Not getting reply from sellers when I ask a question

[izzii0]

Twice recently I have sent sellers a question with regard to a listing and have not had replies. In one case I sent the message 3 times ...  Nothing has changed at my end with regard to email and contact details.  Any ideas as to whether there is something I may be missing?

Thanks

[kopenhagen5]

Occasionally there is a glitch with messages not going through but many members are only on their computer 2-3 times a week.

So if a seller doesn't respond to a message within 3-4 days, I figure they may be tardy in the rest of the transaction and I prefer to find another seller.

[gutterpunkz05]

A lot of sellers are now paranoid about ansWering questions, in case it happens to get their accounts suspended.

[enigmabear]

Which could indeed have already happened in this case 

[gutterpunkz05]

It can be a hard lesson to learn.  Luckily I only got a warning when the clampdown started.  So now if a message is likely to cause a problem it is far easier not to reply.  Especially when you have to consider wether the messages could be misconstrued in anyway by ebay.   Normally I make everything as abundantly clear as possible in the first reply, however on occassion after numerous messages I have had reason to go OH SHEET, I hope they take the first message into account when interpreting that response.

[melbourneclearance]

It depends on what the question was. Myself, I do not reply to questions from:

- Members with psychedelic Feedbacks Left For Others (Yours is a very lovely monochrome, so that's not the reason)

- Rude or trollish questions such as offering excessively low amounts or one-liner "Do you send to Albania?", "Why did you write an essay for this listing?", etc

Apart from that, unless the sellers have been banned while answering you, I cannot think of another legitimate reason not to answer. Even if the potential buyer has asked for contact details nowadays I would reply with something like "ebay does not allow contact details before a purchase.........ban.........ebay is evil.........etc......etc......".

I would suggest finding another seller, the ones you have contacted either do not want your business or are not in a position to do it.

[gutterpunkz05]

Apart from that, unless the sellers have been banned while answering you, I cannot think of another legitimate reason not to answer. Even if the potential buyer has asked for contact details nowadays I would reply with something like "ebay does not allow contact details before a purchase.........ban.........ebay is evil.........etc......etc......".

I would suggest finding another seller, the ones you have contacted either do not want your business or are not in a position to do it.

You are warned by ebay regarding this exact scenario and advised (Warned) not to reply.  No point being polite  or other, if ebay are likely to suspend you.  Especially if you have allready been cautioned for a similar instance.  Take it from me the caution from

ebay is more of a threat and goes far more than merely suspension.

[melbourneclearance]

Replying to a request for contact details WITHOUT giving contact details is perfectly fine. I did get banned by ebay for giving my pick up suburb (which is in all my item locations), but they admitted fault and compensated me for that.

But, sure, there is always a risk a quick shooter on too much coffee at ebay may ban you for any reply.

[digital*ghost]

From where are you submitting the question?

On the off-chance you're using the 'ask a question' function at the end of the listing, those aren't questions sent directly to the seller of the listing you're looking at, they're basically "ask anyone who is selling, has sold, or has bought this product" and posted publically. 

As others have mentioned, though, eBay is pretty trigger happy with restricting members from communicating with each other at the moment - both buyers and sellers can be banned from sending messages for 7 days at a time for perfectly innocent questions / replies, and if you send a message to someone who has been restricted, there's no notice of such and obviously the seller can't reply to advise you of the circumstances, either. 

[gutterpunkz05]

Replying to a request for contact details WITHOUT giving contact details is perfectly fine. I did get banned by ebay for giving my pick up suburb (which is in all my item locations), but they admitted fault and compensated me for that.

But, sure, there is always a risk a quick shooter on too much coffee at ebay may ban you for any reply.

Hi  MC,   have a look at thread  "ebay account restriction Help"   (SELLING)

Maybe you can offer some help

[gutterpunkz05]

Replying to a request for contact details WITHOUT giving contact details is perfectly fine. I did get banned by ebay for giving my pick up suburb (which is in all my item locations), but they admitted fault and compensated me for that.

But, sure, there is always a risk a quick shooter on too much coffee at ebay may ban you for any reply.

Hi  MC,   have a look at thread  "ebay account restriction Help"   (SELLING)

Maybe you can offer some help