ebay told me off

Jack_

eBay's relentless pursuit of more money is shocking.

How long before car boots or garage sales are trademarks of eBay, and you can't sell anything second hand without giving them some money?

usedtobe

John_A said:

impmann said:

Erm "fuck off" is the my answer to stuff like that - if I decide to change my mind about selling MY PROPERTY through eBay, then I will do just that. If I subsequently sell it to someone else then that's my business.

eBay have made enough money out of me for me to feel zero guilt out of such activities.

I agree, but you have to see why they are peeved.  You've used their site for free advertising.  Would never do such a thing myself

Me neither..

  

siraxeman

professorben said:

Sassafras said:

What sort of man sends his frail wife to pick up a big Marshall cab?
Obviously not a gentleman.

1922 big????

Not only that I did tell the guy on the phone I'd carry the cab and put it in her car for her - which being the nice man I am I did. The buyer couldn't attend himself as he also was a guitar teacher and was working last night.

siraxeman

bloodandtears said:

curious...... when you ended the auction.. what did you cite as the reason??

No longer available for sale...its one of the options that comes up in the list of reasons..and its very apt!! ;-)

siraxeman

John_P said:

I've heard that some people instead of cancelling the listing, just edit the price to something crazy high that no one would pay and edit the time to the minimum so it will quickly run it's course without upsetting ebay.  I wouldn't know any of these people that do that of course. 

I has done this myself many times..

bingefeller

siraxeman said:

sold a marshall 1922 cab last night, but the guy sent me a message with his phone no. so we chatted on the phone - he said he wanted it would I agree to a BIN price, I said yeah - we did the deal verbally and his missus came n got the amp 2hrs later. So I then take my listing off ebay...methinks they did their 2+2 equation and got 4. This morning me gets "a good telling off" email from ebay. Oops.

I got one of these too on Sunday - a "Warning - Offers to sell outside of eBay" email.  I had a job lot of CD's for sale and did an off eBay deal and asked the guy for his email addy and then I removed the auction.  It seems they are scanning messages now and looking for keywords. 

I wonder if you could put an image in messages, like have your email address on an image, or use a fixed width font, ｔｈｉｓ　ｋｉｎｄ　ｏｆ　ｔｈｉｎｇ and see if they pick that up.

I also considered using a code, like writing my email down the side of the message:

b

I

n

g

e

f

e

l

l

e

r

I haven't sold anything on eBay in ages to be honest, certain people (mostly photographers) have put me off.  The guy I sold CD's to has said I can email him anytime in the future when I have more to sell so that will cut out eBay again. 

siraxeman

freakboy1610 said:

John_P said:

I've heard that some people instead of cancelling the listing, just edit the price to something crazy high that no one would pay and edit the time to the minimum so it will quickly run it's course without upsetting ebay.  I wouldn't know any of these people that do that of course. 

I'd not heard of that but will be passing it on to my "friend" who sells on Ebay!

The clever tactic is this - sell on ebay listing the start bid as your minimum and that price being what you'd want AFTER FEES. Do not use BIN, but if you do and you've overpriced it then it still don't matter if some muppet buys it. Step 2 - hint in the description that you will accept less and say "if you have any Q's message me or call (if you leave a contact number in the listing details) then folks think ah...i'll get in touch.

In the past I've just left the auction to run its course but bumped the price up to stupid so nobody bids. Once though someone sent me an email asking why I'd put the price up so much and do I realise that I'd put potential bidders off...so I informed him of my reasoning....he replied with a simple LOL. In hindsight that's what I should've done, and exactly what i'll do next time around seeing as they've 'marked my card' and issued a warning 

bingefeller

siraxeman said:

freakboy1610 said:

John_P said:

I've heard that some people instead of cancelling the listing, just edit the price to something crazy high that no one would pay and edit the time to the minimum so it will quickly run it's course without upsetting ebay.  I wouldn't know any of these people that do that of course. 

I'd not heard of that but will be passing it on to my "friend" who sells on Ebay!

The clever tactic is this - sell on ebay listing the start bid as your minimum and that price being what you'd want AFTER FEES. Do not use BIN, but if you do and you've overpriced it then it still don't matter if some muppet buys it. Step 2 - hint in the description that you will accept less and say "if you have any Q's message me or call (if you leave a contact number in the listing details) then folks think ah...i'll get in touch.

In the past I've just left the auction to run its course but bumped the price up to stupid so nobody bids. Once though someone sent me an email asking why I'd put the price up so much and do I realise that I'd put potential bidders off...so I informed him of my reasoning....he replied with a simple LOL. In hindsight that's what I should've done, and exactly what i'll do next time around seeing as they've 'marked my card' and issued a warning 

Just watch they don't suspend your account....

siraxeman

a lot of folks put "I cant get online that often so if you've any Q's best phone me" so methinks ebay aren't totally stupid and they'll eventually stop phone numbers in listins. Already stopped emails likely for the same reasons.

Funny thing is the warning email I got reads....

Warning - Offers to sell outside of eBay

Hello sir-axeman,

We’re writing to let you know that activity on your account may not be following an important eBay policy that requires all transactions and payments to be completed through eBay. The same policy specifies that eBay member-to-member messages may not be used to share contact information.

For example(s), review your listing and member messages regarding the following:
152515663779 - Marshall 1922




There’s a very good reason for this policy. Only transactions conducted through eBay can be covered by eBay Seller Protections—programmes that help ensure sellers can conduct business on eBay with confidence.  Also, eBay has invested a great amount to bring you buyers, and we want to continue to partner with you in the fulfillment of transactions with them.

Even if a buyer requests to work with you directly, it’s important to use the methods eBay provides to personalise a transaction. For example, you can make a private offer to your buyer. You can also set up your listings to invite best offers.

We understand that you might not have known about our rules that don’t allow sharing contact information in messages or making an offer to sell outside of eBay. We encourage you to review the details of the policy to understand what you can and can’t do.  At this time, no further action is being taken on your account; we want to educate you on the policy.  Make sure you follow these guidelines. If you don't, you may be subject to a range of actions, including limits of your buying and selling privileges, application of fees, suspension of your account(s), and restrictions on listing search page exposure and account features.

If you have any questions, contact us:
http://ocsnext.ebay.com/ocs/cusr?query=3030

Thanks,

eBay

no mention of them really not liking being jibbed out of their cut of the pie is there anywhere in that?

Rox

So, how do you arrange for someone to examine an item before purchase if you are not allowed to exchange personal details?

bbill335

Rox said:

So, how do you arrange for someone to examine an item before purchase if you are not allowed to exchange personal details?

This. And are we no longer allowed to list things in multiple places? What if someone finds my stuff through eBay, texts me to arrange a deal and I cancel the listing "item is no longer available"? Is momma eBay gonna spank me for that?

Whitecat

They're really cracking down on this lately, I got one too a few weeks ago even though I've been doing it for literally years. I guess they REALLY wanted that £1 final value fee I was listing the item on...

Bygone_Tones

bingefeller said:

I wonder if you could put an image in messages, like have your email address on an image

Yes you can, I have done it many times. Obviously dont name your image "email-address.jpg" or they might spot what you are up to!

If you want to use ebay, then I guess its only fair that you play by their rules. If you dont like ebay rules, then sell somewhere else, simple as that. diversify. forum classifieds, gumtree, youtube, social media. lots of options thesedays, it's not 1998 anymore.

If you genuinely hate ebay, then hit them where it hurts and stop using it.

For music gear I think you're a bit nuts if you're choosing ebay over reverb.com. the crappy service ebay provide, and the crappy way they treat sellers, is not worth 13.5% in fees in my opinion.

prowla

Can I join the club, please?
I tried to do BIN on something but the seller didn't have the cash option, so I messaged him and said so, along with my number; he called me back and now I have a Minitaur.
I got the ebay "off piste" warning.

bingefeller

Bygone_Tones said:

bingefeller said:

I wonder if you could put an image in messages, like have your email address on an image

Yes you can, I have done it many times. Obviously dont name your image "email-address.jpg" or they might spot what you are up to!

If you want to use ebay, then I guess its only fair that you play by their rules. If you dont like ebay rules, then sell somewhere else, simple as that. diversify. forum classifieds, gumtree, youtube, social media. lots of options thesedays, it's not 1998 anymore.

If you genuinely hate ebay, then hit them where it hurts and stop using it.

For music gear I think you're a bit nuts if you're choosing ebay over reverb.com. the crappy service ebay provide, and the crappy way they treat sellers, is not worth 13.5% in fees in my opinion.

That is a good plan then - the image thing. Although, I suspect, they will probably limit all messages to plain text format at some point.  

I read on here that some folks found Reverb easier to sell on, but they got less hits than eBay.  

Dopesick

I haven't used (read: put anything up for sale) eBay for about six months. With this site and all the FB Classifieds (which are an utter goldmine), eBay is totally redundant.

They can fuck off. (Well...after I keep buying more lovely stuff on there of course).

Bygone_Tones

bingefeller said:

Bygone_Tones said:

bingefeller said:

I wonder if you could put an image in messages, like have your email address on an image

Yes you can, I have done it many times. Obviously dont name your image "email-address.jpg" or they might spot what you are up to!

If you want to use ebay, then I guess its only fair that you play by their rules. If you dont like ebay rules, then sell somewhere else, simple as that. diversify. forum classifieds, gumtree, youtube, social media. lots of options thesedays, it's not 1998 anymore.

If you genuinely hate ebay, then hit them where it hurts and stop using it.

For music gear I think you're a bit nuts if you're choosing ebay over reverb.com. the crappy service ebay provide, and the crappy way they treat sellers, is not worth 13.5% in fees in my opinion.

That is a good plan then - the image thing. Although, I suspect, they will probably limit all messages to plain text format at some point.  

I read on here that some folks found Reverb easier to sell on, but they got less hits than eBay.  

Depends on what you are selling. Good original gear has always sold very quickly for me on reverb, however 'b-stock' and obscure parts can be slow.

If you want your stuff to sell on reverb you do have to be prepared to ship it overseas. Not enough buyers in the UK are using it.

DiscoStu

Anyone tried Shpock? 

usedtobe

DiscoStu said:

Anyone tried Shpock? 

Yeah, but not for long.

UnclePsychosis

Bygone_Tones said:

 

If you want to use ebay, then I guess its only fair that you play by their rules. If you dont like ebay rules, then sell somewhere else, simple as that. diversify. forum classifieds, gumtree, youtube, social media. lots of options thesedays, it's not 1998 anymore.

If you genuinely hate ebay, then hit them where it hurts and stop using it.

This. I don't really understand all the grumbling about eBay enforcing their own rules, or the complaining about the fees (which are not secret and are calculable in advance).