do I have to reply to a blocked bidder?

[shoppingbag*]

I have been contacted by a blocked bidder.  Am I required to reply under eBay rules, or can I safely ignore them? I could only reply with a message to tell them "why" which they would already know, if they thought about it at all. I do not wish to debate or argue the reasons with them, and I am not going to unblock them. I just don't want to get into any trouble with eBay for not replying.

[*tippy*toes* · Accepted solution]

No, you don't have to reply to anyone, especially a blocked bidder. You should have it set up in your buyer requirements that blocked buyers can't contact you. If you haven't, go and do it now. It only works if you aren't in a current or recent transaction with them. 

[shoppingbag*]

Thank you for your answer, I have now changed my settings to stop future contact.

[brerrabbit585 · Accepted solution]

Blocking contact only blocks them through that listing, not in general. If I block someone I don't waste any more time on them. If they think I'm rude then they're hopefully even less likely to want to buy from me.

The system may erroneously block an innocent person but if the others have been blocked for a reason it's not up to me to justify why they're blocked - it's THEIR actions that resulted in them being blocked, not mine.

[shoppingbag*]

You hit the nail on the head. The said buyer was very rude to me, even after I bent over backwards to please them, sent them a free gift with the parcel, and refunded part of the postage, they went out of their way to rub me up the wrong way.  They were a total pain from start to finish, so I thought, "never again", I would rather not sell at all than go through that again. The message they sent, rather puzzled as to why I would block them. It was last year. I felt tempted to remind them how uneasy and stressed they made me feel, but why should I waste my time, and give them the opportunity to argue the point. I don't intend to lift the block, now or ever.

[countessalmirena]

shoppingbag*, I can only nod my head and say "Good".

Someone wants to buy, kum ba ya

Someone wants to buy, kum ba ya

Someone wants to buy, kum ba ya

Oh Lord, kum ba ya

But this buyer is blocked, can't buy here

But this buyer is blocked, can't buy here

But this buyer is blocked, can't buy here

Oh Lord, can't buy here.

[wide-world-of-stamps]

---

@shoppingbag* wrote:

You hit the nail on the head. The said buyer was very rude to me, even after I bent over backwards to please them, sent them a free gift with the parcel, and refunded part of the postage, they went out of their way to rub me up the wrong way.  They were a total pain from start to finish, so I thought, "never again", I would rather not sell at all than go through that again. The message they sent, rather puzzled as to why I would block them. It was last year. I felt tempted to remind them how uneasy and stressed they made me feel, but why should I waste my time, and give them the opportunity to argue the point. I don't intend to lift the block, now or ever.

---

We used to reply politely, but quite often received rather impolite (or even abusive) messages back.

Now we have decided we don't need the aggravation.

We do sometimes still feel very rude for not replying, but that's probably because we grew up well before the internet.

It certainly keeps the blood pressure in check at times!

[digital*ghost]

My go-to reply, if I am compelled to, is generally along the lines of that it was an executive decision from my account manager and I'm unable to override the decision.

Sometimes I say its automatically enabled as part of a security protocol when a transaction issue is raised, and can't be reversed if the issue remains unresolved for a specified period after the transaction because the transaction is no longer accessible (eg for those who raise a problem I know is BS and never reply when I call them out).

[jellybirddesigns]

Someone can correct me, but I thought that if you had a transaction with that person, they could still contact you even if "blocked".

Obviously they couldn't purchase again, but they can still message?

[wide-world-of-stamps]

---

@jellybirddesigns wrote:

Someone can correct me, but I thought that if you had a transaction with that person, they could still contact you even if "blocked".

Obviously they couldn't purchase again, but they can still message?

---

Only while that transaction remains current, ie on their purchase history.  Once that has timed out, our understanding is that they can no longer contact you.