Can you view an Item before buying it

[fenwix]

Hi I would like to know if you are allowed to view items before you buy

I went to see a chair but didn't buy it 3 days later it was sold by the seller I then received a restriction on my account but I was still trying to get a chair & I was sending and receiving message so how can they say it was me if they checked my account as they can see I was still looking now I am worried when I next look at a chair will they unrestrict my account again 

I tried customer services but they said they cant changed as it they don't understand and/or are useless they told me to check the rules but I cant find the answer to can i view before I buy 

Thank you 

[red_magpie · Accepted solution]

Plenty of other members are in the same position.

EBay now scans all messages for any keywords which suggest that contact details are being exchanged. They are totally robitic and don't take the trouble to actually read the message to see whether it was really an attempt to evede fees, or just an innocent request to see an item before buying.

It's notable that eBay can use intelligent scanning to protect itself from fee evasion, but doesn't use it to scan listings for terms that can indicate fraud - even in the motors category, about which a senior police officer recently stated that there are "multiple hundreds" of accounts set up solely to defraud buyers. As always, eBay's priority is eBay.