eBay works good as a shell service

[richards*collection]

I have been doing great at local sales and I believe I have finally found a use for Ebay for presentation to facilitate showing my goods, I made five sales last week to local people in person after they browsed my goods. So all is not lost if you use eBay for a referral service, it's completely free and legal to do so. I use it similar to marketplace but it's better because people can research the comps. I can't see how it is against any policies. So I wonder what other sellers think about this and the fact that eBay makes no commissions from these offsite sales? Thoughts?

[retro_entertainment_collectibles]

I've been saying for quite sometime that eBay should also present a localized experience whereby buyers can select a radius around their zipcode, press a button and eBay now is completely localized until that's reset.

The problem is exactly what you purvey, there can be fee avoidance which is against eBay Terms of Service and well...  There you have it.

Personally I think if eBay facilitates a sale they should get their cut, that's what I agreed to and what eBay agreed to.

[redmodelt]

Great, wait till eBay charges you full fees for using their platform to list your items and ending the listing. And yes they can do that, it's in the contract you agreed to when you listed your items. 

"Activity that doesn't follow eBay policy could result in a range of actions including canceling listings, hiding or demoting all listings from search results, blocking some or all of your messages/communication with other members, lowering seller rating, buying or selling restrictions, account suspension, application of fees, and recovery of expenses for policy monitoring and enforcement. All fees paid or payable in relation to listings or accounts on which we take any action will not be refunded or otherwise credited to your account."

Offering to buy or sell outside of eBay policy | eBay

What do I think, don't see much difference then shop lifting or stealing. Nice of you to come here and admit to fraudulent activities. 

[albertabrightalberta]

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@richards*collection wrote:

I have been doing great at local sales and I believe I have finally found a use for Ebay for presentation to facilitate showing my goods, I made five sales last week to local people in person after they browsed my goods. So all is not lost if you use eBay for a referral service, it's completely free and legal to do so. I use it similar to marketplace but it's better because people can research the comps. I can't see how it is against any policies. So I wonder what other sellers think about this and the fact that eBay makes no commissions from these offsite sales? Thoughts?

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@richards*collection 

You certainly are allowed to promote your ebay items on social media or via other venues and refer potential customers to ebay.

Doing that will not circumvent ebay fees and you will not risk suspension of your ebay account and you will not be criticized by those of us who abide by the rules. 

Taking advantage of the exposure you get on ebay then going outside the site is wrong.

I'd have expected that in your 9 years on ebay, you would have at least skimmed the terms of use! 

[richards*collection]

Your not getting it. I have a vast inventory of stones. My outside local customer base see's the similar type of stones then I don't sell them my listings, instead I assemble a parcel from my unlisted inventory.

[maxine*j]

My thoughts?  What you are doing is clearly fee avoidance, and you know that.  You also know that you will be permanently suspended from eBay if you continue this.

And I doubt you care, but it is also a violation to use these forums to encourage others to violate eBay selling or buying policies.

Read the policy:
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-policies/selling-practices-policy/ebay-fee-avoidance-poli...

Note, in particular, these bits:

Avoiding eBay fees is not allowed, whether intentional or not.  Sellers attempting to avoid eBay fees create risk for themselves, and a poor experience for buyers.

Sellers are prohibited from activities that avoid eBay fees, intentionally or not.  his includes:

-- Making offers to buy or sell outside of eBay
--  Linking or promoting sites, items, or catalogs that can be used to order items outside of eBay

Sellers are responsible for paying fees for all sales made using some or all eBay services, even if the sale terms are finalized, or payment is made outside of eBay.

Sellers are also responsible for Final Value Fees if they offer or reference their contact information, or ask for a buyer's contact information, in the context of buying for selling outside of eBay, even if the item does not sell on eBay.

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[richards*collection]

Also your wrong. There are no eBay policy breaches or communication with any buyers on the platform, I am using eBay completly within the realm except they get nothing. I am loving it. I don't need them, I also use other social market place free platforms. Times are hard right now and we sellers must adapt is all I am saying.

[richards*collection]

I did not start this post to promote any type of behavior against eBay. This is not a hate post, but a simple discussion topic amongst sellers that I had hoped would get some other ideas on how to sell more in these challenging times, not about how to cheat the eBay platform.

[maxine*j]

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@richards*collection wrote:

Also your wrong. There are no eBay policy breaches or communication with any buyers on the platform, I am using eBay completly within the realm except they get nothing. I am loving it. I don't need them, I also use other social market place free platforms. Times are hard right now and we sellers must adapt is all I am saying.

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That's good, because you soon won't have an eBay selling account if you persist in this.

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[richards*collection]

Why do you say that? The forum is for eBay sellers, are you some authority with the power to suspend my account? I think not. Have a nice day!

[albertabrightalberta]

@richards*collection 

You're posting in a public online forum promoting ways to use ebay's exposure while avoiding paying fees for that exposure. You don't see the problem? 

What you're doing is NOT  "eBay completly within the realm"   of the acceptability standards of ebay. 

[hartungcards]

It's astonishing what some people will come to this board and say out loud.

[richards*collection]

I dont think you get it. I will give you an example. A friend tells a friend to look at someone's eBay account. They look at it and ask their friend if the person has any goods that are not listed and could they ask their fiend to bring some stones to work because the ones they have listed seem way too expensive, and could they get the "friend" a discount and look at some similar stones in person before they decide to perhaps buy them outright in person, not the ones listed, meanwhile no communication has occurred on the eBay platform. So I read the policy you sent me and there is nothing even remotely against that, so I guess I get to keep my eBay account?

[richards*collection]

I really think you have no idea what your talking about. I really doubt that your a seller on eBay. Have a nice day.

[richards*collection]

No, I see no problem. My original listings are intact, there has been no communication on my site. This is a public forum for discussion, so lets discuss. Thank u for your input, although misguided.