mapledr1216
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posted on October 31, 2000 07:41:12 PM
I sell a wide variety of stuff and I like to group my related auctions together. So let's say one night I auction off several French widgets. And then a few weeks later I acquire more French widgets to auction.
Is it OK to email my previous French widget winners and let them know I am going to have another batch up for auction soon? Or is there some ebay policy against that?
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eastwest
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posted on October 31, 2000 07:49:39 PM
yes but you have to email them all one at a time ...not mass
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zian
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posted on October 31, 2000 07:56:44 PM
east west.......Why seperate?.....is that rule?
Can I see?
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eastwest
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posted on October 31, 2000 08:00:31 PM
because at that point it is spam and that is not allowed at ebay
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Glenda
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posted on October 31, 2000 08:00:57 PM
It's spam, even if done one at a time:
Miscellaneous offenses:
Sending spam - Sending unsolicited, commercial email, including unwanted email to past bidders.
http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/investigates.html
You can ask your winning bidders if they want to be put on a mailing list; you can even put a notice on your auction to let you know if they want to be put on your mailing list. But you're not supposed to just email people about your auctions without their permission.
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pointy
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posted on October 31, 2000 08:05:08 PM
No this is not ok with Ebay. And it does not matter if you send the e-mails en-masse or one at a time.
What you should do to be ok with ebay is simple. In your end of auction notice ask the winners if they would like to receive a notice in the future about further offerings. If they answer yes, go ahead. That's ok with Ebay.
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eastwest
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posted on October 31, 2000 08:07:55 PM
there have been many threads on this and at this point i do not have the time to find them...but the same issue came up about 2 mouths ago and someone contacted ebay ..they got back a letter that said they could email the feedback list but could not do it in a mass form but indiviually....sorry but that a while back so i can not find it !!!!
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zian
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posted on October 31, 2000 08:08:03 PM
I think I'll just jumble all awnsers together and make an average of the one i want to hear the most....
All i want is to make another sale.
By any means nesccesary......
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mballai
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posted on October 31, 2000 08:15:43 PM
I consider my auction selling a service business. Email lists of auctions are idiotic. I can't, for the life of me, figure out why they don't permit targeted emails.
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zian
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posted on October 31, 2000 08:22:21 PM
I may be getting off the subject........
I have been thinking about starting a mailing list (only for those that want it) of all my bidders, veiwers, winners. i would send them weekly (or more) e-mails listing all my sales at auction.
I know it sure can't hurt but wonder if it would help?
From what i understand (from all the e-mail I get) I'm a darn good seller and these people are real happy with my service.
OK....Thats it. I just talked myself into it. 
Darn.......Now I have to learn about compiling a mailing list....shoooot.
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dave_michmerhuizen
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posted on October 31, 2000 08:24:08 PM
generally speaking, if the emails are VERY targeted you won't have much trouble. Your french widget example is a good one.
However, if you sell loads-o-crap and email a list of same to past buyers of any crap, that (imho) is a bad thing.
Bottom line though - it's only spam to eBay if someone complains, and if they complain, it's spam. See?
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zian
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posted on October 31, 2000 08:27:46 PM
loads o crap.......
darn...did you look at my sales? LOL
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dc9a320
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posted on October 31, 2000 09:14:45 PM
It won't be okay with many bidders, myself included. Many people have come to realize the only form of truly legitimate direct marketing is full, explicit opt-in, where a buyer has to check a box such as "click here if you wish updates on similar items" or you ask if they want to add them to your email list and they write something very clearly affirmative such as "yes, please do add me to your mailing list.
I am so sick of sellers, whoever they are in whatever form in the consumer world, just willy-nilly assuming I want extra heaps of junk mail with whatever real product or service I just bought.
Buyers found your item once before. If they want more of it again, they know how to search.
The most concise, descriptive, and (IMO) accurate definition of online "spam" is Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE). Your sending to bidders who did not opt-in would fit all three parts of the definition.
Some people want to be off lists, and it is an upstream battle considering so many companies and other sellers are willing to toss such people (again, myself included) onto more lists without full permission.
Do you know how many such items a buyer really wanted in the first place? Are your sure your judgement of what "similar" is will correspond to your former buyer's? Are you sure your bidder will appreciate you sending them yet another piece of supposedly "targeted" spam without asking, when they may already be receiving dozens more such "targeted" spams a week? Are you sure the bidder will not turn around and complain to eBay or even your own Internet Service Provider for being the purveyor of yet more unwanted Unsolicited Commercial Email?
For every former buyer who will bid on one more item due to the UCE, do you know how many more will likely become permanently former bidders because they see your actions as irritating and disrespectful?
Sellers, please ask bidders for their permission before adding them to any list. This is far, far more respectable, not to mention simply polite, and will be seen as such by those you ask.
Thanks for reading this far.
----
What's being done in the name of direct marketing nowadays is crazy.
The above are all just my opinions, except where I cite facts as such.
Oh, I am not dc9a320 anywhere except AW. Any others are not me.
Is eBay is changing from a world bazaar into a bizarre world?
[ edited by dc9a320 on Oct 31, 2000 09:18 PM ]
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suzeecutie
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posted on October 31, 2000 09:42:01 PM
Um... what dc9a320 said. I agree completely.
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abacaxi
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posted on November 1, 2000 04:19:39 AM
If you mail without permission, it's SPAM, and you will get in trouble, even if it's a previous buyer. They might have buoght a French widget for a gift and have no further interest in them.
What you need to do is ASK, in the EOA mails for the first batch of French Widgets, if the person would like to be notified if you have more widgets listed later.
If they say YES, add them to your French Widget mailing list. And KEEP the email where they say yes. If they say no, or don't answer, do not add them to the list.
It's that easy ... ask, get permission, send.
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mapledr1216
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posted on November 1, 2000 05:20:05 AM
I really had no idea whether this was allowed, which is why I asked. Thanks to you all for letting me know it is not.
dc9a320 - It was just a question, no need to get so upset. I've never done this and now that I know it is improper, I never will. Sorry.
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Glenda
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posted on November 1, 2000 07:19:25 AM
mapledr1216: Much of the time, when somebody answers a question, they aren't speaking only to the person who asked, but they're speaking to all the lurkers as well. That way, the folks who don't ask, get to learn the answers also.
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dc9a320
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posted on November 1, 2000 07:49:47 AM
mapledr1216: Sorry, I really wasn't coming down like a ton of bricks on you and your original question, but rather the way some of the subsequent conversation seemed to be making it out as a good idea -- and also along the lines of what Glenda just said. I should have been more clear about all that when I was first writing. My apologies.
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zian
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posted on November 1, 2000 08:00:21 AM
Spam Stinks.....
If people opt in and want your list/e-mails Great.
I can see it saving allot of people wasted time searching through lots and lots of sales and risking dealing with a seller that may not be as good or even much much worse.
Of course each and every e-mail of mine would be very simple too "un subscribe" too.
I never have and never will want to sell to a person that dosn't want my items (or even to have the chance at seeing them.
I wonder if any body has had succsess with a mailing list of this type?
Am I getting off the subject again?
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mapledr1216
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posted on November 1, 2000 11:27:26 AM
dc9a320, No need to apologize. I think reading this board has helped me greatly to improve my auctions, and I appreciate your taking the time to answer. I just didn't want you to think I was a dreaded spammer!
Thanks Glenda! 
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getkicksonrte66
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posted on November 1, 2000 12:09:16 PM
I concur--with the previous Post of dc9a320 1,000 % --- Well said!
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zian
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posted on November 1, 2000 12:15:55 PM
So Does anybody use a mailing list that is not spam?
Does it work?
Do you get many folks that "opt in" and take you up on the list?
"Sales from a trusted seller right to your inbox!"
What could be better?
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