sale is completed?!! I've heard eBay can block users....but do sellers have to be scammed before eBay will block a scammer?!! Yes, Ebay could ban the ID. The person would still be free to create another account and continue scamming.

Is it because eBay doesn't want to be legally responsible for discouraging or preventing scammers on eBay? I would imagine it's because Ebay assumes everyone selling here is an adult and keeps themselves aware of the vast amounts of online scams floating around the internet. I don't see any other third party venues holding their sellers' hands. I could be wrong, though.

Will eBay block me because I'm complaining about eBay policy? If Ebay blocked people for complaining about policy, nobody would be left to post on these boards.

For that matter, why won't eBay allow users to contact eBay (a non-existent eBay "customer service")? Why can I only "discuss" this SERIOUS problem with other eBay users in a community forum? If you're talking about phone support, it was suspended a couple of months ago because of the pandemic.

The easier you are to offend the easier you are to control.

We seem to be getting closer and closer to a situation where nobody is responsible for what they did but we are all responsible for what somebody else did. - Thomas Sowell

ittybitnot · ‎05-23-2020

No - eBay doesn't allow me to report this "buyer" because I didn't accept the offer and there was no completed sale.

Yes, you are correct. There used to be a "report this message" feature in eBay messages. eBay removed it, and has no intentions of putting it back. They deemed it unnecessary since their 'high tech' scam prevention algorithms are supposed to block these scammer message BEFORE they even show up in your eBay inbox (insert eyeroll) here.

We can see everyday here how well that is working. Count yourself lucky for not falling for it. Too many still do.

mam98031 · ‎05-23-2020

https://www.ebay.com/help/home

Drop to the bottom of the page and the email option is there. Or you can click on the reason for needing assistance and the options for contact will display. For some of them that could be the ability to call, leave a message for a call back, email or live chat.

https://www.ebay.com/sellerhelp

The seller’s help center give you the ability for file for certain types of assistance.

https://twitter.com/askebay?lang=en

https://www.facebook.com/eBayForBusiness/

It's important to be aware of where you post a question on Ebay’s Facebook page. A comment on one of Ebay’s marketing posts won't be answered, but comments posted directly on Ebay’s page will.

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

marbleking · ‎05-23-2020

iT IS SIMPLE:

The executives at eBay want all the income they can obtain and the expense of support to track this would cut into profits. Their real goal is to raise their STOCK PRICE so they can sell the shares they "EARNED" when they joined the company and walk away as quickly as possible with a nice retirement.

I have been on eBay forever and my time here is coming to a close as they simply SUCK and DO NOT CARE.

fashunu4eeuh · ‎05-23-2020

EBay will not block complaining members. To get blocked or penalized, a member would have to violate policy.

Mam gave you some links to reach out to customer service. When you contact them, be sure to quote the policy violation. By requesting your contact info, the prospective buyer breached the Member to Member Contact rule which prohibits the sharing of such info prior to the sale. The link is below.

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/member-behavior-policies/membertomember-contact-policy?id=4262

“...Members can send messages to each other through eBay. We encourage open communication between our members but we don't allow our members to use these options to send spam, offers to buy or sell off eBay, threats, profanity, or hate speech. We also don't allow members to offer, reference, or request email addresses, phone numbers or other contact information, physical addresses, web addresses, or links within eBay messaging systems (Best Offer, My Messages etc.)...”

luckythewinner · ‎05-23-2020

@mondiato0 wrote:
Why won't eBay allow sellers to report scammers before a sale is completed?!! I've heard eBay can block users....but do sellers have to be scammed before eBay will block a scammer?!!

My opinion is that eBay knows they really cannot stop scammers from creating new accounts and sending messages.

It takes about 30 seconds to create a new eBay account, and eBay does not have an effective way to identify and account holder unless he registers as a seller and provides a payment source.