There is a non-US eBay seller with some coins I'd like. When I attempt to write him through eBay, I get: "We're sorry we couldn't find an answer for you. Unfortunately, due to the high volume of messages this seller receives, they are unable to respond to your specific question right now. We suggest reviewing the item again to see if your answer is in the seller's listing." This appears to be permanent. It appears day after day. The notification seems disingenuous. Does an eBay seller of ancient coins ever get a "high volume of messages"? How can a seller get eBay to respond that way? What could be the explanation?
Never had this happen. I have no idea, but I think I would shy away from doing business with this seller. That is, unless it was a coin I had to have and couldn't find elsewhere.
I agree with Bing. I sell on ebay although its rare I offer any coins. Sometimes it takes a few hours to return a buyers response. I've never seen a notice such as the one you got. But seems bad business to me.
I wouldn't buy from this seller - positive feedback score is too low for me to feel comfortable; also, he's based in Italy where export of ancient coins is illegal. Too much risk. And if a high risk seller is unresponsive to customers (which his negative reviews confirm) even more reason to avoid. What if something goes wrong and you need to contact him? There are so many really good coin dealers around, why waste your time on this one?
I've gotten that message a few times. I'm not sure if there is a setting on ebay where you can make it like that or what. Makes you wonder if the seller even knows it is set like that.
you can change the setting to block questions on eBay. under "Manage communications with buyers" there is a setting "Allow potential buyers to contact you" which is defaulted to yes; if you change it to no, you get the "we're sorry..." message
Thank you for all the thoughtful responses. As Greg noted, there are enough good sellers that it makes sense to avoid those with dubious practices.
