eBay Advice Raises Questions about Buyer-Seller Communication

by: GetAGrip

As a seller the last thing I want to do with the buyer is play touchie touchie with them.

by: The End

See :
This is WHY we must erase corporate.
Open communications with OUR customers is the pleasant difference between Ebay and the rest of the eCommerce world...or it should be.
In other words : Direct dialog with the person is the one thing that makes it a pleasant unique experience....or it should be.
As usual, corporate does the Nazi Stomp all over it.

by: Rexford

Isn't this the same company who has been a bit paranoid over buyer / seller communication over the years?

by: Fruitylovesyou

Anything that comes out of their pie hole is garbage. It all leads to this... We want to monitor and control you because that wallet is ours.

Nah more likely they want to overload you til you sign up for some ai customer response service or break something so the buyer thinks you ignored them and then tie it to your performance reviews.

Ill tell you this much eBay could easily allow customers to txt to a phone # on file. But u won't do that because then you couldn't monitor them. No instead you want to study everyone and then find out how to bolt the exit.  

by: iheartjacksparrow

I thought eBay was afraid of buyers and sellers communicating and possibly taking a sale off eBay.

by: Weirdbooks

Oh no, that is the LAST thing I want.  90% of the time someone ''gets friendly'' it ends up being a red flag for a problem customer.  

Normal everyday questions about which printing or edition a book might be, asking for photos for items that use stock photos, or asking to clarify something about the item due to a discrepancy in eBay's pre-filled item data is usually not an issue.  

But when someone asks a question, then another question, almost every time the third or last question is... can I get it for less than your asking price?    Never a reasonable discount either, it's always an offer 50-75% under my asking price.  

It happens over and over.  I often mention it to my partner during the early part of the message exchange and they get a kick about how often I am right predicting that the buyer will ask for a discount after I answer all their other questions.  

It is not JUST an eBay phenomenon as I get similar questions on Amazon but not as often.  I rarely get such questions on other venues, and when I do it is usually another dealer who asks for a trade discount which I am happy to offer via Biblio.

by: Casmige

Whenever we get a question from a buyer? Especially if it’s a very stupid asinine question?.

We check the buyers feedback profile & invariably it turns out they leave chronic neutrals or negatives for other sellers because these types? Well you just can’t satisfy their expectations or they’re just cantankerous on purpose.

They go immediately on our blocked buyers list.

If they subsequently contact us about not being able to buy from us? we blame it on an eBay glitch & politely redirect them to our off eBay discount ECWID or BIGCARTEL store.

Yeah yeah I know that’s wrong but it saves us from getting any kind of neutral or negative on eBay & eBay has never called us down for doing it not one time & even if they do? We’ll just point out the fact that they were blocked for a very good reason but that we didn’t wanna sour their experience as an eBay Buyer so we took care of them notwithstanding the “eBay glitch“ with a work-around.

That’s our 2 loonies worth.

by: Marie

I prefer that if a buyer has a question that they contact me BEFORE purchasing the item.  It is a great way to avoid misunderstandings and hopefully returns.

As for Ebay, it's another one of those double standards they have.  Sellers have the ability in their Site Preferences to block ALL buyers from sending them emails before a purchase if they want to.  So buyers can't write these sellers and ask any questions at all until AFTER they buy something from them.

by: Nothingnewecrater

Of all the cockamammy BS eBay spits out! This is my very last intention I have with any buyers. You want what I'm selling? Buy it and pay in a timely manner. That's the only communication I want with anyone. Where was eBay when the sick sadistic nut jobs are being violent in email?NOWHERE! That's where! They need desperately to stay on track advertising our stuff so it sells and nothing else. Freakin idiot's from the start running the ship into the ground

by: ScottLBrown

I am an officer in a Charity and it seems there is always someone trying to wiggle their way to find loopholes in our bylaws to their own advantage.

I have seen the same thing with Ebay customers who ask questions which leave the an opening to return or request (demand) a discount when an item arrives.

Further, Ebay has always tried to protect themselves from taking sales off-line and they have a right to do that.

With that said, ebay has floundered at solving this for decades.  There was "the year of the sellers" and the next year was "the year of the customer". Then there was PBSE and so many more 'whims' of management that one can go mad.

While ebay has grown consistently year over year, mostly in the low single digits, it is far overshadowed by it's competition for these and other related issues.

Until they can get to a point where they equal the "Amazon Trust Factor", for customers, they will continue in this manner. IMHO.

by: Modlcitizn

In the early days of eBay we used our email addresses instead of user names. It made it super easy to communicate.

If I was selling consumer junk I wouldn’t care but in the collectibles market with hobbyist to hobbyist transactions, we often know each other, belong to same clubs etc. so communication makes it fun.

by: toolguy

I had an issue with a returned item.

I got a refund and a replacement item.

I asked eBay how I should pay this seller for the item.

eBay suggested I use Paypal. . .

by: rhw1

For me I have no problem with buyers communicating with me directly. Each package I send out I encourage buyers to email me directly if they have a question about something I have listed. I enclose all of my pertinent info, on a business card size card. Has this resulted in some off line sales? No. They make the purchase on ebay, ( and wait for an invoice from the seller...which never comes) and I ship out the product, after I send them an invoice thru paypal. eBay still gets their cut on the FVF, but not on the shipping.  

by: NYSteve

direct communications is what makes some ecommerce sites so much better than others, esp if you are not buying generic stuff...or selling

unfortunately, some of these platforms realize they can survive with a huge amount of seller turnover...therefore, old rules are only as good as the new -in the moment- rules that replace them

by: eBayKllr

A fair number of eBay sellers see questions from potential buyers as red flags they will be pains and the transaction go sideways. Some block right then and there. I don't react that way, but I haven't been happy when I've had a potential buyer that just keeps lobbing chit chatty messages. I'm busy, and to be honest not looking to build any sort of relationship with my buyers beyond seller-buyer. They pay, I ship, the end :-)  

by: DevilishlySarky

MORE pompous claptrap from a bunch of knowitalls who I cant trust to tell me the right date , much less how to sell well .
THREE TIMES last week I tried to input a tracking number only to get "its not you ,its us messages , three days later my buyer opens a case and ebay refunds £68  inside  15 min as theres no record of a tracking number .........
I wonder  why ?

by: BargainzBabylon

I welcome questions from buyers, but this: "You can discuss things such as price or delivery options to see if you are able to land on a deal that everyone is happy with." Is a red flag. It seems to encourage that haggling over pound and pence for every sale and arguing about delivery options becomes the actual desired result of this 'building a relationship' - annoying and time-wasting for everyone concerned.  

by: The End

All of my communications were about getting the correct profile, or color, or size.
All of my customers (100%) were satisfied. And some were repeats.
Celebrities got a goof when I recognized them  :o)
As soon as they shut down communications, I left.
Now I'm back to having fun again right from my own site.
People love it.

by: DevilishlySarky

MORE pompous claptrap from a bunch of knowitalls who I cant trust to tell me the right date , much less how to sell well .
THREE TIMES last week I tried to input a tracking number only to get "its not you ,its us messages , three days later my buyer opens a case and ebay refunds £68  inside  15 min as theres no record of a tracking number .........
I wonder  why ?

by: OnlyPollyPocket

Oh, for crying up an alley!  When I go to Macy's I ask the clerk if the outfit comes in my size, I ask the price, I pay (or don't buy) and I'm out the door.  LOL, when was the last time you "built a relationship" with the Macy's clerk??

To use ebay's verbiage, the clerk may be as "passionate" about the outfit as I am...we still are not going to be new best friends ;)