As a buyer I couldn't care less about communication from my seller after purchase. As long as I see the tracking info I'm good.A coworker walked into my office the other day (not a start of a bad joke, I promise) and ranted that he'd purchased something from Ebay, had heard absolutely nothing from the seller, and when the item arrived and he went to leave feedback, he only had the option of 5 stars. He was so mad. Apparently he hadn't gotten any automatic tracking updates, acknowledgments, or anything, and had planned on dinging a star for it.
I had to laugh, and explained to him that Ebay now views "no communication" as the new "good communication."
And have to admit, as a seller, I've mostly stopped sending my customary "thanks for your purchase! Your order has shipped, should arrive in x days, contact with questions, yada yada" email. Why? Because I was tired of sending them and answering questions fast and still getting my stars dinged for no reason.
But I do feel a weird sense of guilt, because even though Ebay has taken away all incentive for being a TRS, I still want to do a good job. But I still care less. Sort of. So sometimes I still send my emails.
How's it working for you?
How's that No Communication working out for you?
- Thread starter Schientist
- Start date
This is soooo weird. I had no idea how profoundly this eBay policy about messaging has been impacting sellers. A friend of mine told me some sellers are asking buyers to contact them via personal emails first to let them know they will be sending messages through the eBay system. Kind of like, "Heads up, I'm unhappy with my purchase so I'm sending you a message you need to open on eBay". Honestly...what the heck!? Buyers should not have to jump through crazy hoops--especially outside of eBay--to contact sellers if they are having any issues or even no issues with their purchases. I always follow up with a "thank you message" and I am always REALLY HAPPY when I get messages from happy buyers. Last week I even messaged a seller to tell her how grateful I was that she packaged my item with so much effort and care. Gosh this is ridiculous!
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Not to mention, the buyer needs to be messaging through the Ebay system if there is a problem.
For me as a buyer as long as I get the automatic tracking/shipping notice I'm find. I don't need any additional notes from the seller.
I totally agree. Sometimes we need to contact sellers to get more information, or as a seller, I contact them to let them know their package is on the way, and here is the tracking number. I will also sometimes chat with previous sellers I have worked with; I would always reward that, not ding it. I also have sent messages about great service/packing as well. Ebay is crazy!
Yeah, it's becoming a joke. I would always send buyers their tracking/shipping confirmation in a mesage that included a little thank you and every now and then I would get a buyer that would message me after their purchase to thank me or ask me if I would ever get more items from the same collection or whatever. But now that just creates some idea that there is a problem. Whatever, eBay is crazy.
I have been adding a message to buyer in paypal when I pay for postage in place of my usual "thank you for your purchase" email. One thing that I'm no longer doing is sending a message before I ship that says "I'm shipping to this address. Is this correct?" I had a few buyers who had forgotten to update their Paypal address when they moved that I caught this way.
The other thing that bothers me now is that I feel that sellers will hate me if I send them a message as a buyer, so I'm more afraid to contact the seller.
The other thing that bothers me now is that I feel that sellers will hate me if I send them a message as a buyer, so I'm more afraid to contact the seller.
Sorry if this has been discussed alot - quick q
I bought something recently and have made contact with my seller with no response .. So is it eBay stopping communication?? I thought they were just ignoring me?? Is the communication stopped after you win an auction? TIA
I bought something recently and have made contact with my seller with no response .. So is it eBay stopping communication?? I thought they were just ignoring me?? Is the communication stopped after you win an auction? TIA
No. Ebay is encouraging no communication with automatic 5 stars in Comm. if none transpires. But I just had a snad item, not expensive, and seller didn't respond. ebay saw seller was ignoring me, ebay contacted them, they ignored ebay, ebay refunded me.
So they are still encouraging communication if there is a problem. Pretty sure your seller is ignoring you. Ask ebay to step in if need be.
So they are still encouraging communication if there is a problem. Pretty sure your seller is ignoring you. Ask ebay to step in if need be.
Interesting comments!
I'm not at all bothered when buyers want to ask me a question, and I'm glad to respond. I don't think people need to be afraid to contact sellers! I'd hope that's not the case, anyway.
However, I think that Ebay has found a way around this "message me thru email" thing, based on their announcement last week that they are now linking Ebay inboxes to your email inbox.
I'm not at all bothered when buyers want to ask me a question, and I'm glad to respond. I don't think people need to be afraid to contact sellers! I'd hope that's not the case, anyway.
However, I think that Ebay has found a way around this "message me thru email" thing, based on their announcement last week that they are now linking Ebay inboxes to your email inbox.