EBay - Buyer Beware!

BloodEagle

I would imagine that they (or their algorithms) probably watch anyone whos had a warning like a hawk, so I'd be careful about what you put in any messages (which I was, but it didnt seem to matter anyway haha)

Pablocrackers

Same thing just happened to me 7 day ban with all sorts of restrictions and warning if i list something and it sells even outside of ebay they could charge fees wtf!!! Just because someone messaged me and it was sold through gumtree

andrewaward

@BloodEagle Yeah I think you're right...............it makes no sense when the "offending" email/message is incoming though, and really outwith your control....................in that situation I'd guess the best thing to do is ignore the message and don't reply to it at all.

@pablocrackers now you're on there radar!

Paul_C

The last thing I sold on eBay was in 2008.

I still buy things, often bits and pieces for guitar repairs that I can't find elsewhere and quite a lot of s/h science fiction books. I'll buy expensive stuff from businesses if it's a better price than I can get elsewhere, but that's it.

I wouldn't dream of selling anything on there.

JezWynd

Pablocrackers said:

Same thing just happened to me 7 day ban with all sorts of restrictions and warning if i list something and it sells even outside of ebay they could charge fees wtf!!! Just because someone messaged me and it was sold through gumtree

Blimey. The only sensible response to that is 'go f*ck yourself'. They must be getting seriously worried about the fall-off if they going after people this aggressively.

mellowsun

eBay make too much money from the box shifters and sellers from china to care.

I'm happy to buy via eBay as it's fully protected, along with the pay after delivery with PayPal it's a no brainer for buyers.

Would never sell anything I wouldn't  be prepared to lose to a scammer though.

steer

Presumably this is also an issue with any high value large objects, such as cars, motorbikes, lathes and dungeon equipment? 

bbill335

steer said:

Presumably this is also an issue with any high value large objects, such as cars, motorbikes, lathes and dungeon equipment? 

But if you scam someone selling you dungeon equipment, they have the leverage over you. They could reveal your secret dungeon and spoil the surprise for your future guests.

prowla

Well, I've just sold something on ebay and the buyer txtd me their phone number (which was incorrect) and I replied with mine; he's due to collect it tomorrow.

BloodEagle

Prepare for your impending 7 day suspension 

mikeyrob73

I have now started putting my mobile in the listing. They haven't removed it

Sync

The whole system is automated re bans and warnings.

They are cutting down on inter person rather than person to business transactions so they can reduce their staffing and resource overhead. 

Managing non-business transactions has been taking up a disproportionate amount of time and resource including server loads and data storage. An unhealthy amount for a business of eBay's profile, gearing and profit plans.

Returns are fully automated now, even the business sellers are steered towards refunds rather than replacement on returns. 

For casual non business sales, Gumtree is their platform of growth. They need to drive the numbers here as the advertising revenue is of greater potential than the transaction profits and management of eBay private sales.

Facebook has a large percentage of the private market now, surprisingly along with car boot sales which are seeing a resurgence. Other emerging seller platforms are also showing growth. 

Each market is different, for example in a number of EU block countries where disposable income is less and possessions are valued more, people don't tend to sell on s/h goods, rather trade them or use them until disposed of. The Chinese sellers are well placed for these markets.

BloodEagle

Interesting - that explains a lot