What's eBay's stance on Contact info in listings

[imf_electronics_australia]

I have always been of the opinion that eBay forbid phone numbers in listings as it circumnavigates the auction process and promotes sales outside the system.

Now if this is the case then why do eBay constantly allows sellers that are floggin cars to put their phone numbers into the listing and lead buyers offline to contact and buy the vehicle directly from them.

If you look at most car listings you'll find that most vehicles never sell on the system, rather the listing is ended due to the item being no longer available, meaning the listing has been pulled because the seller sold the car from a contact that was gained from the listing in the first instance.

Very frustrating indeed.

[kopenhagen5]

Not allowed.

However there was something about anchor stores were permitted.

eBay is an automated system so they can't vet millions of listings.

If listings are reported the sellers are usually asked to omit the info or listings are ended by eBay with an explanation.

It is also common for vehicle sellers to list multiple places and often sell by other means than from eBay.

[imf_electronics_australia]

Personally I think eBay have given up policing this as they just want the listings regardless to try and stay relavent in the market against the big giant (or so they think) carsales.com.

As an example and a test on eBay I have reported one seller over 5 times and still nothing changes on that listing.

This tells me that they are turning a blind eye to this practice and it costs eBay absolutely nothing to have the listings up as they are and thus creating an image that they are a leading force in selling cars. The only people they are kidding is themselves.

Most sellers are merely using eBay as "a platform to gain exposure" for their vehicle and thus end up selling it with no fees attached offline.

Sorry but that old chestnut of "listing may be ended at any time as car is listed elsewhere" just doesn't wash.

Basically eBay is becoming an irrelavent player in the marketplace and this is rather noticeable with their current TV advertising campaign again.

They've simply lost touch with sellers, and buyers are only buying the cheap Chinese rubbish with free postage attached.

[padi*0409]

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@imf_electronics_australia wrote:

Sorry but that old chestnut of "listing may be ended at any time as car is listed elsewhere" just doesn't wash.

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I don't agree with that, many years ago eBay lifted their ban on sellers advertising on multiple platforms and many sellers do now list elsewhere. (foolishly maybe in some instances)  But certainly if I was to be selling a vehicle I'd be trying multiple sites to sell it - Gumtree, facebook, Carsales etc as well as eBay.

[kopenhagen5]

I agree with a lot you say and if eBay had curbed many practises years ago, the site wouldn't have experienced such a downturn as it has within the last 5 years as well as losing credibility.

1. Reports from members should be taken more seriously.

2. Limit Chinese accounts from only listing on the Chinese site.

3. Fix the genuine site issues without constantly changing things that work well.

[curraone]

I think that there is a different policy for vehicles:    after all nobody in their right mind is going to buy a car without inspecting it first.

From mid-2017, if you’re an eBay Store subscriber or list in the Motor Vehicles category, you’ll be able to indicate whether or not you’d like us to share your customer service phone number with buyers via the Ask a question link.

[lyndal1838]

Are you sure that the cars you are talking about are regular ebay listings.

Most car dealers/sellers use Classified Ads which are a whole different ballgame.....the buyer deals directly with the seller, not through ebay.

[kopenhagen5]

Good point lyndal, could be what OP has seen.

Even then as curra points out, vehicles is somewhat different to normal listings.

And I would imagine when a seller lists on eBay, gumtree, carsales, it's more likely to sell from the others before eBay.

Also a buyer might see it on eBay as well as one of the others then using the contact info from the others to inspect and purchase.

No need to click buy on eBay if the details are already accessible for the buyer elsewhere.