posted on March 4, 2001 06:03:50 PM new
Now of course we all follow all the ebay rules to the letter and wouldn't sell off ebay, but I have noticed that almost all of the bidder emails lately are asking about such things.
I rarely ever got a query from a bidder as to whether I had such and so or would I sell it direct, but there are now two to three requests like this a day!
Perhaps ebay's spotlight on preventing off-auction sales has backfired by planting new ideas in the bidders' mind.
Buyers like slighly illegal deals, and ebay has provided the perfect vehicle for them to email us, much simpler than before.
If I weren't so concerned about treating ebay as fairly as they have treated us, (wink wink) I would take advantage of these opportunities to grow my business. And instead of whining about the new system, would be thanking them for having devised a great new way to create more sales for me......without having to pay commissions or final value fees!
posted on March 4, 2001 06:25:15 PM new
Totally agree & get your 'drift'...we have had twice as many people emailing us wanting to buy direct..I think it has to do with "reverse psychology"...tell someone they can't do something & they will definitely do the opposite!
[ edited by countryhorse on Mar 4, 2001 07:05 PM ]
posted on March 4, 2001 06:39:27 PM new
I doubt that...what can they do? Put us in jail for selling OUR stuff? We never spam the buyers, they email us first & if we have what they need - we sell it to them. Most of the email is for something in a different color, size or style that we don't have in our listings & people will email asking if we can get it in the color, size or style they need. I don't think eBay has the time to pose as a bidder, email sellers & try to "bait" them...
[ edited by countryhorse on Mar 4, 2001 07:21 PM ]
posted on March 4, 2001 06:48:24 PM new
Yes eBay is so new to people I think a lot of them were just struggling to use the system as it is and had not got to the what else can I do with this stage. As soon as they heard that they probably figured everyone else was doing it and they were saps to use the system.
Reminds me of my Dad said when he went in the Army they issued them rifles all covered with Cosmoline and they had no idea how to clean it off. The sarget told them "Don't let me catch any of you running the hot shower in these to clean them off."
Of course when he left there was a mad rush to prop them together at the muzzle and run the shower on them!
[ edited by gravid on Mar 4, 2001 06:49 PM ]
posted on March 4, 2001 07:36:35 PM new
:lol I was coming here to post a similar thread. I am soooo surprised at the number of ebay bidders emailing wanting to buy. I seldom ever got an email like the ones recently.
posted on March 5, 2001 08:29:37 AM new
Remember EBay see's all those Emails.
According to one poster here who called himself something like "potato head" Ebay is above the law, and has full authority to ignor your civil rights. So if you hear a knock at the door just shoot you own brains out it will be bettrer than being tourtured to death by Ebay's new SS troops.
posted on March 5, 2001 10:37:11 AM new
If you look at Tradeout.com, potential buyers can send double-blind anonymous e-mail to the seller. Tradeout monitors all e-mail transactions. If they find one that is trying to circumvent sales through their site, they will suspend your account (or so the wording goes).
If eBay is not monitoring e-mail already, I bet you they will in the near future.
If eBay is somehow violating your civil rights, you are free to take them to court to prove the merits of your charge.
The fact that Yahoo has been running their auctions with a similar "email the seller" system all along and has not been sued for civil rights violations leads me to believe you have a tough fight ahead of you, should you choose to persue this course of action.
posted on March 5, 2001 12:08:06 PM new
I was also going to post a similar thread!
According Ebay on the "announcements" page they do not read the emails. If someone wants to believe they have the time and people power to read the emails, so be it.
Last night a bidder sent an email 3 hours before an auction ended and asked if the item didn't sell could he buy it "off of ebay." He also wanted a list of all of the wickets in the series. I received a total of 4 emails from the bidder, and he kept asking for the names of all of the wickets in the series, and he became a little curt when I wouldn't sell it "off of ebay." He even stated something like, "if it doesn't sell I would think a seller has the right to sell it off of ebay to save on the ebay charges!"
I should have told him that I agree with him and I would send his email to safeharbor to share his views with Ebay. I stopped answering his emails.
Two other bidders last night emailed and wanted to buy items that they had been outbidded on for the amount the auction closed for. I told one that I would start another auction with a "Buy it Now" for the price it closed. He said great. Of course, he hasn't bid on it and I am wondering if he is now reporting me to ebay. He was outbid 2 days before the auction ended, so he had pleanty of time to bid again.
Another bidder contacted me last night and said that she was outbid, and could she pay the closing bid of $71 if I had another. The auction closed at $70. Did she think that the extra "dollar" would make me jump at the opportunity? What I want to ask her, but won't, is why she bid $67 if she was willing to pay $71.
I think that some of the requests will come from long time bidders on ebay who have been buying items off of ebay for years.
I think that some of the requests will come from people who feel justified in trying to
"identify" shifty sellers to report them to ebay. That doesn't bother me. It's a free country. You can spend your free time doing whatever you want to.
What frustrates me is the additional work that I have to do in answering these emails.
[ edited by kellyb1 on Mar 5, 2001 12:08 PM ]