In another thread auctionfool25 said the following:
"Ebay says that we cannot sell to underbidders, etc. although it happens all of the time."
Wonder where this policy came from? As long as I've been there (almost 3 years) they've encouraged sellers to sell to underbidders, rather than to lose the sale. What they don't like is for sellers to contact underbidders of someone else's auctions as that's considered "bottom feeding."
Any thoughts as to why auctionfool25 would think this? I'm really curious.
posted on February 17, 2001 03:15:02 PM new
Perhaps they are referring to selling multiple items to underbidders. Say you have something that sells for $20, and the underbidder is at $19 - Ebay does not want you to contact the underbidder and sell them another copy of this at or near the final total, because of course they do not get anything from that!
posted on February 17, 2001 03:24:36 PM new
Well, how would they know?
The reason I wouldn't do that is because then neither the seller or the bidder has any kind of protection. No feedback can be left in that instance.
Since he didn't elaborate on the statement, and I did bring it up in that thread, I can only assume that what he said he believes to be true. I don't think they really keep track of that unless it's reported to them by the underbidder or the seller.
posted on February 17, 2001 03:28:17 PM new
They wouldn't know, except I suppose they could have employees randomly check to see if someone would sell. Doesn't seem worth the effort, but I guess I wouldn't put it past them.
You are right about the lack of protection, it basically is a non-Ebay transaction. I'm sure it happens all the time though, and the chance of getting caught is pretty low, which makes it worth it to those who do this.
I've sold to underbidders and believe me they don't care. They don't have the time or energy to check up.
I've also sold off auction when the reserve hasn't been met on auction and let them know. I've received answers like ... "great! Don't worry about the FVF, we're just glad you sold it"
There are some instances where they will charge you the FVF in a case of selling after the auction ends, but they're far and few between.
I wanted to see where he saw that policy which is why I started this thread.
posted on February 17, 2001 04:47:08 PM new
mtnamam.
eBay just came out with some policy changes that peeved a lot of sellers.
Some policies referring to anything you list on eBay they deserve a cut of any sales. Even going so far as to stating that they deserve cuts on any sales you make outside of eBay from past customers that you obtained through eBay.
If you'd like I will attempt to find some old messages regarding this and email you the info.
It caused a lot of flak. And yes they did mention something about they no longer wanting people to sell to underbidders. This is one of the reasons they put the new email program in place.
posted on February 17, 2001 04:51:38 PM new
AG2 send it on to me. I don't want messages from the DNF board. I want the ebay official announcement please stating this.
BTW, the announcement board says the new policy on emails is to eliminate harvesting (collecting) of email addresses for spam, etc. No other reason is mentioned.
posted on February 17, 2001 11:40:49 PM new
I don't know if this will help, but I did find this in Ebay's potential rules:
"Will I still be able to view email addresses on eBay?
Email addresses continue to be visible in limited situations:
1.Active items
a seller is able to view email address(es) of their bidder(s)
2.Closed items
a seller is able to view the winning bidder(s) email address(es) any winning bidder is able to view the seller's email address."
From reading this, I would guess that the seller can see all the bidders' emails while the auction is active, but after the auction is closed, perhaps only the winning bidder's email and the seller's email will be visible to one another.
Just my guess, though, nothing more.
What bothers me even more, is that eventually it seems the majority of communication between sellers and buyers will have to be done through Ebay.
posted on February 18, 2001 06:30:05 AM new
Since this was brought up in another thread in this Other OnLine auction forum, I felt that it belonged here as well, hoping Auctionfool would respond.
Since he hasn't responded, you can close this thread.
