WARNING : Off ebay sales

soolin

This is just a warning thread which I may expand on if people want to add further information.

Ebay have a new policy, I have referred to it as draconian in several threads as it concerns sales they perceive to be 'off ebay' even if that is not actually the case.

Initially ebay banned the swapping of contact details or any other form of link or means to contact other party where there is not already a sale , sometimes a glitch means that contact details will get through, but for the purposes of the policy that is not actually permitted. People have tried to get round this , some/many? have been caught and have received warnings or short suspensions. I myself have a warning from early 2017 for replying to a buyer who wanted me to remove the immediate payment required on an item so that he could come and collect and pay cash immediately after purchase. As he mentioned my address, and changing the listing and mentioned coming to collect that was enough for the warning to be issued.

This is also affecting in particular sellers with collection only items as the exact address cannot be listed in the item description (although business sellers do still have their business details showing) but if a buyer asks for an address then usually both buyer and sometimes seller get a warning. This is patently unfair as sellers can't control who ask them what, unless they totally ban all questions.

Here on MSE we now have two threads where sellers have actually been charged for a perceived off ebay sale see:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5756839

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5754340

across other boards there are reports of sellers actually being banned due to this new policy and ebay acting without actually reading the message but just assuming the intention was to sell outside of ebay.

Please do be very careful of this new policy, especially if trying to sell an item that you expect to be able to view first, or even just wanting an address to see if collection is feasible. Even as a buyer be aware this is happening, buyers are getting warnings as well and even if you don't, please be aware of why a seller might not answer you if you ask anything that ebay might consider could result in an off ebay sale. Whilst none of us sellers want to lose a sale or upset a potential buyer, we can't risk our account by responding to questions that might get us restricted.

deanos

If i sell collection only i put the first part of my postcode in the description, i would have thought that would be ok ?

Ms_Chocaholic

Thanks soolin.

I've just sold an item that the buyer wanted to receive quicker than the courier would have got it there. I messaged him back with the options, RM 1st Class or Special Delivery and additional cost to send it over and above what he had already paid. He opted for SD and paid the additional £7 after I requested it via Paypal.

Is this set of circumstances likely to come to Ebay's attention? What other way round would there have been for this situation.

theonlywayisup

Ms_Chocaholic wrote: »

Thanks soolin.

I've just sold an item that the buyer wanted to receive quicker than the courier would have got it there. I messaged him back with the options, RM 1st Class or Special Delivery and additional cost to send it over and above what he had already paid. He opted for SD and paid the additional £7 after I requested it via Paypal.

Is this set of circumstances likely to come to Ebay's attention? What other way round would there have been for this situation.

Post-sale is fine. Pre-sale is not.

soolin

Ms_Chocaholic wrote: »

Thanks soolin.

I've just sold an item that the buyer wanted to receive quicker than the courier would have got it there. I messaged him back with the options, RM 1st Class or Special Delivery and additional cost to send it over and above what he had already paid. He opted for SD and paid the additional £7 after I requested it via Paypal.

Is this set of circumstances likely to come to Ebay's attention? What other way round would there have been for this situation.

If the sale had occurred already then there shouldn't be any issue at all.

Ms_Chocaholic

soolin wrote: »

If the sale had occurred already then there shouldn't be any issue at all.

Ebay lost fees on the extra postage (£7) I charged and I thought it was this issue that might cause a problem.

soolin

Ms_Chocaholic wrote: »

Ebay lost fees on the extra postage (£7) I charged and I thought it was this issue that might cause a problem.

I don't think there is any definitive answer to anything any more on eBay. In future though, once you have a PayPal payment you have the buyers email address, so use that to talk to them.

z1a

What if you were to put a contact number in as part of your description?
- the first character of the 1st 11 words - eg, 0very 7good, 7condition, 2only used once, 9thanks 8for 3looking, 4no 6buy 5it 4now option.

Would bots spot it? Buyer would easily pick up on it.
Will try next time I list an item, not bothered about losing account as eBay is dead now anyway IMO.

theonlywayisup

z1a wrote: »

What if you were to put a contact number in as part of your description?
- the first character of the 1st 11 words - eg, 0very 7good, 7condition, 2only used once, 9thanks 8for 3looking, 4no 6buy 5it 4now option.

Would bots spot it? Buyer would easily pick up on it.
Will try next time I list an item, not bothered about losing account as eBay is dead now anyway IMO.

Any attempt to circumvent will be an issue.

If eBay is "dead' why are you thinking of selling on there?

soolin

z1a wrote: »

What if you were to put a contact number in as part of your description?
- the first character of the 1st 11 words - eg, 0very 7good, 7condition, 2only used once, 9thanks 8for 3looking, 4no 6buy 5it 4now option.

Would bots spot it? Buyer would easily pick up on it.
Will try next time I list an item, not bothered about losing account as eBay is dead now anyway IMO.

Since buyers don't read a lot of the description anyway, I can't see that writing random nonsense is going to help.

BTW eBay isn't dead for everyone

z1a

theonlywayisup wrote: »

Any attempt to circumvent will be an issue.

If eBay is "dead' why are you thinking of selling on there?

Not really "thinking" of selling, should have said "if" rather than "when".