topic Re: So many emails! in Buying

So many emails!

wortgames — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 12:58:54 GMT

I've recently been buying quite a lot of low value stuff. I might buy a dozen cheap books or a range of phone connectors.

I am absolutely sick of all the eBay and PayPal emails that are generated from every purchase, and the system won't let me disable them. Every purchase floods my inbox with unnecessary emails that basically just tell me what button I just clicked. "You just bought this item". I know I just bought the item. I just clicked several buttons that told me I was buying the item, then several more that made it pretty darn clear I was paying for it too. I do not need these emails.

How does everyone else deal with this? Should I create a separate email 'dump' address for eBay and Paypal, that I can simply ignore? Or should I just give up and shop elsewhere?

I'm so sick of it.

Re: So many emails!

oldworldlady — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 13:03:52 GMT

Hi wortgames

How about you set up an email filter and divert them all into a separate mailbox/folder so you don't have to scroll through them all the time. You've still got them for reference that way or can bulk delete wehn you feel like it.

Re: So many emails!

patchoo78 — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 13:05:16 GMT

I just delete mine

Re: So many emails!

phorum_junkie* — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 14:55:08 GMT

Thank you so much for posting this.

Some people keep saying how they provide extra customer service by doubling up on the ebay emails by sending personal messages at every stage of the proceedings and think this is a good thing :_|

And don't get me started about those who add to the count with the Auctiva generated emails!!!!!!!

I no longer open any emails connected to a transaction unless there is a problem, as soon as I have received an item all emails connected to it are deleted unread.

Re: So many emails!

wortgames — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 22:02:27 GMT

It's totally insane.

I recently bought a bunch of books from a seller that had enabled instant payment - what a PITA that was. Firstly I wasted a heap of my time when I thought I had bought all the books I wanted and went to check out, only to find that there were no items awaiting payment so I had to find them ALL again, and go through the ridiculous amount of steps buying and confirming and confirming again and agreeing to pay and logging into PayPal and confirming my payment and confirming it again for EVERY $2 item individually - then my inbox got flooded with what must have been getting close to a hundred emails.

I simply won't do that again, which is a shame for that seller as their service and prices were excellent.

Here's a tip eBay - if I win an auction, an email after the auction ends is good (even then, you could be a bit clever and wait 10 mins - if I was actually watching the auction and paid instantly, then I already KNOW that I won the item and you can skip that one).

If I BIN, I do NOT need an email telling me what I just did, any more than I need ANY website sending me an email to confirm what buttons I just clicked on. The process itself leaves no doubt what I've just done. I also do not need to hit twenty confirmation buttons to complete the process. I'm not an idiot.

Quite honestly, the user experience around here as a buyer has become absurd, and quite awful.

I can't really use the filter idea as I access my emails via a couple of different methods (iphone/web/outlook). The only thing I can do is to create a new account for eBay and PayPal that isn't part of my normal email, which means I won't see anything that goes to that address unless I specifically check it. This could quite easily mean I forget about an auction I've placed a bid on or miss a genuine message from a seller, but quite honestly I don't see any other solution. Email is an important part of my work and I can't afford to have it monstered by eBay in this way.

Re: So many emails!

curraone — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 22:06:36 GMT

How about getting an email address just for ebay - that way you can keep ebay and your work mails separate

most plans offer extra mailboxes for free, like bigpond and qmail

I use a separate email address for ebay, because it was driving my family mad as you say, with so many emails about nothing.

Re: So many emails!

wortgames — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 22:44:39 GMT

Email addresses aren't the problem - the problem is whether I will actually receive the emails or not. eBay won't allow me to choose which notifications I want, so it's all or nothing. Either I'm flooded with unwanted emails to my real address, or I direct everything into a 'spam' email address that I don't read.

I wonder if the answer might be to use 2 different user ID's? One for auctions, where I want email confirmation of having won an item, and another one for BIN purchases and PayPal where all the rubbish can go and get ignored?

Re: So many emails!

patchoo78 — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 00:18:08 GMT

OR You could just do as advised and set up a filter so the unwanted e-mails don't even reach your inbox, or just get another e-mail address for eBay only

I have one just for Facebook rubbish

Re: So many emails!

kopenhagen5 — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 06:09:36 GMT

wort, you can actually choose notifications.

Some are compulsory but you can stop most.

Hover over account tab and select communication preferences.

Scroll down and select any of the topics, buying, selling etc.

Go in to any and choose none for those you don't want.

🙂

Re: So many emails!

calsof — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 06:58:10 GMT

Set up a separate email address but also download an Ebay app on your phone. Set up which notifications you want to come up instantly on your phone and you're done. Check if the Ebay app notifies you for the particular things you are interested in first.

Re: So many emails!

phorum_junkie* — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 09:15:54 GMT

I have an email address that is only used for my buying id on ebay. That way I never have to even look, I just go in and delete all, if sellers want to waste their time trying to be my pen pal then they can do so without wasting my time.

I buy, I pay, I wait, I receive, I inspect, I leave feedback. Unless there is a problem with one of those stages I don't need to read any emails.