dixiebee
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posted on March 6, 2001 01:33:23 AM
I woke up this morning to two SPAM messages that were sent through the eBay Ask the Seller a Question feature.
One was from someone who "missed" my auction and wanted to know if I had another that they could purchase offline.
The other had a similar product they were offering to me for sale ... again offline.
This has opened up a whole new can of worms. Where should these abuses be reported?
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abacaxi
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posted on March 6, 2001 03:22:59 AM
Send the spam to [email protected] and they'll take care of it.
The opne wanting to buy is not technically spam, so just let them know when you rklist, or say "sorry, sold the only one I had".
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RB
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posted on March 6, 2001 04:58:09 AM
So it would be non-technical SPAM then 
Anything dixiebee considers SPAM is SPAM ... technical has nothing to do with it.
Delete it and forget it. Whinging to eBay is a waste of time.
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MrJim
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posted on March 6, 2001 05:03:36 AM
Forward the email from the person offering to buy it offline to the person offering to sell one and visa versa.
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RB
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posted on March 6, 2001 05:48:46 AM
Right on MrJim.
And, don't forget to send eBay (and soon come AW) their cut ...
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dottie
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posted on March 6, 2001 06:06:04 AM
Delete it! If you are receiving offers to purchase outside of the eBay format through the use of eBays eMail forwarding system and you'd rather pay to RELIST... then just delete the offer.
Let me tell you... reports of offers to sell outside of the eBay format (true or false) will be considered as SPAM by eBay and will only serve as evidence that greater RESTRICTIONS on our communications with other members should be implemented.
Do you REALLLLLY want eBays "solution" for this in place??
Remember that eBays VeRO solution WOMDs the listings FIRST and leaves the sellers and bidders in the lurch to ask questions or prove their innocence AFTER THE FACT.
I promise you... eBays automated "solution" for ACCUSED gray market sales (SPAM) is not any friendlier! *sigh*
There's a DELETE key.... find it, use it, move on...
- Dottie
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victoria
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posted on March 6, 2001 06:16:36 AM
I agree with Ignore, Delete, Move on crowd when it applies to trash sellers.
I get all kinds of SPAM. But I appreciate the interest of bidders, inside or outside of the auction. When I get offers to close auctions early etc. I send back a very nice, No Thanks.
I always try to leave them feeling that they WANT to bid on my auctions because I'm such a nice person.
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pointy
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posted on March 6, 2001 06:39:09 AM
Send the offer to sell offline to safeharbor immediately. I don't know what you sellers advising the delete option are thinking. These low-life bottom feeders hurt all legitimate sellers. They have an advantage as they can sell something based on an auction that you spent your time and money creating and they can sell the item without paying any fees at all. If you pay fees and they do not, then they will be able to offer the same product for less. Unless Ebay goes even further to make this e-mail contact impossible in the long run it will put many legitimate sellers out of business.
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dottie
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posted on March 6, 2001 06:53:56 AM
pointy: READ!!
I believe SELLERS are getting offers from BUYERS to sell...
If you'd rather pay to relist... FINE, but I don't consider ANY communication from a potential BUYER under ANY Circumstances as "spam".
Dottie
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RB
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posted on March 6, 2001 07:00:21 AM
pointy ... time to join the real world
What do you do with all of those "Want to make 5,000 a week from home" and "Free University Degree" SPAM emails you get?
What makes the eBay ones any different?
Sheesh - some people will complain to SafeHarbour about the littlest things - no wonder the SH drones can't deal with the real problems ... they don't have any time
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reddeer
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posted on March 6, 2001 07:12:32 AM
What makes the eBay ones any different?
You're joking, right? You really need the difference pointed out to you?
I can assure you that if some azzwipe was to email myself or one of my bidders with an offer to sell them/myself the same item, I would indeed fire the email off to SH.
F the bottom feeders!
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dman3
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posted on March 6, 2001 07:14:54 AM
WOW you concidered some one writeing to buy an Item from you abuse I call it business !!!
http://www.Dman-N-Company.com
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reddeer
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posted on March 6, 2001 07:17:08 AM
Dman, seems you missed this part of the initial post?
The other had a similar product they were offering to me for sale ... again offline.
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RB
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posted on March 6, 2001 07:35:56 AM
reddeer ... no matter how you cut it, this is called "Free Enterprise". Many of us have not been brainwashed by eBay and still believe there are other ways to sell things on line. eBay is simply one choice, and in spite of their rules and regulations, they do not own the rights to anything that you may list, may have listed in the past, or may be planning to list in the future.
What's the worst thing eBay can do to you if you try to sell me something "under the(ir) table"?
Suspend you?
Big deal ... that would probably be a good thing for most eBayers who have forgotten how real business works
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reddeer
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posted on March 6, 2001 07:40:36 AM
Ya, right. Easy to say from someone who no longer PAYS to sell their wares on eBay.
If someone walked into my RL store, and whispered to a customer of mine that they had the same item in their car, and would sell it to them for FAR less than what I had for a price, and I overheard the converstion, take a guess what would happen?
Here's a hint - I would need a mop to clean up afterwards.
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mrpotatoheadd
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posted on March 6, 2001 07:49:27 AM
Suspend you? Big deal ... that would probably be a good thing for most eBayers who have forgotten how real business works
I would guess that being suspended and having to contact individual bidders, looking for sales, would not be a good thing for most sellers, but if it works for you, go for it.
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capotasto
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posted on March 6, 2001 07:59:21 AM
"One was from someone who "missed" my auction and wanted to know if I had another that they could purchase offline. "
I have an item that I sell by dutch auction every few weeks. If this "buyer" contacted me I would of course sell to him. I'm in bidness!!
Other jokers can P&M about "spam", but some of us are here to make money.
Vinnie
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RB
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posted on March 6, 2001 07:59:26 AM
"I would guess that being suspended and having to contact individual bidders, looking for sales, would not be a good thing for most sellers, but if it works for you, go for it"
My point is that eBay has you folks running so scared that you are afraid to speak up directly to them about some of their ridiculous "rules". This reminds me of how a very bad historical event started ...
Believe me ... there really are other ways to sell a product. If you were in business before eBay came along, dig out your files and see how you did it
PS ... reddeer ... if your way of dealing with competition is violence, then I suggest you contact Mr. Gotti (before he dies) and ask him how that works
[ edited by RB on Mar 6, 2001 08:00 AM ]
[ edited by RB on Mar 6, 2001 08:01 AM ]
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mrpotatoheadd
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posted on March 6, 2001 08:15:26 AM
My point is that eBay has you folks running so scared that you are afraid to speak up directly to them about some of their ridiculous "rules".
"You folks"?
Which folks?
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dixiebee
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posted on March 6, 2001 08:22:50 AM
You see, when I signed up for eBay and agreed to abide by their user agreement, I felt I had to live by the rules they set out -- whether I liked the rules or not.
Silly me! All I really want is for each of us to be on the same level playing field. eBay makes the rules and the users agree to follow. I feel that if you cannot follow the agreement, you need to either set up your own site or find another auction site that will allow you do as you please.
Now back to my original post. The first e-mail asking if I had another for sale was asking me sell to her offline, which the last time I looked, was an eBay no-no. What appalled me more was that she used the Ask The Seller a Question feature to ask me to do something that is against the eBay agreement. For the record, I do not have another one to sell tp her in any way shape form or fashion. This was the last one out of about 4 that I have sold. She had plenty of time (at least 4 weeks) to bid on any one of them.
The second e-mail was offering me a great deal for a whopping $3 including shipping. I am trying to figure out the logic of SPAMMING a seller (again using the Ask the Seller a Question feature) trying to sell them a similar item to the one they have up for auction.
I have been selling and buying on eBay since late 1998 and have only had a handful of this type of e-mail. In addition to eBay's old way of contacting sellers and buyers, I have had a link to my e-mail in every auction I have run for questions. The fact is that eBay has now made it much easier for someone to contact you. You used to have to sign in to get the e-mail address, which took several pages of sign through before you could actually get the e-mail address of the seller. Now it's just right there with one click of the mouse.
This is not "just like Yahoo" as some people insist. On Yahoo the questions are asked in a public forum right on the questions tab of the auction. All questions and answers were made public. At the end of the auction, only the seller and buyer were privy to the e-mails.
I routinely delete and move on but I don't feel I should have to in this case.
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pointy
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posted on March 6, 2001 08:31:09 AM
REDDEER...apparantly you and I are the only ones who "get it".
>
In my earler post I was referring to the low-life bottom feeders offer to sell the same product to a bidder off-line that the bidder had placed a bid on in someone else's legitimate auction. This activity hurts all legitimate sellers...period. If these scum have products to sell let them run their own auctions, not live off the time, efforts, and money of others..
>
As for a seller who ran an auction being contacted by a bidder during or after an auction to sell an extra or whatever. A transaction here may be against Ebay rules, but what a seller wants to do here is their own business. It's their auction. I'm not concerned with this.
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mrpotatoheadd
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posted on March 6, 2001 08:38:43 AM
The first e-mail asking if I had another for sale was asking me sell to her offline, which the last time I looked, was an eBay no-no.
That is a bidding offense, not a selling offense. If a bidder wants to risk violating the rule by contacting me regarding other (unlisted) items I may have available for sale, that is their perogative. The fact that I have listed a widget for sale through eBay does not entitle them, however, to a percentage of all sales I make of other unlisted items, as long as I have not posted my listing in such a manner as to attempt to avoid their fees.
If they want to punish the bidder who is asking me if I have other widgets for sale, I guess that's their choice, but I don't consider the bidder's question to be spam, and I won't be the one to report them. How eBay catches them is their problem.
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mrability
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posted on March 6, 2001 08:41:01 AM
Call me a capitalist but if my inbox is full of messages from eager back bidders wanting to buy from me I am thrilled about this, report them to safeharor are you nuts? Send them to me, I'll take care of all of your potential customers. I wonder if IBM is upset that there customers are calling them wanting to buy product that may or may not be sold out? I am sure they would rather have them call their competitor. With an attitude like yours your online selling activity will never become a real business beyond the scope of ebay.
Sounds like you dont even deserve the right to use the word spam.
What's the matter with you people? WAKE UP.
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reddeer
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posted on March 6, 2001 08:45:45 AM
Pointy
I think the problem with the initial post to this thread is that it was a 2 parter.
Personally I loathe scum sucking low life bottom feeders, but LOVE potential customers who spam me with their wanted lists. 
I get requests from buyers all the time, and have no idea why a seller would consider reporting them to eBay?
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dottie
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posted on March 6, 2001 08:51:37 AM
reddeer: I agree 100% with your post at 08:45:45
One is Scum fee avoidance from Competitive Sellers abusing eMail access to OUR customers.
The other is a potential customer and a WELCOME Selling Opportunity.
- Dottie
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mrability
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posted on March 6, 2001 08:52:58 AM
Roger that reddeer...I think the person who originally posted this thread needs to bang their head against a wall or at least give it a shake. I am a ebay powerseller and I work extremely hard to receive such emails this person calls spams.
And then I read all the replies, it is easy to see who knows the value of a client base and who does not. One should write every person who sends such emails and THANK THEM for sending them their want list or expressing that they want to buy another because they missed out. Ebay doesnt feed your family, you do, so put yourself 1st.
I almost needed CPR after reading this thread
mrability
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ExecutiveGirl
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posted on March 6, 2001 12:48:17 PM
I just received 2 spam mails - they were the same email sent to 2 of my different ID's by the same person. I just forwarded them to SafeHarbor.
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azcap
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posted on March 6, 2001 06:18:40 PM
At our business today someone I had never heard from before called me and wanted to buy our products. I don't know where they got our number. I promptly told them to stop Spamming me and hung up! First thing in the morning I will be reporting them to the Phone Company...and Safe Harbor... and Mom!
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keziak
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posted on March 6, 2001 07:05:58 PM
Somebody just used the feature to tell me that a recent buyer of mine never paid THEM. Are they writing to all this buyer's contacts with this information? I wonder how they find the time.
Maybe by not loitering on this list.
Keziak
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dubyasdaman
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posted on March 6, 2001 07:07:50 PM
A lady contacted me yesterday through "Ask seller a question" saying that she missed the auction but needs the widget very badly. Would I just sell one to her outright? I said no, that it was against ebaY rules. But I told her that I had another widget just like it up for bid with "Buy It Now". I told her to go to the auction and click "Buy It Now" and we could close the deal right away with Billpoint.
She replys with this: "I don't have an ebay account so I can't bid. Won't you PLEASE sell it to me?"
I emailed her back and asked how she managed to contact me twice through "Ask seller a question" without an ebay account. Still no reply to that question. I have no idea she did this. Why didn't she just bid (or use "Buy It Now"?
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