eBay message warning

Brian H

Brian H

Zorg Expert (I)
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British Zeds
Scottish Zeds
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Dec 5, 2011
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Killin
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E36/7 3.0i - E85 Z4///M
Thought I would share the following as I have noticed a change in eBay over the last few weeks.

A while ago I contacted a seller about an item for sale, offered to pay cash for the item to save the seller the eBay fees (yes I know it’s against eBay rules but hey we all try and get the best deal), No deal was done and the item sold a few weeks later to someone else, when the item sold I received an email from eBay with a warning about contacting the seller and trying to do a deal outside of eBay, fair comment I thought, I was in the wrong but are they really now looking at all comms on each sale???

A few weeks later I made an offer on a similar item which had a make an offer option, I received a reply from the seller with a counter offer and an option for a cash sale and to contact him via the number in the ad description, I did not reply as the counter offer was too high for me however the item was taken off sale soon after (presumably sold to someone outside eBay). A day after the item was removed I get a second email from eBay with another warning which effectively puts restrictions on my account as I had apparently tried to gain contact details with the seller!!! I challenged the second warning as I did no wrong and have had my restrictions removed but be warned, eBay are clamping down heavily and processing all the messages on items that are both sold and removed...
 
A couple of months ago I was looking for another car and found one I quite fancied the look of on Ebay., a 3 series Beemer. I sent the seller a message asking to view the car as I thinking of making a bid.
I had a message from Ebay warning me about trying to do a deal direct. WTF !! I phoned the Ebay customer services dept and complained about the way they viewed what I see as a perfectly legitimate reason to message the seller.
 
Jack Ratt said:
A couple of months ago I was looking for another car and found one I quite fancied the look of on Ebay., a 3 series Beemer. I sent the seller a message asking to view the car as I thinking of making a bid.
I had a message from Ebay warning me about trying to do a deal direct. WTF !! I phoned the Ebay customer services dept and complained about the way they viewed what I see as a perfectly legitimate reason to message the seller.
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^^ this was my point I suppose? TBF to eBay I think they state they look at some message content but I guess they are stepping up the game as they are loosing out!
 
Yet they still allow a seller to state that an item is advertised elsewhere and that they reserve the right to remove it from sale at any time.
I once made a winning bid on an item and the seller flatly refused to post it to me as he thought is was worth more. I complained to eBay and all they had to say was that they "Could not compel the seller to complete the deal"

Tony.
 
t-tony said:
Yet they still allow a seller to state that an item is advertised elsewhere and that they reserve the right to remove it from sale at any time.
I once made a winning bid on an item and the seller flatly refused to post it to me as he thought is was worth more. I complained to eBay and all they had to say was that they "Could not compel the seller to complete the deal"

Tony.
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It seems a pure contradiction Tony, they cannot compel the seller to sell but they hound other folk....
 
They state that if you bid, you enter a contract to buy, therefore the seller is contractually obliged to sell.
 
eBay are a nasty little dictatorship. I don’t like them and I sell as little as possible on there. But I do buy a lot of stuff.

I don’t believe they read messages, not by human anyway.

I think they parse them with software for key words. Hence being pulled up for harmless dialogue.

I always use ‘round about’ speak to avoid use of flagged key words.

Often ‘see attachment. Give me a shout if you want to discuss.’ And it’s a screen shot of my phone number.

They will remove numbers added in text. And know what you are doing.

Robert
 
mrscalex said:
I think they parse them with software for key words. Hence being pulled up for harmless dialogue.
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Yes I agree Robert, it’s an automated process but it does seem to be more sensitive these days.
 
Numbers are not the only way to write numbers ;)

Miss Speling (sic) is another rouse that some might use.

I've been selling a lot of stuff recently. My main gripe is when a non-payer wins the auction, why am I still billed 10% of the final price? If they feel that it's OK to rip me off, the feeling is mutual.

I used to sell a lot of stuff and used second chance offers to maximise sales. They were not happy, even though they didn't lose out as my listings were free, and they made on each sale.

I suspect that IT is used and they send out an automated e-mail. A human will only get involved if you object to the original e-mail. Most people will just take it as a warning and adapt their behaviour.
 
They should stop being a cheap Amazon and revert to the old eBay if you ask me. It’s just going stupid when all you get is cheap offers from China as they have paid for placements.
 
Also you can get cheap Chinese items from China IF you want to wait a month OR you can double the price and get them in a couple of days from UK stock.;)

Tony.
 
I rarely use ebay, after a year I decided to list a steering rack. Potential buyer wanted to know part number, on sending them the number on the tag attached to rack I got a warning about sending my phone number to do a deal presumably out of ebay. It was a bloody part number - clearly automated e-mail. They also started hacking the listing I had and put 'Make Offer' which I then deleted once I'd seen what they had done. They then hacked it again and put 'Make Offer' back on again - I deleted the listing. The other trick they're doing is automatically reducing your asking price by 10% each week. They are clearly feeling the pinch. Nothing seems to be selling at the moment. I can't be bothered with them despite their increasingly regular 'max £1 fee' offer.
 
I don't think you actually need to write down the number numerically or in any other form to get the emails from ebay! I was checking with a BMW dealer for a price of a part but as the part was not listed, had to use another item they had listed and gain prices through that! so as I was not sure how the deal would be completed, asked the seller do I need to call them to complete this transaction or would they list the item for me separately (which seller said they will and the deal was completed through ebay), still received the email from ebay saying that looked like I was going to avoid finalising the purchase through ebay but in the end was one of the good guys and sticking to the rules!

I think the seller can also report you if try to do a deal outside ebay, remember seeing something once on ebay while I was discussing an item with the buyer!
 
Synclare said:
I rarely use ebay, after a year I decided to list a steering rack. Potential buyer wanted to know part number, on sending them the number on the tag attached to rack I got a warning about sending my phone number to do a deal presumably out of ebay. It was a bloody part number - clearly automated e-mail. They also started hacking the listing I had and put 'Make Offer' which I then deleted once I'd seen what they had done. They then hacked it again and put 'Make Offer' back on again - I deleted the listing. The other trick they're doing is automatically reducing your asking price by 10% each week. They are clearly feeling the pinch. Nothing seems to be selling at the moment. I can't be bothered with them despite their increasingly regular 'max £1 fee' offer.
Click to expand...
The Make Offer and 10% reduction are options in the submission form that eBay turn on by default. They hide it such that you need to be very on the ball to turn them off.
 
Nothing is perfect, but I don't have much trouble with ebay. If it's buying or selling a car I only consider 'Classified' ads. They are just like any normal advert where the potential buyer contacts the seller arranges a viewing and so on. I would never just make an offer on a car without seeing it, nor would I consider an offer from someone who had not been to see the car . As for other buying or selling you just have to know the system and be careful. BUT, I do agree with many of the views expressed. Like most big organisations we deal with (energy companies,phone, etc,) customer services are about as helpful as a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.
 
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