Ebay Rant

[Hawkman]

So I posted an item up for sale on Ebay, and I get a PM from a guy with a trade offer. I attempt to reply back with my email address so that he can send pictures of the offer a few times without success. BAM, error message saying that my account has been locked.

I call Ebay, account is locked for 7 days for trying to send personal information via PM, no way to unlock it before then.

I used to use Ebay here and there years ago, and it always was a fairly painless process. With all this new garbage about not letting you post website links or contact info in PMs, I don't think I will continue to patronize their site as heavily as I have previously. I don't feel that by suppressing outside communication, Ebay is somehow keeping me safer.

/End Rant

Anyone had similar experiences? Still love Ebay?

 

[Frederick]

So I posted an item up for sale on Ebay, and I get a PM from a guy with a trade offer. I attempt to reply back with my email address so that he can send pictures of the offer a few times without success. BAM, error message saying that my account has been locked.

I call Ebay, account is locked for 7 days for trying to send personal information via PM, no way to unlock it before then.

I used to use Ebay here and there years ago, and it always was a fairly painless process. With all this new garbage about not letting you post website links or contact info in PMs, I don't think I will continue to patronize their site as heavily as I have previously. I don't feel that by suppressing outside communication, Ebay is somehow keeping me safer.

/End Rant

Anyone had similar experiences? Still love Ebay?

Paypal is similar.

They will throw vendors/sellers under the bus to keep the customers happy.

Ebay suppresses outside communication because otherwise people will cut out the middleman and they'll lose their money.

It's not just about your safety from getting scammed, but also about their bottom line.

 

[Hawkman]

@tristanjay Good points, I had not even considered a financial motive!

 

[adamsredlines]

Yep, if you pull he item and do a trade, eBay doesnt get their 10% cut.

I am also not a fan of how they "hold" your money until the buyer gets his item. I sold a $2,400 Hot Wheel a while back and they "held" MY money for a few weeks.

 

[DavidMcmillan]

I have used them since 1999, and have sold and bought hundreds of items. I have no complaints, even as the rules have changed from time to time. It's easy to understand why they have certain rules. Compare it to some guy standing inside your store, and offering his item at a price lower than what you have yours priced right next to him. Operating costs for eBay and other online businesses can be pretty high. It would be interesting to see a comparison of their gross margins year by year.

 

[Hawkman]

Yep, if you pull he item and do a trade, eBay doesnt get their 10% cut.

I am also not a fan of how they "hold" your money until the buyer gets his item. I sold a $2,400 Hot Wheel a while back and they "held" MY money for a few weeks.

Might I ask how you came to possess a Hot Wheel worth so much?! Talk about a hot-ticket item!

 

[druryj]

Might I ask how you came to possess a Hot Wheel worth so much?! Talk about a hot-ticket item!

It belonged to Elvis.

 

[adamsredlines]

It was one from 1970 that is very hard to find still in the original package. Loose its maybe a $200 car...in the pack...as stated above. Most cars from the early years dont have that much of a swing from loose to in pack but this one did.

 

[emapples]

So I posted an item up for sale on Ebay, and I get a PM from a guy with a trade offer. I attempt to reply back with my email address so that he can send pictures of the offer a few times without success. BAM, error message saying that my account has been locked.

I call Ebay, account is locked for 7 days for trying to send personal information via PM, no way to unlock it before then.

I used to use Ebay here and there years ago, and it always was a fairly painless process. With all this new garbage about not letting you post website links or contact info in PMs, I don't think I will continue to patronize their site as heavily as I have previously. I don't feel that by suppressing outside communication, Ebay is somehow keeping me safer.

/End Rant

Anyone had similar experiences? Still love Ebay?

Having sold a lot on eBay this one is simple , they don’t get their cut on a trade (but there are ways around it ) such as do a 1 dollar transaction was it this guy on eBay for something else and then you get his email from pay pal and can contact him that way

 

[tRidiot]

Trying to send phone numbers or email addresses via PM on Ebay, they get blocked. Their system watches out automatically for things in PMs that resemble email addresses and phone numbers and xxxx's them out. I am assuming you got banned for trying multiple times to send your email. People will contact someone on Ebay via PM, ask about selling it outside Ebay with, "Contact me at this address and we can do a side deal." Thus, they've developed this protection into their system.

And yet, vendors put their phone number right in their ads, and I have dealt with several this way - have even called them and they have offered to sell outside Ebay for less. I don't get it, sometimes, but it is the way they have things set up.