posted on January 25, 2001 10:33:41 AM
Seems to me I read a post on these boards somewhere at one time from someone who said they won't bid on auctions where the seller has a Hotmail address. The perspective I gathered is that the person (and many people might agree) that a seller with a Hotmail address might not be legit.
I'm asking because I signed up with a Hotmail account in November. I was having serious connectivity problems with my ISP, wanted to switch to cable, but they were upgrading the network at the time and wouldn't sign up new customers. So I temporarily switched from Prodigy to Earthlink (and it honestly didn't help much with the connectivity problems), and signed up with Hotmail thinking that when I was finally able to get cable, I wouldn't have to change my email address a second time.
Well, that part worked like a charm. Then, after I read that perspective, I wondered if I might be losing business by having a Hotmail address. Also, I just read in another thread a message from someone who clearly looks down upon people who have Hotmail addresses. While I think such perspectives are wrong, I'm wondering if I shouldn't change my email address to my ISP address. What with Hotmail having been down off and on a few times since November (and I've honestly never had prolonged outages with a paid ISP address) I'm leaning towards changing it again to avoid the outages. I've had to send email from my ISP address because Hotmail was down and sometimes the download into Outlook Express doesn't always work smoothly. (And that's the primary reason I chose Hotmail because I prefer to have the email on my computer rather than on the web.)
This is a decision I have to make on my own, I realize that. And I suppose I shouldn't worry about losing business from those who would make incorrect assumptions either. But I wouldn't like to think that many people might be unsure and bid on someone else's auction because they don't have a Hotmail address and I do.
I appreciate any and all feedback on this situation.
posted on January 25, 2001 10:36:31 AM
hotmail has a bad reputation --- and I'm sure it only applys to very very few Hotmail people but it is hard to shake.
Why not get another free email account--there are lots out there.
posted on January 25, 2001 10:38:11 AM
I use Yahoo and eBay makes you submit a credit card for using it as an email address. I do so for the same reason--my ISP suspended my service on a false charge of spamming and I had to keep the lines of communication open until they got their act together.
Frankly I do not care what service a seller or bidder uses. I go by their feedback rating.
posted on January 25, 2001 10:47:57 AM
Hotmail deservedly has a bad reputation (spam capital amongst other things). Personally, I would not want to have an email address that caused people to question whether or not they wanted to transact with me.
If your ISP is working again I would go back to them. Otherwise, there are "free" sites that do not carry the baggage that Hotmail does.
posted on January 25, 2001 10:56:09 AM
Wow, thanks for the quick responses!
Yes, I would think my feedback would outweigh my hotmail address, but you never know.
And as for "spam capital", I've received a TREMENDOUS amount of spam since I've been using them. And I know there are supposed to be protections in place, but I hate to put filters on in case I someday sell to someone named: Horny, Debt, Loan, Sex, Mortgage, I mean you just never know right?
So I guess I'll start the arduous process to change my email address to my RoadRunner address. I don't really need a free one. Again, just tried to prevent myself from changing when I changed ISP's.
Hotmail's track record for outages hasn't impressed me over the last couple of months, especially after reading about them on these boards.
posted on January 25, 2001 11:36:32 AM
Everyone I know uses hotmail or yahoo for email, but I've always just used the account offered by my server, so I'm very curious why one would use an email account other than the one provided by servers. What am I missing?
posted on January 25, 2001 11:42:55 AM
I agree that Hotmail and Yahoo addresses discourage bidding and generally give a less than professional image.
A few years ago, when I resigned myself to the fact that I am the kind of person who frequently changes ISPs for one reason or another, I realized I needed a permanent, professional looking email address. After searching the web, I found Primemail.
It's a forwarding service. Your email address is [email protected]. They charge $2 a month for the very good service they provide. You can have your email forwarded to several different ISPs/email addresses at once. I always have my mail forwarded to at least two email addresses in case of outages at one or another ISP or email service. It's saved my bacon more than once. I find it especially useful when I am traveling and using a web-based email program.
They don't tack on an advertising blurb to the end of your emails. They have spam filtering and many other features. They provide excellent customer service.
posted on January 25, 2001 12:39:35 PM
Dogdays ... ISPs aren't always reliable! My ISP uses @Home and @Home is frequently Not at Home!! So I do not use them for email (I have another website I have access to). I only use my "real" email for personal friends and for selling on eBay.
I do have three Yahoo addresses for backup (one that is the same as my selling ID; one I use strictly for buying books and one that I use for general internet transactions -- i.e., for registering at places like the NY Times, etc.) Curiously, I have never received ANY spam through Yahoo. The little spam I get at my "real" address is, I believe, related to eBay; although that has improved substantially since eBay desisted from showing email addresses to the world at large.
posted on January 25, 2001 02:22:19 PM
Early on, Ebay contributed to the negative image of users with Web mail addresses by allowing them to register new Ebay user ID's indiscriminately, which meant that deadbeats and scammers could re-register at will if suspended. (Kind of like the AOL'ers can do now.) IMHO, things have improved immensely since Ebay began requiring a valid credit card in order to register with a Web mail address. However, not everyone has kept up-to-date on this development, and some of the phobia connected to Web mail addresses on Ebay is perpetuated by well-intentioned veteran Ebayers who tell new users that the identity of those of us with Web mail addresses has not been verified and that no "honest" Ebay user would register with an anonymous email account. It's the same kind of paranoia that leads them to tell the newbies that one shouldn't do business with a seller that uses a PO box as an address (apparently most of these people have never lived in small towns in rural America where the only way to get your mail is at the PO). I can't use my ISP email account for Ebay, because that user ID has been merged into my current ID. I really can't see getting yet another ISP, just so I can switch from my Hotmail account. There are no other services that integrate into Outlook Express as a seperate Inbox, so that my business mail is kept seperate from my personal email. I'd prefer that we all do a better job of educating newbies on better ways to evaluate potential trading partners.
I actually frown when I see a hotmail bidder on my item... always think it's a scam, and usually is..
I think that's really a shame. I've had many buyers with hotmail addresses. I've actually found no correlation between the email address and whether or not it turns out to be a deadbeat or whatever.
posted on January 25, 2001 06:47:57 PM
Presently, @icqmail.com will forward your mail for free to your ISP mail account. I think it looks and sounds better than a hotmail account.
There are just too many spammers using eBay to list your real mail address.
posted on January 25, 2001 07:24:13 PM
As someone stated above, I would hope a bidder would look at my 530 feedback with no negatives before they turned their nose up at my hotmail account. When I signed up for it, there were not a lot of other "free" options, and now I hate to change it in case a regular customer tries to contact me. I would never let a email address dictate my bids, unless it was obviously vulgar or something like that.
posted on January 26, 2001 10:50:07 PM
Dogdays asked;
so I'm very curious why one would use an email account other than the one provided by servers. What am I missing
Reply:
I use Yahoo Mail (a web based email service) due to me being able to log on to any computer no matter where I am to check my e-mail. It has come in handy when my monitor bit the dust and I had auctions ending. I went to the local library to contact my buyers after logging in to my Yahoo email account. It took me a week before I could travel to a local computer store to get a monitor (local stores are 50 miles one way from me)
