eBay have reminded sellers in an Announcement Board post that the eBay contact information and links policy first announced in their Autumn Seller Release is now in full force.
If you have contact information in your eBay listings, eBay shop or pretty much anywhere other than your eBay Business Seller Information then you’re in breech of the policy. This includes links to off eBay destinations and contact information embedded in images.
eBay Contact information Enforcement
eBay will have a soft enforcement from later this month where they will start obscuring these details from your listings. If you still haven’t removed the information by next year then eBay may remove any listings that include prohibited links or contact information.
eBay say that you can find out which of your listings are non-compliant in the Seller Hub, My eBay or Selling Manager Pro. It’s also worth taking a close look at your listing and shop templates if you have them to ensure that banned information isn’t held within your template images.
Business Seller Information
As part of this change, eBay will hide the legally required Business seller information on your listings. This brings the desktop experience into line with the mobile experience where the information isn’t visible without that additional click.
eBay Messages
Whilst the latest announcement concerns your listings, we would like to add a reminder that you shouldn’t divulge contact information in eBay Messages until AFTER a sale is completed (i.e. the buyer has committed to the purchase). If you’re unsure what information it’s safe to share then eBay recently posted a series of videos to clarify.
65 Responses
Still no solution for buyers contacting sellers for warranty issues after 90 days of sale. We already had our account suspended for asking a buyer to return the faulty item to be replaced. It was sold 4 months ago and transaction had been deleted from ebay. Spoke to ebay many times and as far as they are concerned, buyer can go to hell after 90 days. One support member argued that why do we need to respond to such buyers? it took me a while to explain a years warranty to her. Do ebay care about buyers trust in ebay sellers? I don’t think so.
Also the URL https://www.ebay.co.uk/sh/lst/active/contact-info for Listings with Contact Info Issues has fallen over & currently shows us 0, when we know they’re over 600 listings left to edit.
We’re now unable to complete them, so our poor little apprentice has gone from Mobile Optimization, to contact Info & is now working on ensuing all our listings are https compliant, https://www.ebay.co.uk/sh/lst/active/http-content .
In an ideal world eBay should have told us that X, Y & Z needed doing at the same time, rather than spacing out all the policies changes.
I have just been banned for 7 days and I am in complete shock! A customer asked for my email address to send a logo to (we make signs) and we have now been suspended for 7 days! This is our busiest time and eBay don’t care after a long call they won’t budge! They even acknowledged there was no intent to sell off eBay the customer couldn’t send his logo via a message as it was too large. It’s a disgrace and they have gone way too far now!
Yep, exactly….how do you deal with warranty issues? Not risking my account over this…so yeah, after 90 days buyers are out of luck. Not my problem.
Christ, not even Amazon is this strict on this stuff…..
thats terrible leon. ebay need to do something about it and not ban sellers who clearly have done nothing wrong.
if a customer says i will email you a logo can you make me a custom product?
how can ebay justify then automatically giving you a 7 day ban and not lifting it. the seller has done nothing.
why dont ebay just automatically filter the email from the customers message so it never reaches your inbox in the first place?
or ban the buyer instead for 7 days?
is it just the seller who gets auto ban?
Just so many stories regards unfair bans, people’s lives affected and companies unable to pay staff. Complete chaos on the platform, could this be the beginning of the end for eBay?
When all the news is bad news, a tipping point will be reached- an exodus of buyers and sellers alike who are simply sick of the farce.
@Leon
@Martin
Just think people…
eBay can ID anybody who has sent, or BEEN sent contact details, regardless of if they were requested or not?, and will act upon it at the SPEED of light, as it’s perceived to be a threat to it’s (eBay’s) profits, BUT, point-out an obvious scam, and eBay will (and do) make like the 3 wise monkeys, and why?, well…again, it would be potentially damaging to eBay’s profits, since eBay get 10%… regardless.
In effect, the “proceeds of crime”, so perhaps crime DOES pay?
Its time for us sellers to move over to new marketplace buuy.co.uk They have easy CSV import tools for your Ebay listings. Also, no commision just Paypal fees to pay
Well I have a different story. Lots of our competition have comments on their listings like “come in to our shop in XXXXX – we accept cards and cash” or “visit our website http://www.xxxx.co.uk for great deals” or “call us on 0xxxxxxxxxxx to discuss any items you might want but don’t see here”
Reporting them time and time again to ebay CS leads to nothing, no action, nothing but a big waste of time for me.
Can anybody clarify?
If a buyer messages asking for physical colour sample for a product to be sent before purchasing? and they sent there name and address upfront.
would the seller receive a 7 day ban?
Could the seller just delete this message and not reply and everything would be ok?
When running my business i can only control my actions, I can’t control the messages that land in my inbox.
Fair enough if i replied but to receive a automatic ban for a customer sending a address to my inbox without me even replying seems very unfair.
I have to say that this policy isnt that difficult to follow- even though its not favorable.
There are times when io use to need to either send something via email, or be sent something via email, before purchase. I now just say buy it, then we’ll do the email exchange, and if its not suitable we’ll just cancel the sale. Its not ideal, but its not that hard.
Likewise if a customer wants to visit my address to view an item, I make sure the listing is set to accept a “cash on collection” payment, and I get the customer to click the BIN, then they can come and view and we can then cancel the sale if needed, or just mark as paid.
If a customer does send a phone number through messages prior to sale, I always ignore it, and usually phone CS just so there is a log that im not contacting them etc.
Warranties for more than 90 days are also easy to deal with, I make it clear to the customer that they will only be able to contact me on ebay for 90 days after sale, after that they will have to contact me about a warranty issue directly (at that point they can have all my details, post-sale), so if they do loose my details then unfortunately that is now their problem, again, not ideal.. but thats how it has to be.
Yes its all a abit of a pain, but I understand why they have done it, and lets face it, we all use ebay because of the huge amount of traffic, so we just have to put up with it.
I don’t like Donald Trump but I’m sure he’d get his teeth right into eBay’s ass over this absolute insanity. Why is this not making news headlines?
According to UK trading standards and the EU directive about online sales eBay are now breaking the law.
The directives clearly state that all items for sale on the internet should clearly display the sellers contact details in a prominent position and must be made available to the purchaser before during and after any transaction.
The information is to be readily available for the duration period of any warranty period for the items being sold. In the case of a shop where multiple items have varying lengths of warranty the information must be made available for the longest period of warranty. Telling a customer that after 90 days it’s their problem to contact you directly and not providing the information is not allowed.
So eBay are forcing sellers to break the law and leave them exposed to prosecution.
When a seller completes a sale on eBay or amazon a full terms and condition contract should be sent with the item as again just stating the terms are clearly displayed on eBay or Amazon is unacceptable and you lose instantly. I know i went to court over a faulty item with a customer and although they had broken the item themselves i lost instantly and the judge explained why.
He also stated eBay are a company that can make rules but seem to think they
can make laws.
Further to Bay compliance. We are going through over 1000 listings which are not “compliant” . We are having to go through the html editing section which we know nothing about and have never touched. The problem appears to be two fold we used to used Channel Grabber multi channel software they have put their logo on old listings of ours, secondly we have something that says pentagon.com we have no idea what thats about . All we know is we have spent 2 working days going through this latest e bay hoop we are having to jump through.
We are having issues too. Some of our items require a surcharge to certain areas. It isn’t always the case and sometimes we can send them a different way to save the customer money. Currently we operate a simple ‘highlands and non uk mainland’ surcharge policy… with an addtional comment of please contact us first for details… etc.
The idea being the customer can get in touch, tell us their address and what it is they wish to buy, we then get back to them with the options. full surcharge, cheaper surcharge via different service, no surcharge etc. This saves cancelling an order without warning and a upset customer… especially if we don’t get to see the order until the next day and the customer wanted it quickly.
Now we can’t do that… great news for buyers who now either just get a message saying we need an extra £X or the item cancelled as we can’t send it to their address. We have to select customer request when cancelling as other wise ebay punish us… and if the customer doesnt agree, we get punished anyway.
All in all it a poor show for us and a poor show for the customer.
The whole thing is an unthought out sham.
@Mark
@james remarks….
“yup, along with the dozens of other laws they break daily.
but why mention it here?”
Well james, people on this site use eBay, perhaps this is a good enough reason to mention it here?.
The idea (from my point of view) is to slap eBay around the face with the BS they get up to, on any and every “forum”, not “accept it, and move on” as some would have us do.
I think it’s a crying shame the way eBay (the decision makers) have screwed, and continue to screw what was once a fantastic site.
@Chris Dawson
Morning Chris.
Chris, do you have any idea why a post of mine is still said to be
“awaiting moderation” some 14+ hours down the road?
It does refer to dan (he hasn’t got back to me) as rather looking like a waste of space, perhaps that’s the problem?.
I confess I have an issue with eBay > online fraud, a situation eBay seem happy to…overlook?, and since dan has proudly mentioned his connections with eBay UK, I thought he might have taken an interest, but instead?, he looks to be making like 1 of the 3 WISE MONKEYS, and that just seem’s to bring out the sarcasm in me, with a touch of (uncharacteristic) rudeness, born out of irritation.
Could you please give him a (cattle) prod?, CHEERS
All the best
Matt 😉
All eBay sellers come on forums to complain but do you think buyers come on here to read this?
No the don’t, they do not know what the rules are so they will send you what they feel like sending via eBay messages.
It’s not there fault but it’s not ours either either, if eBay want to change the rules they should make it more obvious to buyers and not so much the sellers.
I had a customer wanting to ask about collection before bidding I put all of this info in the description and specified that collection can be made if you wish once you have bid and won the item I simply replied to the customer “please read the description” they then messaged me back and gave me abuse because I wans’t falling in to the trap of providing them any sort of contact information.
My point is buyers don’t care or have the proper knowledge of what they could unwillingly do to a sellers account just for asking a simple questions.
I do well on eBay so I will follow their rules I just feel for anyone who is selling custom made items I’m guessing they would have had to jump ship as the workarounds would be lengthy.
Can anybody say if a post is “edited by admin to remove…?” will the person who MADE the post be informed?, or will it (the post) be removed, or edited on the QT?
Ow no the PC Brigade are invading Tamebay…
Bullying or Banter Katie A…don’t take things to serious
I think I know where the line is drawn Derek. I have been following these posts for days and I used to deal with social media bullying where some of my clients tried to take their own life. I dont want to be dramatic or get dramatic. One of the folk he is attacking has autism.
@ Katie A
With respect Katy, there is no need to “intervene” on my account although you could be correct about other folk he has attacked.
With respect to both Derek and Katie, the only differential between “bullying” and “banter” can be decided by the person it is directed at – on the receiving end.
Personally, i don’t give a hoot either way. I suppose by not giving a hoot it would be classed as “banter” – so Derek wins that argument. I would go to say that it is impossible, and i do mean it literally, to offend me. If it were possible to offend me i would not be posting what i post on Tamebay. I am not popular expressing “pro-ebay” posts. I realise that. When one presents a strong argument and then is attacked in this manner it just serves to illustrate how weak the opposition actually is. Its funny.
However i do appreciate the gesture Katie – i have done a couple of posts – how dare you miss them – but unlike some sellers I have been busy on my business in preparation for Xmas. ebay have thrown a fair workload at us and it is important to concentrate on that and get your listings compliant. I can categorically say that Ross is doing the same. We don’t have time to scold “whats his name today” (my name is same every day) above for his behaviour. I suggest you do the same and concentrate on your business.
And can I end with………..(sorry) WE ARE WAY OFF TOPIC
@alan paterson
You can discuss whatever you like, alan. You don’t have to reply OR respond to my
” myopic anti-ebay views”
@Katie A
I don’t live on this forum. I read the posts I want to read.
Confucius say “When one presents a strong argument and then is attacked in this
manner it just serves to illustrate how weak the opposition actually is”
Yes katie I can see the “social worker” in you. You are FULL of it.
@alan paterson said
“I do feel compelled to respond to your posts Matthew m”
Oh Christ, OK…if you must, and you call ME a TROLL?
“When you go off topic, report things that are factually inaccurate”
factually inaccurate?…Such as alan?
“troll ebay (and other sellers)”
Are you on about the SCAMMER of Sony laptops alan?, where a team of 2 or 3 “names” are working together to inflate the final price?, and doing so WITH eBay’s blessings?
“and (as Katie says) try to bully and mock and degrade those sellers who do not share your views. It serves no purpose other than to create animosity, anxiety (with some) and a general overall feeling of negativity.”
Oh, OK.
“I think if you give Dans last post a read it sums it up. lol you were starting to attack Katie!”
Oh yes, the “social worker”, who deals with near suicidal people?, well, I notice she wasn’t backward in coming forward, was she alan…She was in “attack mode” before you could say, well…social work”
“Lets try and stay on the topic of the thread without the school boy ridicule.”
On the topic alan?
I reply or comment to a remark made. The “remark” may not have been “on topic” in the first place, but I can’t help that. I don’t much care about the eBay term “off topic” anyway, but clearly it works for you.
I can’t believe this guy. Maybe if we just ignore him he will just go away. Have you seen his other posts babbling about fraud? If the user names can’t be published what’s the point? What does he expect to achieve? Does he think he is some sort of detective . We all get hit with the same thing. Definitely something wrong with the way he lashes out at people .
probably not Ross. Folk like this seldom “go away”. They just change their ID again and persist.
In an attempt to stay on topic have you removed all your active content and links?
@ Ross I have just read Matthews post a couple above – he is comparing me to Confucius so that is undoubtedly a compliment. No hard feelings.
If you are needing any help with your listings Ross, give me a shout. I am available this Saturday but I won’t be able to do anything till after Xmas after Saturday (if you know what I mean).
@matthew m
@alan paterson
@Katie
@Ross K
@Dan Wilson
The situation here that frustrates Matthew & I is that Tamebay DO NOT use their clout to ask eBay awkward questions & the eBay cheerleaders DO NOT care about sellers who are having a hard time. Everyone is pussyfooting around the issues.
Every area of eBay has massive gaping problems & that is a fact. I will not list all of them here because there are way too many.
So when eBay scammers are left to run free & eBay breaks laws & increases fees, act’s like there’s a communist plot via messaging, makes listings invisible, refuses to acknowledge a broken shopping cart, enforces immediate payment and refuses to fix ongoing problems while all the time the eBay the cheerleaders and Tamebay gang up on sellers who dare to mention any of the above, how do you expect us to act? You have disappointed us! ………………..Why are you all in denial? What are you all afraid of?
Matthew & I are frustrated and angry because our business and livelihood is being crushed from every angle by arrogant eBay management & illegal policies that nobody is willing fight. This is how the Mafia operate!
You cheerleaders are playing into eBay’s hands. Sweeping the BS under the carpet.
eBay is flawed at every level. Simply denying it because it doesn’t affect you doesn’t make it fantasy & it doesn’t mean other sellers are not unhappy & frustrated that the very site that used to be our voice (Tamebay) now has beans stuffed in it’s ears.
This is why I feel matthew m’s frustration. Your I’m alright jack attitudes do not help anyone. This site used to rally some support/action against the injustice & poor decision making at eBay towers but since Sue (god bless her) passed away, it seems to me that Tamebay has forgotten why it was successful in the first place. Much the same as eBay.
@alan paterson lovely false dichotomy you painted there! Patronising tone back at you – let me educate you, I don’t know if you know this but unions give small voiceless individual a voice and power to faceless entities which treat unrepresented individuals with non of the leverage of multi million pound business like worthless fleas to use your metaphor.
Please don’t put words in my mouth in regards to killing the dog (ebay) as this wouldn’t serve any of the community on either side of the fence would it.
All I was merely suggesting was that SME’s should have some sort of representation as we are voiceless when it comes to making our cases at present which isn’t good for any of us, ebay included.
@alan paterson
If the FLEAS believe there is room for improvement but never complain because they are frightened the DOG will die from bad publicity the FLEAS just turn into SHEEP.
This is a serious negative approach to good customer service, why would you purchase an item without knowing who the seller is, where they are and how you can contact them, professional sellers have real business with real overheads, staff to pay and premises expenses etc. Sellers pay to list an item, then we pay a subscription, a seller should have the right to decide where the transaction is completed, eBay are removing your rights as a seller and are actually damaging your business reputation. I think its time to look at how eBay is used and what items you include in the inventory listed on eBay, I certainly know we will.
We have just received an offer from a potential buyer with a message requesting additional detail – to be sent to his private email address. It is for an expensive TV (£2k+). We think it is a reasonable request but I decided to check with CS.
I contacted eBay CS who stated that having reviewed the query it was perfectly acceptable.
I am now more confused than Rudolph without his nose.
@Ian
eBay are telling you it’s OK to to exchange details OUTSIDE of eBay?, and B4 a deal is done?. Would you like a couple of ASPIRIN?, I was gonna get myself a couple anyway.
I’d bypass eBay if I could at this point… eBay AND Paypal, as the power both have over your/our bank accounts, where a transaction is concerned, is EYE watering.
Take care.