ebay rules on contact info

[Ammonite Audio]

But what you consider to be arbitrary and unfair actions by eBay on sellers are on the other hand immensely reassuring for buyers. That's why eBay will continue to be the world's biggest and most successful online marketplace. There will always be the odd buyer who takes the p$ss and deliberately scams a seller, but good sellers can help themselves by listing correctly, by always following eBay procedures, and by providing good service. Do it by eBay's rules and eBay will try to do the right thing - that's my experience.

[Minstrel SE]

if you have a business account you MUST supply an email address and telephone number in the contacts area - I think that's a requirement of law, so it will be interesting to see if they tell sellers they need to remove that information

Thats a very good point and I was looking at that the other day wondering about all the small business sellers giving a home address.

The point is that ebay can not stop me knowing who they are after one transaction. They are simply clamping down on the blatant messages saying contact the seller directly for a better deal. The people that end auctions early should also face some penalty but thats difficult to enforce as they will just say the kids broke it or something.

At the moment is seems legit to say its listed elsewhere which isnt right really

I dont need to deal off ebay. Its up to the seller to list the price they want with the ebay and paypal fees covered...wheres the problem?

[Lawrence001]

I think this is wrong, it seems if they decide that I'm lying when I say the bloke off eBay who came round didn't want my £1000 speakers, but then the guy off gumtree who came round later did so I can't relist them, then they will take £100 plus costs off me and possibly hit me with selling restrictions or close my account, how can that be fair? So basically, if you list them in 2 places and a guy off ebay shows some interest, but you sell elsewhere you can expect eBay to charge you the fees anyway, great. Possibly not legal either.

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[Minstrel SE]

Well you are all picking on an unusual scenario. When and for what reason did people not want the item? I agree that would be awkward but I dont really list things like speakers where people might not warm to the demonstration.

Ebay do have some leeway and I cant see them nobbling you if you have run a good account with them.

I would probably list £1000 speakers on this forum for a private sale to an enthusiast. I wouldnt risk a third party if £100 fees could be involved. That is a risk where some subjectivity is involved

Its not really what ebay is safe for so maybe people have got the wrong idea of where to primarily list them. I suppose we have to factor in that any sale can fall through. Ive had a couple of nutters here. One was mildly aggressive, kept picking up our items and offering to buy for an insulting amount of cash. One was intimidating and had us hunting around our own house for change..... my partner says if it happens again she is off.

[Neil McCauley]

Its simple to avoid sales outside EBay, only contact through their system so it is watched by their automated system. It can be got round but I think it unethical to do so. If you use someones system to have a market place and then knowingly avoid or circumvent the fee for doing so... well I think that's naughty. If you use EBay obey their rules, if you don't want to go elsewhere.

I agree.

[Neil McCauley]

Am I the only person who does not have a huge problem with this? eBay are entitled to clamp down on people who use it as cheap advertising for sales concluded elsewhere. Despite its faults, which I don't deny, eBay often provides the best international platform through which to get the best price for something. Gumtree and forum sales (if we are talking about audio) won't do that. A well presented eBay listing will allow an item for sale to find its true price.

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