Prevent third-party messages after the auction ends
Request for adjustment – Prevent third-party messages after auction end
Dear eBay team,
I am a commercial buyer on eBay and have noticed that in ended auctions, sellers are often subsequently receiving higher bids from third parties. This means that completed purchase agreements are not honored and I am put at a disadvantage as a buyer.
Unfortunately, because of such cases, I have recently had to deal with three legal disputes, because sellers later accepted a higher offer and did not honor the purchase agreement with me, and that within a week, the most recent one was yesterday.
I therefore ask you to implement a function that prevents third parties from contacting sellers via the eBay messaging system after the auction has ended.
This would ensure the fair process of auctions and prevent breaches of contract.
I would be very grateful for your feedback and a solution to this problem.
I have the feeling that my posts about this are falling on deaf ears and that this post keeps getting deleted, why?
Kind regards
funforcesgermany
miriam@ebay
Hello @funforcesgermany! I just saw that you also created a second topic for this concern. To avoid confusion, we will remove this one shortly.
I’d like to briefly reply here as well - It’s understandable that an aborted purchase is disappointing for you. However, I consider your "suggestion for improvement" difficult to implement and possibly not very useful, among other reasons because of the ones already mentioned here by other members.
Thank you nonetheless for your contribution and all the best for your further steps outside of eBay!
Kind regards,
Miriam
kometenhuhn
·1 year agoA contact restriction will not be feasible. With multiple listed offers, the person will simply contact the seller through them.
Honestly, I think tougher sanctions make more sense - for example, a 14-day restricted account use after a canceled purchase, possibly even longer for "repeat offenders"
hasjana
·1 year agoeven pure buyer accounts can communicate with each other ...
funforcesgermany
OP1 year agoI received 3 cancellations within a week because of third messages, which was also confirmed to me by the seller.
funforcesgermany
OP1 year ago"Everyone, let’s please stay on topic."
The fact is, though, if after the auction has ended a seller cannot be contacted by third parties, then there are almost no more cancellations, or it gets reduced by 100% extremely.
gebraucht-ist-gut
·1 year agoI sell dozens of items a day - so then no user can ever message me, because I’ve always sold something?
How do you imagine that? Potential customers message me every day and have questions.
petersmodellbahnstuebchen
·1 year agoHey @funforcesgermany ,
what you're demanding there is total nonsense. That would mean that if one of my auctions ends with bids, no potential buyer could then contact me with questions about one of my 6000 listings.
For me as a commercial seller, that would be the end of my business relationship with Ebay. Because selling used items thrives on and from communication with customers. I'm contacted more often by potential customers who ask whether I have a sold item or a similar item in stock again. If so, it is listed as a Buy It Now offer and the customer gets a message from me with the item number. After that, they can buy it immediately. The customer is happy and so am I.
And even if Ebay were to prevent this communication via the Ebay messaging system, every commercial seller has contact options via phone and email in their listings. That would only shift customer communication to the outside, and Ebay would certainly miss out on a few coins in commission.
Best regards from the Baltic Sea
Peter
funforcesgermany
OP1 year ago@petersmodellbahnstuebchen
I'm talking about completed auctions from private / car category!
Commercial sellers should remain untouched, that makes sense.
I just bought something from a private seller via Buy It Now again, 5 minutes later I received a cancellation, and once again a legal dispute...
3 legal disputes within 10 DAYS. Thanks @ebay
Speaking of fees:
That is also in eBay's favor, because as soon as the seller sends the buyer a cancellation, the seller doesn't pay any fees and sells the car outside of eBay.
Kind regards from Potsdam 🙂
Do we agree @petersmodellbahnstuebchen ?
petersmodellbahnstuebchen
·1 year agoHi @funforcesgermany
it's pretty amazing how you're backing down here. First no more messages allowed, then only in one category and even then for private. That's certainly technically possible, but whether it makes sense is another matter.
I think that a seller's service statistics leave enough room to impose possible sanctions.
I still think a ban on communication via messages is absolutely unnecessary.
Best regards from the Baltic Sea to Potsdam
Peter
funforcesgermany
OP1 year ago4 cancellations within 10 days, and that's just from me. Right, that's supposed to be unnecessary? xD Madness
No, I'm not backing down, I'm trying to find solutions, the commission eBay loses is fine with you then?
As long as it's blah blah blah and as long as I wrote something about it that's really helpful, right?
kenn-i-di-1
·1 year agoPrivate sellers haven't had to pay fees or commissions for a long time now.
petersmodellbahnstuebchen
·1 year agokometenhuhn
·1 year agoYears ago this wasn’t possible on the platform - back then you still had to contact Ebay itself to cancel a purchase. That still created a certain hurdle for sellers.
But I can also understand Ebay’s point of view that this option was implemented, because how often does it happen that someone accidentally sets a €1 auction listing to Buy It Now.
Still, I would support sellers being sanctioned much more strongly if a purchase cancellation only came about because third parties were involved.
bootyooty
·1 year agoAnd the buyers too.... what you read here every day for decades, there are significantly more buyers who want to back out for a wide variety of reasons than sellers.
hasjana
·1 year ago◇◇◆◇◇◆◇◇◆◇◇◆◇◇
when was that supposed to have been?
there were transaction cancellations back then too, which you could carry out completely independently as a seller
kometenhuhn
·1 year agoI mean, that was certainly 10+ years ago.
To the best of my knowledge, back then it was only possible to completely cancel a transaction with the involvement of Ebay itself.
But I could also be wrong - it was quite a while ago now 🙂
funforcesgermany
OP1 year ago@alena@ebay
or, to be able to solve the problem, eBay could simply remove the subcategory "ended or sold items"; after all, no one cares anymore what has already been sold.
Or leave it as is, but not clickable, so that you can take a look into the auction.
https://www.ebay.de/sch/Automobile-/9801/i.html?_from=R40%7CR40&_nkw=&_in_kw=1&_ex_kw=&_sacat=9801&LH_Sold=1&_udlo=&_udhi=&LH_BIN=1&_samilow=&_samihi=&_sadis=200&_fpos=&LH_SALE_CURRENCY=0&_sop=13&_dmd=1&_ipg=25&LH_Complete=1
funforcesgermany
OP1 year agoOr leave it like that but don't make it clickable so that you CAN'T look into the auction.
bootyooty
·1 year agoor to be able to solve the problem, ebay could simply remove the subcategory "ended or sold items"; nobody cares anymore what has already been sold anyway.
How do you mean? Of course that interests quite a lot of people, both buyers and sellers.
Sellers like to use sold items as a reference before listing something as an auction, with a higher starting bid or as a fixed price with price suggestion.
And buyers also take a close look at where, when, and what was sold for which price and then decide based on that how high their pain threshold is.
Besides, should communication only apply to others, but not to the winner of the auction/buyer?
How is that supposed to work?
It should also be considered that many, very many, also list on other platforms at the same time and then it may have been sold there, but the item here was forgotten and not removed.
alena@ebay
·1 year agoHello @funforcesgermany of course, here you have the option to report the seller to us.
I'd be happy to pass your idea on as feedback to our relevant department.
Thanks for tagging @raffke2012 😘
Best wishes
funforcesgermany
OP1 year agoRestriction of messages after the auction ends
Hello @alena@ebay,
I report every seller who sends a cancellation or refuses to hand over the sold item to me; my lawyer is also doing his job, but this is still ignored and then a lawsuit for breach of contract follows.
Once an auction has ended, it should no longer be possible for third parties to message the seller – only the actual buyer should still be able to get in touch.
If the seller is offering other items for sale right now and third users message him there, then so be it, but the fact is that this should not be possible with the ended auction.
At the moment, unserious users find ended auctions under “ended auctions” or “sold items” and use them to message sellers afterward. Here is a link:
https://www.ebay.de/sch/Automobile-/9801/i.html?_from=R40%7CR40&_nkw=&_in_kw=1&_ex_kw=&_sacat=9801&LH_Sold=1&_udlo=&_udhi=&LH_BIN=1&_samilow=&_samihi=&_sadis=200&_fpos=&LH_SALE_CURRENCY=0&_sop=13&_dmd=1&_ipg=25&LH_Complete=1
This change would help sellers/buyers avoid unnecessary inquiries/lawsuits/legal disputes after the auction ends.
Thank you very much for your support!
Best regards
funforcesgermany
raffke2012
·1 year agoHello,
I think this is just about calling the listed paid phone number.
@alena@ebay what can eBay do about it, can eBay even take action against it?
funforcesgermany
OP1 year agoHello @raffke2012 yes, of course eBay can block that — just remove the "contact seller" button for ended auctions, done! 🙂
Unfortunately, you can also click on the user's profile and contact them there, so eBay would have to remove that option too.
This feels to me like eBay is a dating platform where you can contact anyone anywhere xD
The fact is that users should only be contacted if you've bought something from them, or if you want to buy something when they have something on offer, just like on classified ads.
kometenhuhn
·1 year agoIt would already be enough for me if a pop-up would open - as soon as a purchase cancellation is initiated - informing the seller in easy-to-understand language that the sale is legally binding and remains in effect even after the purchase cancellation.
It would also be a nice gesture if Ebay would take a look at it - possibly by a "real" person - who checks whether the purchase cancellation was caused only by the involvement of third parties and, in such cases, blocks both parties for a certain period of time.
funforcesgermany
OP1 year agocould also be implemented as a solution, but I think that’s more of a pipe dream!
What are communities and forums for here if eBay just ignores such things anyway?
No wonder this platform is dying out; this used to be the best platform here.
Makes me sad 😞
kometenhuhn
·1 year agoIf, after a purchase cancellation has been carried out, you tell the seller that you are having the whole thing checked by eBay and, if necessary, will take legal action, you will receive a response relatively quickly that third parties are involved.
kometenhuhn
·1 year agoI know this problem too, unfortunately.
In the last 10 days alone, I had 3 purchase cancellations by sellers.
As a rule, sellers are contacted by third parties directly after the auction ends or the sale, and higher prices are offered.
It has now become the norm and spoils the entire buying experience, a shame.
A note seems insufficient to me in such cases, especially if the item is then listed again immediately, for a higher price.
perfect-sally
·1 year agoHow does one know that sellers were contacted by third parties? They’re not going to be stupid enough to blab about that too 🤔
funforcesgermany
OP1 year agoI buy 1-2 items every day, some I get and some don't respond and send a CANCELLATION!
The items I pick up, the sellers tell me that they have received higher bids via messages from several users.
funforcesgermany
OP1 year agoThe seller sent me this!
funforcesgermany
OP1 year agoYeah, unfortunately that's no fun anymore. I don't understand why eBay doesn't restrict that either. That's a matter between buyer and seller, so why should it be possible for other users to be able to message the seller after the auction? Like, what is that supposed to mean!
voli-maus
·1 year agoYou’re not even registered as a commercial seller on ebay, @funforcesgermany .
When I buy something on ebay, or win it at auction, then I pay and am happy when the item arrives.
funforcesgermany
OP1 year agoHello @voli-maus that’s why you never get anywhere in forums: you ask a question or make a suggestion for improvement, but then people start looking for mistakes and that becomes the main topic.
Does it have to be that way? Whether commercial or private is not relevant at first.
my God!