change in eBay policy...

TMOSteel · Feb 22, 2001

For anyone who uses eBay, I just read about a change in e-mail policy they are implementing that I was unaware of (I never READ those e-mails they send-maybe I should start). They are going to restrict e-mail when an auction is going on: e-mail will now be handled THROUGH them. So in other words, you won't be able to obtain someone's address directly, except after the end of an auction, provided you are the winning bidder. They claim this is to reduce spam, but it's more like they are trying to cut down on us making our own deal with a seller/bidder, and cutting them out of the commission. I'm not sure of the entire policy, or when exactly it goes into effect (I read this information in my local newspaper) so you will have to check it out for yourself.

One way around this is to change your user ID to your e-mail address. Anyone who already uses their e-mail can maintain this ID; apparently they will only "encourage" you to change it. (My response would be "blow me", or something just as colorful).

I know a lot of us use this service, so I hope people read this.

CkY · Feb 22, 2001

I think it protects sellers.

Wan-Fu · Feb 22, 2001

Well, people who cut deals before the auction ends really irritate me so if this change is intended to address that its got my support.

TMOSteel · Feb 22, 2001

How? If I'm selling an item and someone wants to e-mail me, they will have to go through eBay's mail server. And we all know how RELIABLE eBay is! What if the server goes down? Then my item won't sell because no one can ask me a question? Or what if I want to ask a seller a question (like all those times someone posts an auction and has no pics, or say "e-mail me" for them)? Again, I'm going to have to go through eBay. And that sucks, period. I don't need them being anymore of a middleman than they already are. The bottom line is they are just after more cash by preventing people from cutting their own deals. How about doing something to HELP sellers like bouncing the SOB's who never pay or ship an item on THE FIRST OFFENSE, not FOURTH. Again, they just want MONEY.

TMOSteel · Feb 22, 2001

Originally posted by Wan-Fu:
Well, people who cut deals before the auction ends really irritate me so if this change is intended to address that its got my support.

I'm all for that, Wan-Fu, but I've also been burned on a lot of auctions with non-paying bidders. If someone makes me a fair offer, I might be tempted to accept it (I have never ended an auction early to date). I also like the new "but it now" option, too. But I still think this new policy is BS.

TMOSteel · Feb 22, 2001

Originally posted by TMOSteel:
I'm all for that, Wan-Fu, but I've also been burned on a lot of auctions with non-paying bidders. If someone makes me a fair offer, I might be tempted to accept it (I have never ended an auction early to date). I also like the new "buy it now" option, too. But I still think this new policy is BS.

TMOSteel · Feb 22, 2001

Sorry guys, still getting used to the touchpad on my notebook. Didn't mean to post again...

Wan-Fu · Feb 22, 2001

Originally posted by TMOSteel:
The bottom line is they are just after more cash by preventing people from cutting their own deals.

Good for them! eBay is a business and they need to make money. People who end auctions early circumvent the fee system and this hurts not only eBay, but other legitimate bidders who were after the item. eBay is not meant to be used as free advertising.

Your other point regarding the need to contact the seller before the auction ends is a valid one. Lets hope that you can still do that with this new system. Perhaps by forcing you to go through their servers first, they will filter some types of communication out (e.g. sellers ending auctions early).

outsider · Feb 22, 2001

Originally posted by Wan-Fu:
Good for them! eBay is a business and they need to make money. People who end auctions early circumvent the fee system and this hurts not only eBay, but other legitimate bidders who were after the item. eBay is not meant to be used as free advertising.

Your other point regarding the need to contact the seller before the auction ends is a valid one. Lets hope that you can still do that with this new system. Perhaps by forcing you to go through their servers first, they will filter some types of communication out (e.g. sellers ending auctions early).

Good for them? Dude, what about the money we end up loosing everytime for all those stupid npb's? Not only is it lengthy and time consuming, but you don't even get all your money back. Sucks in my opinion.

Wan-Fu · Feb 23, 2001

Originally posted by outsider:
Good for them? Dude, what about the money we end up loosing everytime for all those stupid npb's? Not only is it lengthy and time consuming, but you don't even get all your money back. Sucks in my opinion.

So two wrongs make a right? Listen, I know it sucks to get stuck with a non-paying bidder but the seller can take certain precautions to lower the risk of that scenario such as cancelling zero-feedback bidders. I know it will still happen and the seller ends up paying for it but eBay is not meant to be used for direct sale of merchandize. It screws up their business and it angers the other bidders who thought the seller was holding a legitimate auction.

Neo Bomber Man · Feb 23, 2001

Give me a break. As if they don't make enough as it is. And look at their explanations for why they chose what they did with the fee increases...

But that's got nothing to do with what I really wanted to say, related to the topic, which is this:

Or what if I want to ask a seller a question (like all those times someone posts an auction and has no pics, or say "e-mail me" for them)? Again, I'm going to have to go through eBay. And that sucks, period.

Got news for you. I read over the list of changes a little while ago, and this new service will NOT allow for sending attachments. So, what then? I will have to BID on the item, thus helping to drive up both the item's price as well as the final value fee, to get the seller's e-mail address. eBay does have this new photo hosting service though I haven't sold on it for a while, so I'm not sure how it works. The only thing I recall is that the first two photos are free; after that they cost money.

By the way, can eBay possibly pay enough people who speaking enough languages to read through every, single message sent through this new system? Who knows, but just on a bad idea of price the computers it takes to do so are owned by gov't-related organizations for their unbelievable cost.

Just an idea, couldn't we simply list our own e-mail addresses within the eBay-sent message, or perhaps they will screen and delete such things.

I think I've said more than I wanted to. I'm too tired to think straight.......zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

LWK · Feb 23, 2001

my email address is my user id will i be effected if no this is a good idea address for an id..........

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SIGNED IN BLOOD

Robert · Feb 23, 2001

In france,we have national auction web sites and they use that system.It's more safety for all the sellers.You can ask a question to the sellers but you use a special part of the site which is dedicated to this.

BioMotor_Unitron · Feb 23, 2001

So if your User ID is not your email address, you could just post your addy in the auction description, saying, "Email me with questions," etc. Unless they are planning on deleting or editing such auctions? What about those auctions that are nothing but advertisements anyway, where they call it "GET SEGA/SONY/NINTENDO GAMES CHEAP" and then when you click the auction, it is nothing but an advertisement with a link to their website?

-BioMotor_Unitron

TMOSteel · Feb 23, 2001

Originally posted by BioMotor_Unitron:
So if your User ID is not your email address, you could just post your addy in the auction description, saying, "Email me with questions," etc.
-BioMotor_Unitron

You know, I completely forgot about that. I have a standard template for my auctions that has a link to my e-mail address. Thanks for reminding me, BioMotor_Unitron.

djbomberman · Feb 23, 2001

Originally posted by Wan-Fu:
So two wrongs make a right? Listen, I know it sucks to get stuck with a non-paying bidder but the seller can take certain precautions to lower the risk of that scenario such as cancelling zero-feedback bidders. I know it will still happen and the seller ends up paying for it but eBay is not meant to be used for direct sale of merchandize. It screws up their business and it angers the other bidders who thought the seller was holding a legitimate auction.

Why should I sit around a have to monitor the auction? Also most bidders don't even REALY bid until the last second! HOw do I cancel some deadbeat bidder that thinks it's cool to win but not pay? I think that ebay is really trying to cut out deals that are made without them getting their cut. I know that ebay changed some policies like charging for the reserve even when it isn't met. The problem is that there will never be a FOOLPROOF system that will protect buyers and sellers. Someone out there will always find a way to cheat, steal, or con someone out of money. Look at "BID SHEILDING" and "SHILL BIDDING"! In one the bidder benefits and screws the seller. In the other the seller screws the bidder. I think that if Ebay says that when you bid you are agreeing to a contract that they should do more to help out non-paying bidders and non-shipping sellers. I think also that bid retration is WAY too easy. It takes 2 screens before you can finalize a bid. I think alot of people use it to find out reserves and someone else's highest bid. I could go on and on.....so I will stop.....these are just my thoughts on this whole ebay issue. Bottom line....you can only please some of the people some of the time.....never all the people all of the time.....

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The fire burns in my soul.

Wan-Fu · Feb 23, 2001

I sympathize with all the sellers out there that have bad experiences on eBay but frankly, all of this is irrelevant. eBay is a business and they are out to protect their bottom line. There are risks for sellers just as there are risks for buyers when dealing with online auctions. Both parties accept these risks when they decide to use eBay. Who cares how much money they already make? If they want to make more money, they are entitled to do so. If they become too greedy, then other businesses will start competing with them and take away their market share. Its called free enterprise. eBay is not in the business to help buyers and sellers. They are in business to make money.

Some sellers are so selfish that they cannot look beyond themselves. They think eBay is a service for them to peddle their wares for everyone out there. eBay is not a free service. If you want to sell your stuff directly try using the selling forum.

djbomberman · Feb 23, 2001

Originally posted by Wan-Fu:
I sympathize with all the sellers out there that have bad experiences on eBay but frankly, all of this is irrelevant. eBay is a business and they are out to protect their bottom line. There are risks for sellers just as there are risks for buyers when dealing with online auctions. Both parties accept these risks when they decide to use eBay. Who cares how much money they already make? If they want to make more money, they are entitled to do so. If they become too greedy, then other businesses will start competing with them and take away their market share. Its called free enterprise. eBay is not in the business to help buyers and sellers. They are in business to make money.

Some sellers are so selfish that they cannot look beyond themselves. They think eBay is a service for them to peddle their wares for everyone out there. eBay is not a free service. If you want to sell your stuff directly try using the selling forum.

So what esentially your saying is that Ebay is a bussiness that shouldn't protect the user just their own self. While I agree with you on the market share, that is what happens with a perfect system, Ebay is far from perfect. Look at Microsoft. There have been competetors and they get crushed even though Microsoft IS greedy. You also contradict yourself when you say that sellers can't look beyond themselves. Ebay is a seller of auction space, so they can't look beyond theirselves to help out people who ARE honest and are being taken advantage of by people abusing the system.If they are doing this then they need to take responsiblity for their bussiness. OF course nothing is perfect like I stated earlier...Like personally I got burned out of $25. But when Ebay has certain things, such as feedback which is suppose to help you decide whether or not you want to deal with them, gives a false idea of security they SHOULD do something about their system. The reason ALOT of people use Ebay is because they are SUPPOSE to be safe from being screwed. What's the point of Safe Harbor if it doesn't protect or at LEAST help you resolve an issue? It's like having a spare tire and it's flat. I know that there will never be a perfect solution for everything...it just needs some MAJOR improvements.

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The fire burns in my soul.

Edited for grammar and spelling....thank you.

[This message has been edited by djbomberman (edited February 23, 2001).]

Wan-Fu · Feb 23, 2001

You argue that eBay auctions are unsafe and it screws the sellers. Fine. I am not going to argue with that. If you truly feel that way, write them with your ideas on how they can improve their service or in the extreme case, quit using eBay. Nobody is forcing you to use their website. On the other hand, if you do use it, you better be prepared to pay those fees. Thats the way it works. You are trying to justify one unethical action (fee circumvention) because of another unethical action (dead bit bidders). It simply doesn't work.

[This message has been edited by Wan-Fu (edited February 23, 2001).]

djbomberman · Feb 23, 2001

Originally posted by Wan-Fu:
You argue that eBay auctions are unsafe and it screws the sellers. Fine. I am not going to argue with that. If you truly feel that way, write them with your ideas on how they can improve their service or in the extreme case, quit using eBay. Nobody is forcing you to use their website. On the other hand, if you do use it, you better be prepared to pay those fees. Thats the way it works. You are trying to justify one unethical action (fee circumvention) because of another unethical action (dead bit bidders). It simply doesn't work.

[This message has been edited by Wan-Fu (edited February 23, 2001).]

Actually I am not arguing that ebay screws the sellers.I am saying that if they offer a service to help sellers feel safe about selling items then it should be better than it is.Also, I don't think people should go out side the system intentionally to avoid fees. I think though that if the top bidder is a deadbeat I should be able offer it to the next higher bidder. If I can't then ebay is not allowing me to make up for getting screwed. Ebay already gets their cut regardless if I sell the item or not. So how am I circumventing the fee? So if someone legitametly emailed you and told you they wanted to buy a game off you for xx amount of dollars and they would do so right now, I should look out for ebay's best interest and say NO? Ebay allows me to end my auction early. The buy it now program has eliminated that problem to a certain degree. Why not just leave the buy it now up until the end of the auction? Unless it goes higher than the current bid, why should it disappear until the auction is over? That way ebay gets their cut, the bidder gets what they want, and the seller for the most part gets what they want? Like I said before too, I haven't really ever had a problem until recently. I got burned as a bidder with a non-shipping seller, but as a seller though I don't want to get burned or screwed because some bidder is dishonest. Also, look at how many people use Ebay versus any other auction house! It's a Name brand like Xerox, Klenex, Q-tip..etc. It's what you think of when you think of online auctions. Also, I have written to ebay asking simple questions to help me out about selling. They send back a generic answer which doesn't help. We are both entitled to our opinions, I am just saying like I said earlier...unless you think Ebay is perfect you have to agree too....there is ALOT of room for improvment.

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The fire burns in my soul.

mathieu74 · Feb 23, 2001

it's the ibazar principe in europe.
the seller can't have buyer's adress before the end of the bidding.
ebay and ibazar begin to be associated.
the try to make the same things.
sorry for my bad english..

Wan-Fu · Feb 23, 2001

Ebay already gets their cut regardless if I sell the item or not. So how am I circumventing the fee?

Not true. A seller can cut a deal and then cancel all the current bids in the last minute before the auction ends. This is how sellers get out of paying the closing fee.

unless you think Ebay is perfect you have to agree too....there is ALOT of room for improvment.

I certainly do not think eBay is perfect. However, in my opinion sellers who avoid paying the fee are a problem that needs to be fixed as well. I am not trying to downplay your problems with eBay, but simply saying that fixing one problem by introducing another is the wrong way to go about it.

Master Terry Bogard · Feb 23, 2001

I can understand ebay's position about this. However, this policy is probably disadvantageous to both sellers and buyers. At least I am not going to get e-mails from people asking me to end the auction early

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