Tried to send buyer phone number, communication suspended 1 week

[ausbulk]

I just tried to send my address and phone number to a buyer, ebay has now automatically restricted my ability to communicate with any buyer on ebay for 1 week!!. I called up their help line only to be told they don't have the ability to remove this restriction on my account.

I was unaware that you couldn't send a phone number prior to the buyer clicking buy now.

I can understand why ebay has this restriction to stop people making a transaction outside of ebay..... but I wasn't trying to get around their fees.

This is a huge hastle for me, the only way I can contact buyers now is for me to call ebay, they send me an email, I respond to that email, and ebay contact the seller on my behalf....  

I currently have 3 listings up, was planning on putting up another few this week... looks like I'll have to put that off now.

[heihachi_73]

I would rather see Trade Me make the jump to Australia. While they do let Australian buyers and sellers on the site, they only allow it if you have a bank account and/or home address in New Zealand e.g. if you are a dual citizen or have physical businesses in both countries. The only other problem with Trade Me is that they don't accept PayPal.

It's getting ridiculous that you have to use obfuscated code to get around eBay's Schutzstaffel just so they won't shoot you for daring to reply to a message.

[springyzone]

It is not just sellers who are being affected.

A seller I know (who sells pick up items) was saying that 3 of his customers told him they had been suspended for a week. One for asking him for his phone number, the other 2 for messages they sent to other sellers. All of them said they would never bother using ebay again.

It's not good to put sellers offside but it's completely counter productive to ban customers instead of giving them a simple warning.

[lane-ends]

Yep dont try any sneaky work arounds. The bots wil pick up a buyer who asks the question. This flags it for a CS rep to check your response, so it wont be left to the bots to pick up your reply. ie they are watching for ripples. Some sellers have had messages from Ebay congratulating them on keeping things on Ebay, they wouldn't know this if they weren't watching for your response.

[ausbulk]

Is this really a big issue for ebay? I mean really, I'd love to know how many people exchange details for a tansaction outside of ebay, because I expect the numbers to be minimal.

I havn't in any way tried to avoid paying fees though ebay previously, but after this stupid communication ban I'll be trying every sneaky tactic I can to screw them over.

[justkidzbiz]

One way around it is to ask the buyer if they use other social media, FB for example and message them that way!

its ridiculous that pick up items cannot be inspected before purchasing, ie furniture, TVs etc. it's a hassle to have to cancel a sale if a buyer purchases, then they find its not what they wanted when coming to collect. Plus the fact that eBay are requiring immediate payment on purchases under their new trial policy.

[springyzone]

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@justkidzbiz wrote:

One way around it is to ask the buyer if they use other social media, FB for example and message them that way!

its ridiculous that pick up items cannot be inspected before purchasing, ie furniture, TVs etc. it's a hassle to have to cancel a sale if a buyer purchases, then they find its not what they wanted when coming to collect. Plus the fact that eBay are requiring immediate payment on purchases under their new trial policy.

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I remember a few years ago seeing people who listed pick up items-furniture, wedding frocks, all sorts of things-offer prior inspection & there never seemed to be all these hassles. How many deals were done off ebay I don't know. Some I suppose but surely not that many.

When you think about it, if you were in the market for something like a wedding dress, you would surely want to see it or try it on before you committed to buy.

When items are very expensive, it's not unreasonable for someone to want a prior inspection.

My impression is pick up items might eventually be kicked off ebay altogether.