Follow up to my Paypal purchase of 4 - 10 oz Stackers

I have a nice story for you SCFY and it pertains to skirting eBay as well.

About 2-3 months ago I seen a coin pop up on my radar that I had some interest in. It wasn't a specific coin that I was looking for but once I seen it I knew I had to include it in my Type Set. Now my type set is a little difficult to assemble since I'm geared towards an obsolete slab and I am somewhat limited sometimes on certain coins especially since these slabs were heavily cracked and resubmitted later for upgrading potential. The point being that sometimes I don't have very many chances to get the coin I need/want in this particular slab.

So basically I seen a scarce coin in this slab and felt compelled to make a move on it. Well I weighed my options and thought about purchasing it through eBay but I didn't have the money at the time. A few days pass and I just keep watching the coin (it was in an eBay store), well one day I come to CoinTalk and see a for sale ad with the eBay user ID of the coin i want. It was a new member and they were trying to sell some things and I backtracked the coin I was interested in to make sure I had everything correct.

So I sent the member here a message explaining that I was interested in the coin and wanted to know if we could do a lay-a-way type plan. We worked out the details and made an agreement. Up to this point I have fulfilled my obligation and am waiting to receive the coin as we speak.

If I went through eBay I may have been banned for trying to skirt them or what have you, and its not like eBay has a lay-a-way department. So I accomplished a deal without eBay, and I and the seller are both better of for it. Sure eBay lost out, but the coin wasn't selling anyway, and its the sellers duty to sell inventory for HIMSELF, not necessarily for eBay. Did we participate in any wrong doing, I don't think so, not would I say this seller does, but according to folks up here we should be thrown in jail for not giving eBay their slice of the pie. So I use eBay to make deals, sometimes it's through their platform, others its through some other means, but my collection and my money are what's important to me and I will do what I feel is right to meet my end goal. I mean its not like I won't make other purchases on eBay in the future so really how bad is it?

Just an altering scenario that still amounts to eBay 'losing money' although I see it as no wrong done.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I don't understand why there is so much grief around bypassing eBay. In a free society people are allowed to communicate and do commerce how they please.

I personally wouldn't deal with someone from eBay outside of eBay because it does seem sketchy, but if somebody wants to take on the added risk that's their choice and it's not unethical to do so.

 

The real problem with the OP'S original post, is that it is risky. Ebay will tell you not to make deals outside Ebay. Most members here will tell you its risky. Somebody will read this thread, and will give it a try. Then we will have to read a thread called "I just got scammed making a deal off Ebay".

 

Interesting take on the situation. However, that contract you signed is absolutely valid and will be upheld in any court in the USA. Maybe you should read what you signed next time. You might learn what you are allowed to to and what you are PROHIBITED from doing - like finding a coin on eBay and then consummating the deal outside of eBay. They are in the business of providing free advertizing.

BTW, in case you are wondering what contract you signed, it is the one you signed when you joined eBay. And that included a statement binding you to follow eBay's rules and regulations like these;

 

Could you provide a further paste of the prohibited items. From what I read what myself and SCFY have done do NOT break the rules you posted, so I would like to see more. And i would like to see what was cut before: ".........some examples are as follows". What's the rule they are providing examples for.

Thanks, as I really would like to know.

 

Go to Rules For Buyers:
"You can't offer to buy items you found on eBay without using eBay."

 

You offered to Buy [or sell] an item outside eBay using contact information obtained from eBay. That is exactly what the last bullet says as listed above.

 

Are these explicit enough for you?

Ebay's Policies:

We don't allow our members to use eBay to contact each other to make offers to buy or sell items outside of eBay. Also, members can't use information obtained from eBay to contact each other about buying or selling outside of eBay.​

You can't refer to or promote your personal website (including links to home page web addresses that promote outside-of-eBay websites), sales outside of eBay, or other businesses.​

Listing contact information (including home page web addresses that promote websites outside of eBay) in the title, subtitle, item location, or images is only allowed when the item for sale is a domain name.​

 

am i missing something? i bought a few rare canadian pieces from the same seller on eBay a couple times. eventually, i asked if she would like to split the difference in the ebay fees and sell to me directly. there is NOTHING wrong with choosing to buy outside of eBay just because we originally met on that website, and I am not obligated to buy through eBay if I dont want to. there is a level of protection from buying through eBay, but there is also protection with my credit card. someone sends me a box of peanuts instead of my coins, BOOM, reverse the charge. you just have to be smart and protect yourself, like, videotaping an unboxing of the shipment.

and if you own shares in eBay and have a problem with that, i am laughing at you. literally. greed disgusts me.

 

Did you completely miss all the rules that have been posted. Rules that you agreed to when you signed up with Ebay and obviously did not read at that time. Ebay can set their own terms, and you can either follow them or not(by staying off Ebay), but violating them IS wrong. You agreed to them. Ebay doesn't operate as a free scouting ground for you.

And ps-Please don't use the term greed unless you can logically define it, and I promise you that you can't.

 

i am not violating anything. for example, there is a company called talisman coins. i bought a coin from them on ebay. a few weeks later, i stumbled onto their website....am i not allowed to buy from their website because of a purchase i made on ebay? thats ridiculous.

 

You can buy from whatever site you stumble upon provided you didn't "stumble" upon it via Ebay directly. What you specifically stated above though was that you, "bought a few rare canadian pieces from the same seller on eBay a couple times. eventually, i asked if she would like to split the difference in the ebay fees and sell to me directly." That is in direct violation of Ebay policy.

 

this person makes a living selling coins. i am not bound to ebay because i bought through them first. who can say where i got the information from. additionally, when i emailed this person, i said, before you list any coin such as "x", email me first, let me know what you planned on listing it for, and i will pay you "y"....i think ebay would have a real hard time proving that they had the rights to that information. information that can be found ALLLLL over the internet.

 

Rules are rules, and breaking a set of rules is considered violating an agreement.
I'm very uneducated regarding the logistics of selling on ebay, but from what I have read on this thread, ebay's rules have been clearly stated, and one or more members who have posted in this thread have by definition violated said rules.

 

You are bound to Ebay because that is what you mutually agreed to when you signed up for Ebay. YOU are the one who said where you got the information from, and you got it from Ebay.

 

maybe i was unclear on my personal experience i began my initial post in this thread. i did not mean to say i messaged them through ebay and said "hey lets screw over ebay"....sorry for my fuzzy clarity. i happened to know who this person was. their ebay name was different. it wasnt until they sent me a package and the area it came from rung a bell, i went on the internet and did a little research, and found them. sent them an email, and said "hey, you can list on ebay, or you can send me an inventory list and i will buy it straight up for "x" price.....now...sorry again for no elaborating...if eBay has a problem with that, or shareholders, im still laughing at you.

 

i also dislike ebay beacuse they say if you buy outside of them you lose protection....ummm no. i carry protection on my hip for cash deals and i call cindy in customer service for protection at AMEX for my credit card deals

 

In my opinion, this is different from what the OP did.

You did not obtain the contact information from ebay, nor did you use the ebay system to obtain it.

I don't see anything in the T&Cs that implies that ebay owns the relationship between buyer and seller after the purchase. For example, many sellers include a business card in their shipment referring to their website. Also, you can obtain the contact information from the mailing label. You can also obtain their email address from what they mail to you. There are many other ways to obtain contact info outside of ebay.

If you saw something specific on ebay and made an offer to buy it off ebay, that is probably against the T&Cs (because you used ebay to find the item).

None of this is what the OP did.

 

Why are people wasting their time trying to convince someone that their ethics were weak or not. I don't see any chance that minds will be changed, so why not escape this thread and go to one where numismatic knowledge is being discussed, and where you might increase your chances of making a good transaction based on what you know.

 

+1