Offers to sell outside of Ebay

A potential buyer sent us a message asking if it was possible to collect an item directly from us.  We confirmed no problems and just call us to arrange a time.

Straight away we get an email from EBay accusing us of making an offer to sell outside of EBay!! 

Rang to expalin that we merelye answered to customer question and if they had visited then the transaction would have been processed through our EBay account (for our own accounting purposes if for no other reason).  Not a good enough explanation for EBay - customer needs to make purchase first and then ask about local pick-up.

 

 

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Offers to sell outside of Ebay

Welcome to the club!

It's happening to many sellers trying to make normal buyer-to-seller communication.

I understand they have 'bots'- computer programs designed to identify any key words in messages that may indicate selling outside of ebay.  These then trigger the email to you - or worse a 7 day restriction on your account

If you complain they will review and then give you a '"caution" (even if you weren't doing anything wrong)

Infuriating

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Offers to sell outside of Ebay

It is interesting that after 20 years, eBay have suddenly decided to pursue outside transactions. Personally I believe it is an effort to recoup revenue lost by dwindling sales. My fees are now about half what they were 4 years ago (and for most of the 10 years prior to that) aas a result of lack of sales. This is despite eBay inventing new fees etc and despite the fact that my fees are much higher, as a percentage of sale price, than they were in the past.

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Offers to sell outside of Ebay

Welcome to the club. I got one too because a buyer contacted me and said they were local, could they pick up. They'd somehow managed to include their phone number but I still kept the messages within eBay. I'd arranged to meet them the next morning but dropped it and it smashed so I sent an sms explaining and said I have a similar one which they were even happier with.

 

I ended the item on eBay because it was broken. The item they ended up getting had never been listed and was never going to be listed on eBay. Yet ebay seems to think they have rights over that item. If they really want the 90c they missed out on then I'm happy to give it to them. It might mean the difference between them staying open and having to shut the entire site down.

 

I got a warning, not a suspension. It seems there is to be no contact whatsoever between buyers and sellers,  so I'm tempted to tick the box so no one can message me. It's the safest way.

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Offers to sell outside of Ebay

What is the point of the message system if buyers cannot ask questions before buying an item?

 

Tippy, is it possible to block messages without having the buyer on your blocked list?

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Offers to sell outside of Ebay

Yes, I think you are right.

 

One good thing about not selling as much on eBay, is you don't have to pay them as much in fees..

 

Sales outside eBay? Shows how desperate these people have become.

 

eBay are lucky we bother to sell anything with them at all.

 

Let's see.

 

1) No GST input credit on my fees, as the money gets shovelled o/s to a Swiss bank account, leaving me with a 3% o/s transaction fee each month on top of the fees, as well as the no GST input credit.

 

2) A nice little theft of about 11% of the postage costs to eBay and Paypal.

 

3) A returns system stacked against the seller, leaving one totally open to fraud via eBay and their mates, Paypal, meaning that I never have and never will list the serious stuff, such as gold, on eBay, that gets saved for my website or put through large coin auctions, where the serious buyers live....

 

4) An estimated postage delivery system that is completely unfair and inflexible.

 

5) A feedback system stacked against the seller and a system where people can "buy" things, not pay, waste your time, escape virtually free of consequences AND can still neg you if they choose!!

 

6) "eBay Customer Service" can be a real battle.

 

7) Your own listings clogged up with adverts for other people.

 

More goodies on the way, such as Guaranteed Delivery Times, removal of active content, probable enforcement of a 3 photo minimum on listings, probable requirement that all items be sent with tracking, plus WHATEVER OTHER HOOPS THEY CAN DREAM UP!!

 

As a seller, this place can still be good, can still surprise you now and then, but oh my:

 

You used to be a beautiful baby, you used to be a beautiful child.

When you were only starting, in kindergarten, I bet you drove the little girls wild.

You used to be a beautiful baby...

BUT WHAT THE (bleep) HAPPENED TO YOU!!

 

 

 

 

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Offers to sell outside of Ebay

"if they had visited then the transaction would have been processed through our EBay account (for our own accounting purposes if for no other reason). "

 

... and duly, obediently, and happily pay your ebay/paypal's exorbitant fees instead of just printing a receipt for your own accounting purposes?

 

Hahaha, that's very funny. But nice try. I'm sure ebay had never heard THAT one before!

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Offers to sell outside of Ebay

just been suspended for 7 days. A customer requested a solar heating kit, I put on ebay directly from old web site, it had a phone number in it. Was not intensional, just a mistake by an old man trying to keep up with their complex system. So, now my customer cant but the 3 kits they wanted, I lose and eBay loses its' fees too. Cant talk reason to a call center overseas, they just talk over you, dont want to accept I made a mistake. Why not send a message about it as they have in the past about HTTPS etc, I have been fixing listings as some were years old. The  people on the end of the phone have no concept, I have 260 listings, do about $10,000 a month, why do they penalise me and themselves over a few dollars on one item? Just as well I have my shop sales, especialy this time of year!



 

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Offers to sell outside of Ebay


@melbourneclearance wrote:

"if they had visited then the transaction would have been processed through our EBay account (for our own accounting purposes if for no other reason). "

 

... and duly, obediently, and happily pay your ebay/paypal's exorbitant fees instead of just printing a receipt for your own accounting purposes?

 

Hahaha, that's very funny. But nice try. I'm sure ebay had never heard THAT one before!


Some of us use ebays systems for all of our accounting and stock control. It just makes life a whole lot simpler and easier come tax time or when managing stock. I occasionally get asked to sell off ebay, but frankly I couldnt be bothered. I just view the fees as a cost of doing business and dont need to complicate things by selling " off system. "

 

I work on the KISS principle......Keep it simple stupid and concentrate on moving as much stock as I can in the time I have available.

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Offers to sell outside of Ebay

You seriously want me to believe that you would have a potential customer come inspect your stuff, he says "Great! I'll take it!", and you would say "No, no, no. Whip out your smartphone and buy through ebay first. If you don't have a smartphone then go home, buy through ebay, and come back here to pick up the item"? Maybe scream "Hallelujah! Praaaiise the ebay!" somewhere in between?

 

No one will send a certain sale out the door to have them buy through ebay first. Why do you think ebay is cracking down hard on this and losing lots of commissions? Because it's worth it for them!

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