Re: Ebay have lost the plot

g7mzh · ‎13-04-2026

I listed something for sale by auction.

Someone asked "can I check it to see if it's compatible with what I've got?" Of course, come and see it tomorrow.

Ebay deletes the message and removed the listing!

I and the potential buyer work out that they have to buy it first. Ok, I'll relist it. No I can't relist it because I tried to sell it outside Ebay!

No I didn't, I'm actually trying to sell it THROUGH Ebay! I have to create a new listing just for them, they have to buy it (and Ebay takes their money), before they can come and test it. As it happened, it wasn't suitable, so I now had to trigger a refund (which costs me money).

I wasn't trying to sell outside Ebay, but Ebay seem to be trying to make me since I can't sell it with Ebay because they won't let me! And why do I have to pay to refund?

Even at a boot sale or jumble people can look at the stuff and sometimes even turn it on to test it.

"To make buying on eBay a safe and enjoyable experience" - huh! To make it a complete pain in the rear for both parties, more like.

jonatjonatjonat · ‎13-04-2026

Blame the sellers who were doing off ebay sales to avoid fees.

theres always a reason we can’t have nice things.

sml192 · ‎13-04-2026

@g7mzh wrote:
so I now had to trigger a refund (which costs me money).

I wasn't trying to sell outside Ebay, but Ebay seem to be trying to make me since I can't sell it with Ebay because they won't let me! And why do I have to pay to refund?

It doesn't cost you anything to refund. Not sure why you think that? The buyer's original payment will be released to you once you have issued the refund.

de-havilland-designs · ‎13-04-2026

They are buggers, you should be able to view certain items before purchase surely????

jonatjonatjonat · ‎13-04-2026

No - because what is to stop you providing the address, pocketing the cash on collection and then ending the listing.

This is why you now have to purchase to view a collection item.

There's no risk really - you don't like the item - sale gets cancelled - you get a refund. So worst case scenario - you might have to wait a few days for the refund.

pillarboxred · ‎13-04-2026

I think eBay reckons that with 24 good clear photographs and a minute long video any item that could be tricky to see can be shown effectively on eBay. We can also fill in all the Item Specifics and even add our own Item Specifics to capture qualities of an item not captured in the more standard ones. It's a ton of work but might be worth it sometimes. Maybe. Possibly. Theoretically. I have uploaded videos to show musical boxes working and that helped sell them.

g7mzh · ‎13-04-2026

@sml192 wrote:

It doesn't cost you anything to refund. Not sure why you think that? The buyer's original payment will be released to you once you have issued the refund.

Looks like Ebay took their insertion fee when they issued the refund (no idea why there was an insertion fee, I wasn't informed when I placed the listing, it said fee zero), so I ended up out of pocket.

4_bathrooms · ‎14-04-2026

@g7mzh wrote:
@sml192 wrote:

It doesn't cost you anything to refund. Not sure why you think that? The buyer's original payment will be released to you once you have issued the refund.
Looks like Ebay took their insertion fee when they issued the refund (no idea why there was an insertion fee, I wasn't informed when I placed the listing, it said fee zero), so I ended up out of pocket.

Can you post a screenshot where eBay have charged an "insertion fee"? eBay don't mention insertion fees in their fees for private sellers so it would be odd if you were charged one.

Anyway, you can't exchange any contact details prior to a transaction being in place as per eBay's offering to buy or sell outside of eBay policy. That policy states you can't even exchange names despite eBay's member-to-member contact policy stating that you can. In any case exchanging addresses, phone numbers, email addresses etc. before a transaction is in place has been forbidden for a long time. eBay normally automatically prevents any message suspected (even incorrectly) of containing such information from being sent.

Give me ambiguity or give me something else.

neovass0 · ‎14-04-2026

There have been plenty of threads about buyers purchasing an item that is collection only and ultimately changing their mind upon inspection. Some simply don't provide the collection code and force a refund. It may be frustrating for the seller, but it is ultimately better than sorting out a partial refund or a return at a later date. There just has to be some common sense.

With regards to exchanging details before purchase, it used to be about fee avoidance, but lately there were also instances of sellers having to deal with aggressive buyers turning up at peoples home (price haggling, not taking no for an answer, etc). Member safety became an issue and it also generated a lot of mainstream (negative) publicity.

insidethe93 · ‎14-04-2026

de-havilland-designs wrote: "you should be able to view certain items before purchase surely????"

Sometimes the way that eBay operates makes no sense unless you know why or can work out why. It's like being on a lateral quiz show. @jonatjonatjonat message #5 explains the reason - once you know why, it's understandable. Years ago I learned why only by reading the discussion boards.

Another example is the Buyer Protection fee (a poorly chosen term). In this country it's an ingrained norm that buyers don't pay a fee to shop. Why did eBay introduce it? - read the discussion boards (where posters also discuss/theorise the 'surface' and 'real' reasons eBay introduced it).

May I suggest that a way to help arm yourself against "odd" eBay methods, and hopefully avoid problems in future, is to re-read the fAQs. Keep occasionally re-reading them as eBay amends things from time to time. It can save being "ambushed"!

I also suggest regularly browsing the discussion boards; there's a search box and categories if you're looking for a particular topic. A fAQ can be very 'dry' reading, but in the discussion boards, as you know, you have access to real people and have issues discussed conversationally, with a large pool of eBayer knowledge and experience. The only thing is that the site fAQs are available 24/7 but eBayers have to sleep!