Why is this allowed?

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epigramophone
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Why is this allowed?

Post by epigramophone »

I am watching several job lots of records listed on eBay by the same seller, so I tried to ask a question about the possibility of combined postage. I got an eBay message saying "Unfortunately this seller is not able to respond to questions."

There was no explanation offered, so I raised the matter with eBay Member to Member Support. The response from other members suggested that the seller had set his account not to receive questions, and that perhaps I should look for another seller. Looking for another seller is not an option where rare records are concerned.

I am surprised that eBay allows this practice. One cannot force a seller to reply to questions, but one should at least be able to ask them! Has anyone else experienced this problem?

cleveland1996
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Re: Why is this allowed?

Post by cleveland1996 »

From time to time some sellers will be out of town for several days (such as for vacations, etc.). Some of these sellers will have a programmed response that they are unavailable to answer questions until their return, rather that let the potential buyer wonder why they are not receiving a response to their question....This could possibly be the reason for your response...

HisMastersVoice
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Re: Why is this allowed?

Post by HisMastersVoice »

It's because they have your country blocked from bidding/buying the item (probably unknowingly). I just had the same problem trying to send a message to the seller of that trashed 8-9 cabinet you posted (was going to offer to buy it and just have him send the door pulls) but I could not. Another amazing eBay decision. Most sellers probably don't even realize that people can't contact them.

I have an idea: if this seller is in the US - I can contact them for you and you can contact the guy with the 8-9 and we can let them know that they need to turn on the "Ship Worldwide" option in order for buyers to contact them....

epigramophone
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Re: Why is this allowed?

Post by epigramophone »

Thank you Brandon.
I have messaged the seller of the 8-9 cabinet via eBay, now reduced from £100 to £80, advised him of your interest and requested him to check his seller account preferences to enable you to make contact. Hopefully this will achieve the desired result.

The seller of the records I am watching is in the UK, so he should not be blocking enquiries from other UK eBayers like me. Even more strangely he lists some job lots with postage and others for collection only. Curiouser and curiouser......

Roger.

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marcapra
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Re: Why is this allowed?

Post by marcapra »

Another thing you have to watch when you are on Ebay is asking the questions when you contact a seller. I found some excellent hardwood casters on Ebay that I wanted for my Amberola 1A and saw that the seller was only five miles away. So I asked for the seller's phone number so I could go over and look at his merchandise. Ebay sent me a warning letter that if I do that again I will be blocked from Ebay! Obviously, they don't want you to go to a seller's place and buy outside of Ebay. So, does that mean if you are thinking about buying an old car, or phonograph, you can't go and check it out before bidding without getting in trouble with Ebay?

epigramophone
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Re: Why is this allowed?

Post by epigramophone »

In my case it was a message from eBay which advised me that the seller was "not able to respond to questions", so my question never reached him and he lost at least two potential sales as a result. None of his job lots that I was watching sold.

I have viewed several gramophones (and a classic car) before bidding for them on eBay, by using their messaging system to correspond with the seller. Surely no-one buys a classic car without viewing it in person. One of the gramophones failed to reach it's reserve, and after the listing had ended I went back to the seller and purchased it for cash, so neither eBay nor PayPal got their pound of flesh.

52089
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Re: Why is this allowed?

Post by 52089 »

marcapra wrote:Another thing you have to watch when you are on Ebay is asking the questions when you contact a seller. I found some excellent hardwood casters on Ebay that I wanted for my Amberola 1A and saw that the seller was only five miles away. So I asked for the seller's phone number so I could go over and look at his merchandise. Ebay sent me a warning letter that if I do that again I will be blocked from Ebay! Obviously, they don't want you to go to a seller's place and buy outside of Ebay. So, does that mean if you are thinking about buying an old car, or phonograph, you can't go and check it out before bidding without getting in trouble with Ebay?
I have gotten around this 2 ways.

The easier way is to disguise your email address in a message to the seller. joe@something.com becomes xjoexatxsomethingxdotxcomx or something similar.

The other way is for one of you to list a 1 cent item that the other party buys, thus giving you their contact info. You'll want to cancel the transaction afterwards so that it doesn't affect anyone's ratings.

CarlosV
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Re: Why is this allowed?

Post by CarlosV »

epigramophone wrote:In my case it was a message from eBay which advised me that the seller was "not able to respond to questions", so my question never reached him and he lost at least two potential sales as a result. None of his job lots that I was watching sold.
I had the same experience a number of times, it is an automatic response from ebay, which makes me think that sellers have an option to block questions from prospective bidders. As I never sold anything on ebay, I cannot confirm if such option exists.

tomb
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Re: Why is this allowed?

Post by tomb »

marcapra wrote:Another thing you have to watch when you are on Ebay is asking the questions when you contact a seller. I found some excellent hardwood casters on Ebay that I wanted for my Amberola 1A and saw that the seller was only five miles away. So I asked for the seller's phone number so I could go over and look at his merchandise. Ebay sent me a warning letter that if I do that again I will be blocked from Ebay! Obviously, they don't want you to go to a seller's place and buy outside of Ebay. So, does that mean if you are thinking about buying an old car, or phonograph, you can't go and check it out before bidding without getting in trouble with Ebay?
I hit the same thing today in a transaction that I was getting a discounted price on. I gave out my e mail address so she would let me know when the price was changed so I could buy it. I GOT THE criminal red message that I would be put in shackles and shipped to the Antarctica via amazon if I did it again. Oh well I like my Calif. weather so I will no do it again.... Tom

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