Oddest thing ever happened to me on an ebay purchase.
jesbroken
Posts: 10,151 ✭✭✭✭✭
I received my item in fine shape with a Discount Coupon stamped on one side of a card and you wouldn't believe what was printed on the other side! I will not name the seller. Has this ever happened to anyone else? Here it is.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
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No, but I think I like it.
Interesting, has not happened to me.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
Using eBay communications to circumvent eBay fees seems shady.
peacockcoins
Yes, I have received similar offers from other sellers.
mbogoman
https://pcgs.com/setregistry/collectors-showcase/classic-issues-colonials-through-1964/zambezi-collection-trade-dollars/7345Asesabi Lutho
I've had many eBay sellers include with my purchase their business card with their phone number, web site, and address. A little more subtle but they are obviously encouraging you to deal directly with them.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I find it odd, that someone would risk being reported to ebay with proof in writing. I wouldn't take the chance either buying or selling in this fashion.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
I'm not sure that it is necessarily unethical. Just because you did business with them on ebay, dues that mean you have to go through ebay forever?
There was one time when a B&M coin dealer about 40 miles away was selling an item on ebay that I was interested in. I just hopped in my car and drove up to see it in person and buy it. I saved a few dollars in the process.
If you buy a coin off of eBay and you pay with PayPal or a major credit card, aren't you protected against fraud?
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
eBay's "Offering to buy or sell outside of eBay policy", FWIW...
Buyers and sellers can't:
-Engage in any action with a user on the site designed to complete or facilitate a transaction outside of eBay
-Share or request direct contact information prior to completing a sale
Exception: Sellers may opt to provide their phone number as part of the Ask a Seller a Question (ASQ) or any other eBay endorsed functionality
-In any communications with another eBay member, refer to or promote external websites that facilitate sales outside of eBay
-Use contact information obtained through an eBay transaction to offer to buy or sell an item outside of eBay
-List an item and then mention or link to additional identical or related items for sale outside of eBay
-Offer catalogs or other items that are used to order items directly outside of eBay
-Host item descriptions or images outside of eBay
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/payment-policies/offers-buy-sell-outside-ebay-policy?id=4272
Yes, I've received such offers.
Yes, it is against policy.
No, it isn't an enforceable policy.
Yup, multiple times, especially if they have a bona fide website store.
Z
Busy chasing Carr's . . . . . woof!
Successful BST transactions with: Bullsitter, Downtown1974, P0CKETCHANGE, Twobitcollector, AKbeez, DCW, Illini420, ProofCollection, DCarr, Cazkaboom, RichieURich, LukeMarshall, carew4me, BustDMs, coinsarefun, PreTurb, felinfoal, jwitten, GoldenEgg, pruebas, lazybones, COCollector, CuKevin, MWallace, USMC_6115, NamVet69, zippcity, . . . . who'd I forget?
It wouldn't bother me at all to get offers like that. Businesses do business outside of ebay all the time. Just because a person sells on ebay doesn't mean that's their only venue for selling! Some people are soo scared of the ebay police! LMAO
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This is all true but I interpret it to apply to a listed ebay item. Once you make a connection through an eBay purchase I don't see any way ebay can enforce future transactions. They can try to tell you not to do it, but it really is unenforceable.
For example, the USPS sells stamps on ebay. If you buy stamps that way once are you prohibited from buying stamps at a post office for the rest of your life? 🤔
I've had business cards before with purchases that had the seller's email and phone #, but this is a little more flagrant than that. I would not report this person but someone else might and a large seller on ebay wouldn't want to start all over again with a feedback of 1.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
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i've received MANY discount offers, cards with phone/email/website etc (the VERY essence of please contact me outside ebay for future orders lol and i support it) from many different categories on ebay, especially numismatics but i bought from a LOT of different people over the years.
if i am out somewhere and meet someone and we end up doing some business together outside where i met them, i don't feel obligated to owe the place where i was any percentages, ebay is no exception to me though they STRIVE to prohibit any outside interactions between its members and NOT just to protect us from scammers. i've never been a fan of that attitude as we shouldn't be beholden to anyone in that regard unless ndas or non-competes are required etc.
What is on the other side of the discount coupon card? Seller could claim he didn't send it.
I don't disagree. In addition, it's pretty vague (intentionally, IMO). I just posted it so people could see what it is.
FWIW, I don't normally look for ways around ebay when I see an item there.
The one exception was the somewhat local dealer, and that was mainly because the eBay price was too high.
I don't know why a seller would risk having his eBay business shut down in order to save a buyer a couple of bucks.
Sellers agree to the terms. If the terms are violated then ebay has the right to redress.
Whether they pursue is another matter.
I believe the high ebay fees would encourage them beyond saving a buyer a couple of bucks.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
Ebay fees are not that great for sellers, under 10%. It is better not to do deals around them not because they become upset or jealous but because it is better to use their system designed to protect both buyers and sellers.
Although I'd always prefer to pay less, I'm not seeing that eBay fees are all that high when you compare them to the cost of consigning to auction, paying for travel and tables at shows or running a B&M store.
Getting caught and/or getting punished doesn't define right from wrong.
peacockcoins
I always search for a separate online presence, not for a listed item, but so I can get access to other items BEFORE they get listed.
Also, advertising that applicable sales tax won't be charged is certainly not being done because the seller knows buyers will instead pay the legally owed usage tax.
I’m sure eBay hates this.
I've had this happen to me, too.
The popular seller who has his own website.
He stated if I purchased on his direct website, then I would have saved something like 10 percent.
I've been using his website, instead of going through Ebay.
Chris
If you want to buy from eBay that's fine but don't try to ask seller for best price. You want to get a better price then you need to help seller to cut the cost in order to sell you better price.
Extremely flawed metaphor. There is no USPS policy that forbids using the PO if you used the website. And, unlike ebay, the PO owns both venues.
I think the point is that, as a seller, why would I pass on ebay savings to the buyer. The only advantage to me in moving the transaction off ebay is to save ME the fees.
Now, a couple percent might move to the buyer, but is that enough to encourage the transaction?
EBay fees, with store, are under 9% including payment processing. Given 3% processing fees, that less than 6% fees is a bargain. Depending on your total volume, that could well be cheaper than having your own website.
Yes, that was my point. It's like all the Canadian buyers who wanted me to mark their shipments as gifts- doing so doesn't save me anything, and the people at the post office who see me mailing these packages several days a week have to know I don't really have all that many friends/family there. At some point, they're likely to start wondering what other things I'm telling them aren't true.
Huh? It's wasn't meant as a metaphor.
Under ebay's rules, if you buy something on ebay from a seller you learned about there, you aren't supposed to buy later directly from the seller.
The post office is probably not a good example since most people are aware that it exists even before doing an eBay transaction with them.
But, learning about an item's existence on ebay and then locating the source outside of eBay seems pretty unprohibitable.
Some of my best direct customers shop my eBay and email me asking for my best numbers off eBay. I usually come down 20%+!
"It's like God, Family, Country, except Sticker, Plastic, Coin."
PM me your fleaBay moniker.
Z
Busy chasing Carr's . . . . . woof!
Successful BST transactions with: Bullsitter, Downtown1974, P0CKETCHANGE, Twobitcollector, AKbeez, DCW, Illini420, ProofCollection, DCarr, Cazkaboom, RichieURich, LukeMarshall, carew4me, BustDMs, coinsarefun, PreTurb, felinfoal, jwitten, GoldenEgg, pruebas, lazybones, COCollector, CuKevin, MWallace, USMC_6115, NamVet69, zippcity, . . . . who'd I forget?
Most people pursue the best price.... If that means dealing outside the ebay venue, they do it. Simple economics. Cheers, RickO
I spoke to a dealer at the Michigan coin show the other day. He has some coins on ebay I like. I viewed the coins in person at the show but told him I'd have to complete my purchase online....
When I received my Item there was a flyer that said if you like our items on ebay buy them direct and save even more!
The policy is, as I said in another comment, unenforceable. However, the postal example/metaphor doesn't apply because there is no postal policy forbidding you from using both venues. eBay does have a policy, even if it is largely unenforceable.
Why would you come down 20% to save less than 10% in fees? Loss leader to encourage future business off eBay? Even then, if your off eBay price is always 20% below your eBay price, you are better off selling on eBay.
@jmlanzaf
Why would you come down 20% to save less than 10% in fees? Loss leader to encourage future business off eBay? Even then, if your off eBay price is always 20% below your eBay price, you are better off selling on eBay.
Quite possibly it would be for the instant money, unlike a day or two later and if on a Friday 3 days later on Monday to get their money. Also, who is to say the seller's wouldn't take a 10% less offer of their ebay price which would make the instant funds more preferable to their financial needs. Everyone's needs are a little different and require no explanations. JMO
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
This kind of reminds me of the dealer in another dealers shop who slips that dealers customer his business card while both in the shop.
USPS doesn’t need the policy. That would be like saying a coin store has the policy. Ebay is the one saying you can’t find stuff off of eBay and buy direct. And since usps is on eBay, it’s like eBay is saying you have to buy stamps in eBay only now, not from a post office location. It has everything to do with eBay policy, nothing to do with usps policy.
I build about 10% into my eBay listing price for hagglers. So 10% + 8.8% is my base "best number".
"It's like God, Family, Country, except Sticker, Plastic, Coin."
But the eBay policy doesn’t say you can’t use the USPS off eBay. It says the USPS can’t tell you, the eBay customer, about how to buy off eBay. No reason you, the customer, can’t think how great your experience with stamps was and then search for the USPS and find their website or that you can buy stamps at a local post office.
Relevant eBay policy:
-Use contact information obtained through an eBay transaction to offer to buy or sell an item outside of eBay
-List an item and then mention or link to additional identical or related items for sale outside of eBay
I guess it's a matter of interpretation.
I see or buy a pretty stamp on ebay and use the seller's details to identify the seller and go to the physical or online USPS "store" for future purchases.
I had worried about my banknote transaction at an ebay seller's physical store after seeing the item on ebay might be skirting the rules, but it is exactly the same as seeing stamps being sold by the USPS on ebay but going to a physical post office to buy them.
And I expect that the invoice the USPS sends with ebay sales includes mention of it's own website.
I'm not the one that put USPS into the discussion.
Someone here offered to buy 15+ years of my eBay customer database; name, email, address, phone number. I did not provide any information.
However, is that ok? It doesn’t seem to violate any eBay policies because I wouldn’t be making any sales directly with the future buyers.
🤔
No. It's in Section 3 of the User Agreement:
In connection with using or accessing our Services you agree to comply with this User Agreement, our policies, our terms, and all applicable laws, rules, and regulations, and you will not:
Section 5 includes this:
If you are a seller, you are liable for fees arising out of all sales made using some or all of our Services, even if sales terms are finalized or payment is made outside of eBay. In particular, if you offer or reference your contact information or ask a buyer for their contact information in the context of buying or selling outside of eBay, you may be liable to pay a final value fee applicable to that item, even if the item doesn't sell, given your usage of our Services for the introduction to a buyer.
This is in Section 12:
If eBay provides you with information about another user, you agree you will use the information only for the purposes that it is provided to you. You may not disclose or distribute a user's information to a third party for purposes unrelated to our Services. Additionally, you may only send marketing communications to users who have consented to receive them in accordance with applicable laws, and only using eBay Services.
Bet you didn't know you agreed to all those (among other) things.
But you were the one who said usps does not have that policy. My point was ebay has the policy, not usps. He was just saying usps is another ebay seller who you can do business with off ebay. I think his point was valid.