A little eBay glitch to be aware of

[coxengines]

As of today, I have been receiving emails through my mail client that, when I try to reply, would go to "[email protected]"

However, that is not the issue.

The messages are not in the eBay message centre.

Although one can work around that, eBayers that rely only on the eBay messaging system will not even know they have received a message.

Hopefully eBay fixes this glitch before they roll out their total address block later this month or it could get real interesting.

Xena

[westernstargifts]

Hi Xena,

What is this total address block all about?

Judy

[coxengines]

Beginning soon, the email address of a sender will no longer be displayed, forcing you to reply via the eBay messaging system.

I detest their messaging systems as it is non-scalable, cumbersome, non-formatable and does not include previous text, etc, ect.

However, it's a change that is only for our own good, to protect us from spammers:^O

Xena

[momoftwingles2]

Hi Xena,

When I chatted with a PS rep, they said we would still be able to hit return and e-mail a buyer...however our return e-mail address as well as the buyer's e-mail addresses would be *fake* ones.

And, as you mentioned....for our protection! Right!

Susan

[coxengines]

I have received two more today.

It's only happening when someone requests an invoice (hence it not being shown in "My Messages").

Every time the buyer added a note which warranted a reply.

I will try replying (even though it shows going to eBay) to see if the message goes through.

Xena

[coxengines]

Looks as the masking of addresses began last Friday, as before that, the addresses always showed.

Xena

[momoftwingles2]

Hi Xena,

I just checked in Blackthorne, and thankfully, we're still seeing the buyer's correct and not masked e-mail addresses.

Hopefully this will not change.

Susan

[coxengines]

Well, I can see the addresses in eBay on the "sold" page but they definitely don't show on the emails received through your mail client.

This applies for "invoice requests" and I just got invoiced by a seller where it does not show either on his invoicing email.

Cognizant that one can look up the address on the "bought" or "sold" pages but that is cumbersome compared to just hitting "reply" in your email client.

Xena

[coxengines]

OK,

Reported it. The fellow was not sure if it was intentional or not. Kind of stupid because, once a sale has taken place, email addresses have already been exchanged.

Xena

[ampurtle]

Yes it is for your own protection. As it was, the smart scammer could avoid the eBay messaging system and send all sorts of rants or threats when a dispute is initiated and none of it could be used in a dispute because it did not go through the eBay messaging system.

There's also an issue of phishing which is preferably done via email and not the eBay message system. There is an increase in phishing and attempted account take overs as more and more of the established ones get discovered and terminated.

People like me that deal in high value Nikon gear typically report a bogus account, account takeover or scam once a month because they go for the high value accounts either buyer or seller. Trust and Safety has done an excellent job of acting quickly in these situations as well as the fradulent listings that get reported.

It's a whole different world when you're buying or selling items over $1000.oo and as high as $8000.oo, and I am very satisfied with Trust and Safety's priorities in these situtions.

[momoftwingles2]

Hi ampurtle,

Regarding your statement: Yes it is for your own protection. As it was, the smart scammer could avoid the eBay messaging system and send all sorts of rants or threats when a dispute is initiated and none of it could be used in a dispute because it did not go through the eBay messaging system.

When messages were sent outside of the eBay messaging system and there was a problem, T & S just had the person send the e-mail along with the headers and/all info to them. It worked perfectly fine.

I think most of us know why they are doing away with e-mail addresses and it most certainly may have a little to do with our protection, but.....

And, I for one, appreciate the opportunity to be able to get to know my customers as scrapbooking items are one of the safer items to sell and the buyers are so friendly. Many of my buyers have been repeat buyers for 8 years!

Have a good one!
Susan
momoftwingles2

[coxengines]

Ampurtle,

When I said that is was for our own protection, I was being sarcastic. eBay's reason is to prevent initial off-site sales.

They do have filters that can catch such requests and, when a seller responds positively - gotcha!

In the case of the OP, the address was already known to the buyer/seller and all I had to do is copy it from the respective eBay page.

I still maintain that is moronic to suppress the address in an email when a transaction has already taken place and the email address is knows to the parties.

Since there is no corresponding message in "my messages", one has to reply in a roundabout way, whereas eBay has limits on the amount of messages that can be sent that way.

I get several request for invoices every day, most with a message included that warrants a reply - and I can't reply by hitting the "reply" button.

The same happens when I get an invoice from a seller.

It only happens in the above two instances and is a recent change - hopefully just a programming error that will be fixed soon.

Xena

[coxengines]

Furthermore, in the case of a formal dispute, email addresses are already known to the parties - too late to worry.

Xena

[recped]

I get several request for invoices every day, most with a message included that warrants a reply - and I can't reply by hitting the "reply" button.

And now these Request Total emails have a generic subject so you must open them to see what they are for. It doesn't come up often but now if you search your emails you need to search within the message instead of the subject to find them.

[ampurtle]

email sent directly to a personal account, with a return address of [email protected] that are not in your ebay message queue are likely attempts to take over your account and should be monitored closely. I have had 3 in the past 5 days, which were promptly reported to Trust and Safety for further action.

Private email not routed via the ebay messaging system is of no concern to ebay unless said mail is an attempt to appear to be from ebay and/or violates the user agreement.

As usual, the devil is in the details 😞

Any private email commnication between members that would otherwise violate the requirements for acceptable content in the ebay messaging system, who are involved in a Paypal dispute, is proof of nothing and is therefore of no valule to Paypal as a submission in a dispute.

It's a simple matter of division of responsibilty, but it's obviously convenient for Paypal.

Doing away with email addresses is the first step in routing all comunication through the ebay messaging system which is a highly sought after solution being pursued by both buyers and sellers that deal in merchandise over $1000.oo

It is solely at the request of that group and was pursued entirely as a means of protecting us. Your conclusions are coincidental and irrelevant.

"When messages were sent outside of the eBay messaging system and there was a problem, T & S just had the person send the e-mail along with the headers and/all info to them. It worked perfectly fine."

eBay Trust and Safety has nothing to do with Paypal disputes, that is an entirely different scenario. The procedure you describe applies to abuses of the ebay message system as they relate to eBay activities, not Paypal activities. Any fake emails appearing to originate from eBay should immediately be reported to Trust and Safety in the manner you described.

[recped]

email sent directly to a personal account, with a return address of [email protected] that are not in your ebay message queue are likely attempts to take over your account and should be monitored closely. I have had 3 in the past 5 days, which were promptly reported to Trust and Safety for further action.

Xenalook is referring to "Request Invoice" emails which have never appeared in the message centre.

[ampurtle]

She probably should have mentioned that in here first for postings 😛

[recped]

She did clarify in post #4

[coxengines]

She did clarify in post #4

Correct!

The mail is all legit. Many are from repeat customers, some containing quips or personal remarks that they could only make because of something inherent to my person.

As of today, this masking is still happening. Received one this morning with the added text "Can you also supply cylinders for TD 051? If so how much?"

It was not possible to reply to that mail and I had to look up the address on my "sold" page and substitute it manually when replying.

I wonder how many frustrated buyers and sellers out there are waiting for replies to their questions, not realizing that eBay no longer forwards mail that originated through an invoice request or an invoice submission?

Xena

[recped]

It's the same situation for me, often the Invoice Request messages require an answer over and above the invoice. While it's possible to send the invoice and add a reply in the comments box it's not always suitable such as in the following situation.

Buyer send invoice request and comments, "please wait because I'm bidding on more of your items". Since I'm involved in a transaction with the buyer I already know their email address, hiding it is pointless.