Educating buyers on the rules - making offers

[stable05]

Just wondering if any Sellers have ever reported a Buyer for making an offer to purchase outside of Ebay?

Would Ebay act on the report?    What does Ebay say/do to the buyer?

Rules:

Offers to buy outside of eBay: Members can't offer to buy or sell a listed item outside of eBay.

If you receive an offer to buy or sell outside eBay, please report it.

Has anyone included a clause in their listings "all buyers who make an offer to purchase this item outside of Ebay will be reported?"

Rules:

If you made an attempt to sell outside eBay in order to entice a buyer, we suggest that you send the buyer an offer through eBay instead. This lets you offer a fixed price item to a buyer at a discounted price.

What if the buyer was 'enticing' me?!    "I am sorry but you are not allowed to entice me, here are the rules (etc), if you persist I will report you"?

It seems counter intuitive to go reporting buyers for their ignorance of the rules.

[bakeandfry]

Nope, never reported that.

Personally i would rather deal out of ebay so it makes it cheaper and everyone is still covered by paypal, but thats just me.

[phorum_junkie*]

Sorry but it always amuses me that some people acually believe that a lot of sellers would refuse to sell off ebay and thus pay no fees, not be subjected to defects or poor feedback and with less chance of a chargeback if they knew they coulld do it without being reported. Just don't believe it and as for actually reporting a buyer???

[stable05]

But... I received a stern warning from Ebay today for doing just that!

Ebay reviewed my messages and determined I had made a member-to-member sale outside of ebay.

You are not allowed to exchange personal contact information (e.g. 'here's my mobile, give me a call') with members either.  So any communication about selling can be/will be audited.

I assume this would also mean if you end a listing in order to sell privately.  Messages are being watched!

[stable05]

As in... not list on ebay?

With EBay messages being reviewed and audited, any attempt to sell a listed item 'out of ebay' can be traced.

I have not been able to provide an email/Paypal address to a member via Ebay for several years now as it gets blocked.

And the rules state no contact information can be exchanged via messaging where it relates to private sales.  

We don't allow our members to use eBay to contact each other to make offers to buy or sell items outside of eBay. Also, members can't use information obtained from eBay to contact each other about buying or selling outside of eBay.

[tentrees123]

Actually have you tried an email address in a message recently? I reckon I have had some go through!!! 

Unless I slipped through into an alternate universe and didn't realize......

[*tippy*toes*]

Write your email or phone number into a blank document, take a screenshot and send as a photo.

[bakeandfry]

Paypal me link in message works fine 🙂

[letscleanupmycupboards]

Or just put your mobile number and/or email in the listing text. Or as a watermark on your photos.

[skyrider12-au]

---

@stable05 wrote:

Just wondering if any Sellers have ever reported a Buyer for making an offer to purchase outside of Ebay?

Would Ebay act on the report?    What does Ebay say/do to the buyer?

Rules:

Offers to buy outside of eBay: Members can't offer to buy or sell a listed item outside of eBay.

If you receive an offer to buy or sell outside eBay, please report it.

Has anyone included a clause in their listings "all buyers who make an offer to purchase this item outside of Ebay will be reported?"

Rules:

If you made an attempt to sell outside eBay in order to entice a buyer, we suggest that you send the buyer an offer through eBay instead. This lets you offer a fixed price item to a buyer at a discounted price.

What if the buyer was 'enticing' me?!    "I am sorry but you are not allowed to entice me, here are the rules (etc), if you persist I will report you"?

It seems counter intuitive to go reporting buyers for their ignorance of the rules.

---

Now you can see a few easy ways to, short circuit, the system. Of course you would never want to purchase anything off a seller who doesn't respect  eBay selling policies.

Sellers agree to, and are bound by, eBay policies and the few who choose to disregard, what they agreed to do, loose all credibility, IMO, and that's a good indication that they will treat you the same way. If you were to give your money to such a seller, then the outcome would,more than likely, be that you've been taken for a ride with little, or no, opportunity to achieve a satisfactory ending. 

As for buyers "enticing" ... Why would you want to report them for asking the question? They have'nt done anything wrong, they just want to know if you would.