How does a buyer view an item prior to sale if contact info is banned

[castledevon]

Hi,

How is one supposed to arrange a viewing of an item prior to the sale if zero contact information is permitted through the ebay messenger service? 

Surely if the sale is through the app, and there are no fees to be applied, why does ebay have to be so militant about sharing contact info? 

With some high value items, particular those with with moving parts, require inspection prior to a potential buyer going through with the sale - through ebay. 

I appreciate this question has been asked before but I wondered if there had been any changes since the dropping of fees late last year. 

Much appreciated

[plpmr]

unless its a vehicle the item must be purchased and paid for through eBay before address can be exchanged.

If there's then problems on inspection the transaction can be cancelled. 

[game_raid]

It's for your own protection amongst other things, you don't know who this person is or if they are actually the account owner.

How do you know they aren't just after your address? It isn't unheard of that the buyer doesn't turn up only for the seller to find the next day their garage has been burgled, it may sound far fetched but it has happened before.

What happens if things go wrong, who do you turn to if you did the sale off eBay? No one will want to know, all you get is a crime number and you become another statistic.

There is also the new buyer fee from the 4 Feb so they will be wanting their cut from the sale as they potentially got the buyer for you.

[castledevon]

Thank you for the quick reply. 

So someone has to commit a few thousand pounds prior to seeing the item, then potentially not be happy and a refund then be arranged, then the item relisted which makes it look like a scam listing or bad seller? 

In addition the sale is likely to be a bank transfer  (or similar) and nothing to do with ebay. 

Seems a very odd system

[game_raid · Accepted solution]

@castledevon wrote:

So someone has to commit a few thousand pounds prior to seeing the item, then potentially not be happy and a refund then be arranged, then the item relisted which makes it look like a scam listing or bad seller? 

How does it look like a scam listing or seller? There are millions of listings ended and relisted each day for many reason, the seller has decided they no longer wish to sell, they have found an issue with the item so need to relist, the reasons are endless, some buyers are happy that item is now available again.

In addition the sale is likely to be a bank transfer  (or similar) and nothing to do with ebay. 

It has a lot to do with eBay they got you the sale, if I was a buyer I would be paying through eBay, I will have more chance of getting a refund than I would through a bank transfer if things did go wrong such as the item developing a fault.

[castledevon]

I do appreciate your points. And I'm about as careful as it gets, and the item I'm questioning isn't even at my home. But I'm not suggesting doing the deal outside of ebay. All comms are within the messenger part of the app and the sale would be made through the app, and feedback expected accordingly. 

Thanks for the intel on the new fees. 

In the meantime I'll cancel the listing and advertise elsewhere. 

[the-nutwood-collection]

You would be wise to sell a high value item that buyers would want to inspect through a B&M auction house.

[plpmr]

"In addition the sale is likely to be a bank transfer  (or similar) and nothing to do with ebay." 

As the sale is on eBay it has everything to do with eBay and you cannot ask or accept bank transfer or similat.

[plpmr]

bank transfer cannot be asked for or accepted.