Unsolicited offers received from sellers

[voxmagna]

How can I stop unsolicited offers being received? Ebay are using my site browsing history or selling listing to inform sellers of 'interest' and then send me offers I don't want. Unlike offers which I might initiate myself, these automated offers are dangerous because they sit alongside genuine offers I may have made. I cannot tag and delete them, or open the offer and decline or to remove it.

I've looked at my account settings and cannot see the option to stop them as has previously been posted on the forum? For now I am thwarting Ebay AI tracking whilst signed in to my account by not signing in and only signing in to my account if I specifically want to buy or sell something.

[thesmokingrunner]

If you're referring to the new and rather invidious development of eBay sending offers on items which you have only viewed but not added to your Watch List then I regret to say there is nothing you can do to prevent them.

The subject was raised during a Weekly Chat with the Community Team a few weeks ago and the official response was that offers cannot be sent out unless an item has been added to a Watch List or put in a basket. Despite this denial it has now been proved that it does happen and there is no way of opting out of receiving such offers. If you've not seen it this thread gives a bit more information on the subject:

https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Buying/Receiving-Seller-Offers-on-items-Viewed-but-NOT-in-my-Watch-L...

[voxmagna]

Thanks, at least that confirms it's something new in the last few weeks and not my imagination. I don't put items in a watch list. Ebay are using the tracked and my viewed items and recently a listing to sell an item to initiate these unsolicited offers being sent to me. They must be giving sellers information that I've viewed their listing because offers with  a price reduction are coming from Sellers?

I'm not trusting assurances from Ebay. Now I'm only logging on 'As necessary' and not sending them viewed items data in cookies. It's a bit annoying having to go through login security hoops, but I'm protected from making an erroneous one click 'Accept Offer', whilst spending less money with Ebay! 

I'm also using Firefox to erase their cookies and looking at what I might be able to do in realtime during a logged on session? Ebay can't send offers or promotions to my account email because that would be misuse of communication and regarded as unsolicited spam mail?

I can imagine a future where you're browsing online, every click is monitored and AI then floods you with unsolicited offers, items of interest and any other excuses to hard sell.

[thesmokingrunner]

Ok, you can breathe easy about sellers being given information that you have viewed their listing. Sellers don't get information other than the number of views or the number of watchers on an item, that's all. Sellers don't know to whom any offer is being sent - in fact I doubt if a substantial number of sellers are even aware of this new development and assume that an offer is sent to Watchers only, not everyone who has simply looked at an item.

I'm not sure about erasing cookies in real time as even temporary cookies need to be active whilst you are logged in to the site.

Depending on what communication preferences you have set on your account eBay may well send offers and promotions to your account email, so you may want to check your current preferences.

[voxmagna]

Thanks. Sellers must be involved even if they aren't aware because I've received unsolicited offers with very large price reductions that are not showing as price reductions on the original listing? Perhaps sellers are setting a minimum offer they might accept and Ebay automated offers are using that which is unfair to other potential Buyers? But minimum acceptable offers isn't something I as a buyer can know unless I keep trying low offers and I only have 3 chances?

Can you tell me what communication preferences I should set to stop getting these offers? I've now revisted my browser cookie policy.  All cookies are now erased at browser shutdown and session cookies areonly allowed after logging on. If I don't log on, no cookies are saved. But I do get the bottom screen banner and if I click on 'Don't allow cookies', Firefox Cookie Manager addon still shows Ebay cookies being used? Not logging into my account is the only way I can be sure for now.

[thesmokingrunner]

It would be nice to think that sellers must be involved but I don't think that is really the case anymore. Yes, a seller is the instigator of sending an offer out but I don't believe the vast majority are aware of this new process of sending offers out to users who have only viewed an item; as far as a seller is aware they most probably think they are sending out an offer to Watchers only. A seller, you see, will create a 'send offer' notice, but once that notice is sent eBay's processes take over as the Watchers' account details are held by eBay, not the seller.

Likewise eBay will have a record of every account which has viewed the item on which the offer is being sent (but which has not been added to a Watch List) and it is those accounts which are (now) receiving the same offer email sent to Watchers. It is this, second, list of which I think sellers are unaware.

As for Communication Preferences I must admit I've not tried amending mine yet (but then I've currently vastly reduced the number of items I view so as to reduce the potential number of offers sent to me) but as far as I can work out you need to go to your Account Settings, then Account Preferences => Communication Preferences. The second option down is 'Buyer' - Click on 'Edit' next to 'Buying Activity' and the fifth option down is 'Offers to buyers'. Untick that box then scroll down and click 'Save'. That should hopefully stop future emails.

That cookie thing is as I mentioned previously - any website needs to run temporary cookies while you're using the site, but they will expire when you leave the site. The more permanent cookies to which you agree when you log in to a site are the ones which can follow you round the web and collect data on sites you visit etc, and you won't have any of them because of the way you're accessing eBay at the moment.

[voxmagna]

Thanks, those were the comms options I'd set yesterday and it didn't stop the offer, but I'll give it more time. It's not emails that are the problem, it's the unsolicited offers flooding into my Ebay account.  These automated offers appear at the top of my buying activity list where I can't even use the delete button, they've grayed it out! I suspect I'll have to wait until the offer expires, then I'll be allowed to delete it?

[thesmokingrunner]

Yes, it might take a day or two for your amended comms choice to take effect - it depends on when eBay parses the database for updated options.

Funnily enough I can't find my buying activity list but it's not something I've ever really looked for so I have no idea what is or isn't on there. I'm sorry to say that although the info I gave you earlier should stop offers being sent to your account email it won't stop them continuing to appear in your eBay Messages or on your buying activity list. Whether or not you'll be able to delete them when they expire I know not; it's possible that you won't be able to and they'll disappear after a certain amount of time pre-set by eBay.

Personally I find myself spending less and less time on eBay these days - it's just become too clunky. The search function is awful (if I search for a specific make of sunglasses I get books, but only ever from German sellers) and I'm just so incredibly tired of wading through page after page of Chinese rubbish and multiple Japanese listings of the same guitar (different sellers, different prices, same photos...). It used to be fun on here but those days are long gone.

Good luck - I hope you manage to reduce the number of unsolicited offers.

[m25jet]

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@voxmagna wrote:

Thanks, those were the comms options I'd set yesterday and it didn't stop the offer, but I'll give it more time. It's not emails that are the problem, it's the unsolicited offers flooding into my Ebay account.  These automated offers appear at the top of my buying activity list where I can't even use the delete button, they've grayed it out! I suspect I'll have to wait until the offer expires, then I'll be allowed to delete it?

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I've also experienced this rather annoying probem as well, one that has been blighting my account several times since eBay decided to introduce it.  When I logged in this evening I found that I had an unsolicited offer on my own account, but, as you rightly mentioned, eBay have taken the step of greying out the Delete box!  However, I don't give up easily so I decided to try and see if I could find a way to get rid of the unwanted offer, and I actually succeeded.  The manner in which I achieved this has been explained below in case you want to try it out for yourself:

First of all, click on the blue button that says "View Offer Details".  The page will then change and an eBay message saying "You Recieved An Offer!" will flash up across the centre of the screen.  Scroll down to the bottom of that message and you will see two options.  The wording on the blue button says "Accept Offer", whereas the wording on the white button located beneath the blue button reads "Decline Offer".  Click on the button that says "Decline Offer" and it will take you to a new screen entitled "Decline Offer" where you can type a message if you want to.

Once the final eBay message entitled "Decline Offer" appears on the screen scroll right down to the bottom and click on the blue button that reads "Decline Offer".  The page will refresh and the unsolicited item in your Offers section will now show up with a message saying "Offer Declined."  At this point you can activate the Delete Offer option.  Tick the box to the left of the declined offer, click on the box above it that says "Delete" (now displayed in red) and the unwanted offer will vanish from your My eBay page.

[technthread]

I am maybe overthinking but I don't decline offers because it means the seller sees the username of the buyer that rejected. In some cases I'd rather they didn't, I may be selling the same item as them.

Secondly I don't know if declining harms the ongoing visibility on the seller's item. I presume the eBay algorithm won't exactly see it as a positive. 

[voxmagna]

Thanks that works, but why am I going through these hoops? I'm also persistent so now I'm adding the sellers I'm receiving automated offers from to my blocked search list and sharing it with by buddies, even though sellers may not know what's going on.

[nebs9999]

Unsolicited offers are really annoying. My strategy, providing I am happy with the postage in case the offer is accepted, is to counter offer the minimum allowed, generally 99p, with a comment "Please stop sending me these offers. Thanks".

Keep it polite, but cause work for the seller who sent the offer. If everyone did it they would soon stop.

[technthread]

The thing is the seller may have multiple real watchers and is sending offers out to people who may buy. You're getting the offer as you are lumped in with those buyers, the seller doesn't know who the offers are going out to. Your strategy is fine I suppose but if it's a seller you may want to buy from in future you may be unable to as the only way they can make sure you don't get an offer again is by blocking you. 

[nigel_paul_wright7557]

I love getting offers as it offers a lower price.

I find I only get offers if I click on an item.

[thesmokingrunner]

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@nigel_paul_wright7557 wrote:

I find I only get offers if I click on an item.

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Well, yes... If you have the item in your Watch List the offer email starts "Because you showed interest in this item, the seller sent you this private offer"; if you have only viewed the item but have not added it to your Watch List the offer email starts "Because you viewed this item, here's a special offer".

eBay does not send offers unless you have clicked on an item.

Yet...

[237ben]

Much of eBay, like many of its users and, indeed, most of the rest of the internet, behaves like an attention-demanding, needy child. Just treat it as such and learn to selectively ignore its demands.

[voxmagna]

I've found the answer that suits my occasional use for Ebay and other online shopping sites, but it's not for everybody:

1. Use VPN so your IP address isn't used to track you and your location.

2. Use a User-Agent switcher.

3. Don't click on 'Save login'.

4. Use a browser like Firefox set to  clear all cookies at browser shutdown.

5. Only log in after saving links to items you may want to buy.

6. Whilst logged in and being tracked, 'don't 'watch' for anything.

7. Remember Nectar points if allowed, are used by third parties to track your purchasing lifestyle.

I get no offer messages now but do have the inconvenience of having to log in to my account if I want to buy anything,but then I don't impulse buy saving me money.

[roger_roger_over_and_nowt]

But how are sellers able to send an offer on an item that i'm not watching or are Ebay making the offer off of their own back and sucking up the difference ?.

[thesmokingrunner]

The simple answer is that it's not sellers who instigate sending offer to people who have viewed, but not Watched, an item in addition to those who have the item on their Watch List: it's eBay.

You know how you have cookies which keep a record of which sites you visit, what you look at, what you search for, what you like and so on - they basically follow you round the interwebnet and build a profile which is specific to you? Well, eBay does the same within the site: that's why you get shown "Sponsored items based on your recent views" and "You may also like" items - they are specific to your searching and viewing history.

So in that respect eBay will keep an internal record of what you've searched for, what you looked at, what you've watched, what you've bought and so on. Some of it is visible to you (items you've Watched or items you've bought, for example) and some of it isn't (items for which you've searched or items you've viewed but not added to your Watch list, that sort of thing).

When it comes to a seller sending out an offer, the vast majority of them probably think the offer is being sent to Watchers only, and until recently that would have been correct. eBay then started including potential buyers who had only viewed (but not Watched) an item on which the seller sent out an offer. I don't recall an announcement being made about the change and the only noticeable difference is the wording on the emails received by potential buyers (see Post 15 above).

That's it, really: eBay knows which items you've viewed and if a seller sends out an offer eBay now sends the offer to both Watchers and anyone who has previously viewed the item.

And to answer your questions: Yes, eBay are making the offer (to those who have viewed but not Watched) off their own back and No, eBay are not sucking up the difference. I suspect eBay see this as assisting the seller to achieve a sale by sending out the offer to anyone who has so much as looked at the item in addition to those who are Watching. It's one step removed from discounting the price displayed on the listing. And it's also one step removed from eBay sending out seller offers to anyone whose has previously had the item returned in a search but not even viewed it.

[1956glyn]

I find that it does help quite a lot if i clear my viewed items everytime i am finished looking at things.

As said clearing cookies and history also helps.