Member to member contact

[jacob4105]

Can i ask a seller who I've already bought from to pass on a message to the buyer of another item i was watching. That if they should ever decide they don't want the item any more, they could put it on ebay, as I'll always be keeping an eye out for that item should it ever appear again.

This would just be a recommendation the other buyer could consider, not an offer, as i don't want the message to be mistaken for spam or some other violation of ebay policy.

Would ebay be okay with this? 

[kopenhagen5]

It's not considered good form.

You may have honest intentions but a seller doesn't know that so best not to put another member in that position.

The other buyer could decide to give less then perfect feedback based on something they might consider unsolicited.

Best to save a search and be notified when anyone lists one.

[jacob4105]

What about if the other buyer has already left feedback? 

[jacob4105]

Thanks for your communication by the way 🙂 

[kopenhagen5]

The buyer may get their back up and consider ill of the seller and report them.

Just not a good idea, it's considered unsolicited contact.

A little different to message a seller and ask if they have another.

The seller could report you and eBay see it as you wanting to deal outside of eBay.

[lyndal1838]

They can still leave followup feedback and that always stands out more than the original comment.

You could be leaving the seller open to being reported to ebay and having their selling privileges restricted as their messages could be considered inappropriate.

Do as already suggested.....save a search for the item and get a notification if the item is listed.

[jacob4105]

Thanks for all your help guys. Definitely made things clearer...  

[springyzone]

---

@jacob4105 wrote:

Can i ask a seller who I've already bought from to pass on a message to the buyer of another item i was watching. That if they should ever decide they don't want the item any more, they could put it on ebay, as I'll always be keeping an eye out for that item should it ever appear again.

This would just be a recommendation the other buyer could consider, not an offer, as i don't want the message to be mistaken for spam or some other violation of ebay policy.

Would ebay be okay with this? 

---

I believe you have good intentions but it probably would not be a good idea for any seller to do that.

Apart from any potential trouble with ebay, such a message is virtually worthless because the other buyer doesn't know you & doesn't know how long you would be interested for in any case.

Perhaps if they wanted to relist immediately it would be relevant but in the scheme of things, over time you could lose interest, obtain enough of the items and not want more, be off on holidays and not watching ebay etc

If they relist they basically have to take their chances there will be buyers out there and if you are watching, you'll see it anyway.

And if they ever want to sell but not on ebay, a message they had maybe 2 years earlier probably won't sway them to change their mind.

[jacob4105]

After much thought, i had decided not to try this.

Just seems too risky in the light of potential consequences

for both myself and the seller.

I wasn't sure about this idea, even after going through

all of ebays policies. But everybody here made good points,

I thank you all again for your advice.  

Much obliged