Can I?

cafenervosa_2

soolin wrote:

As the others have already said contacting potential buyers is considered spam and will result in you receiving a warning if any of those buyers report you.

On one of my secondary ids I have recently been bidding on some DVDs that I am desperate for but they are going too high for me to win. However I have received tons of spam email, some offering me details of their auctions, some where I have been outbid telling me they have just listed more if I am interested, and a couple of really bad ones telling me they can run me off a copy of the ones they have...for a price!

I just sent the whole lot into ebay to deal with and received back the standard ebay response telling me that I should report all unsolicitied mail to ebay with headers so that they can take appropriate action.

I know I want these DVDs so I have the category watched on ebay, why on earth do I want buyers contacting me direct to draw my attention to their auctions? It certainly makes me think twice about dealing with sellers that use spam as a means of communication.

Having said that if someone wins an auction from a seller that seller is able to ask them if they want to go on a mailing list, however that has to be an opt in option, you cannot contact them otherwise.

Soo

First of all this might sound a bit stupid but where do you go to report someone?

There is this seller that is really anoying me because hes getting away with murder. He is listing Region 1 DVD's as Region 2 and getting away with it. His prices are fetching something likr one third more money than the people who are claiming there are Region 2. I tried contacting him twice to ask him how can a DVD be Region 1, 2 & 4 like he is advertising it at! No suprise that he never got back to me. Loads of people are still leaving positive comments even though they quote 'this dvd is region 1 and not 2 as advertised, but works ok' etc..., Although he has got quite a few negitives from this too.

Also if you report someone is there any chance that eBay will let this person know who has reported them ?

soolin

Hi cafenervosa.

There are two main ways of reporting someone, but if you want to report a listing violation then firstly click on 'help' at the top of the ebay page. Then on the left hand margin under ebay help click on 'contact us'.

Then you get a series of options to click on to narrow down why you are reporting someone, just follow those until eventually you get the chance to input the item number and click on 'send'.

The seller won't know it is you that reported them. However, it does sometimes seem that ebay don't bother with a lot of reported items. Some of the links mentioned on here (see WIRMS Excellent campaign) seem to hang around for days even though several people report them.

Reprting spam mail is a lot easier though. If someone contacts you through 'ask a question' there is a link on that email from ebay that takes you straight to the reporting page. You do need to send the headers of the mail though. Ebay seem to take a lot more notice of spam mail reports than they do of listing violations.

Soo

cafenervosa_2

soolin wrote:

Hi cafenervosa.

There are two main ways of reporting someone, but if you want to report a listing violation then firstly click on 'help' at the top of the ebay page. Then on the left hand margin under ebay help click on 'contact us'.

Then you get a series of options to click on to narrow down why you are reporting someone, just follow those until eventually you get the chance to input the item number and click on 'send'.

The seller won't know it is you that reported them. However, it does sometimes seem that ebay don't bother with a lot of reported items. Some of the links mentioned on here (see WIRMS Excellent campaign) seem to hang around for days even though several people report them.

Reprting spam mail is a lot easier though. If someone contacts you through 'ask a question' there is a link on that email from ebay that takes you straight to the reporting page. You do need to send the headers of the mail though. Ebay seem to take a lot more notice of spam mail reports than they do of listing violations.

Soo

Thanks, I don't know if I should report them or not?

I am not usually that way inclined.

Outtathaway

I could have sworn that a while ago someone asked eBay about this.

I think their responce was that sending emails to people you haven't been in a transaction with is spam, but if they have previously bid on an item of yours its okay to email them to tell them you have relisted the same item

I think anyway

cafenervosa_2

Outtathaway wrote:

I could have sworn that a while ago someone asked eBay about this.

I think their responce was that sending emails to people you haven't been in a transaction with is spam, but if they have previously bid on an item of yours its okay to email them to tell them you have relisted the same item

I think anyway

I understand if you go through the eBay question link thingy. But what about if you just happen to have their email in your contact list in Outlook and decide to email ?

HairyHatMan

cafenervosa wrote:

I understand if you go through the eBay question link thingy. But what about if you just happen to have their email in your contact list in Outlook and decide to email ?

How many times do we have to tell you:

Originally Posted by Altarf
The problem is that it is against Ebay's rules

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/polici...am-general.html

"eBay policy prohibits members from sending spam. Spam is defined as email that is both unsolicited and is commercial in nature."

"Disciplinary action may range from a formal warning, up to indefinite suspension of a user's account."

It is NOT okay to send unsolicited, commercial emails whether via the 'conatct a member' facility nor by their email address.

mini

Thanks everyone, I hadn't expected so many replies :eek:

I was concerned it was against ebay rules & whilst they let people off for spamming their titles & all sorts of other things I would sure to be banned for life for sending 4 emails!

I like the business card idea, I had no idea how exciting I would find selling on ebay, I have set myself a target of raising enough to pay for my car tax next month, yes that is how I keep myself entertained

Is there an ebay anonymous group for those afflicted with such a problem? I found I couldn't go out until my auctions had finished, sadly due to my newness it hd taken many hours to list a few items, getting quicker now though....

mini

soolin

Hi Mini,

I love the idea of an ebay anonymous I'd join immediately!

Soo

gromituk

cafenervosa wrote:

I tried contacting him twice to ask him how can a DVD be Region 1, 2 & 4 like he is advertising it at! No suprise that he never got back to me.

I believe a DVD can have multiple region settings. Doesn't detract from your wider point about the seller, though.

katiepops_2

Personally speaking, if I buy something from Ebay that I was pleased with and that was good quality, I put the seller into my favourite sellers list, so I can check back regularly to see what else they've got.

Kate