.. as in "giving them grief" personally; not crying and whining ON or IN their public venue. Man.. I hate these bastards more and more with each passing day. Sucks too.. at a time when I NEED to liquidate my collection. There's hardly a week passes anymore when I find something I CAN'T do on eB anymore.. or some other way they AREN'T going to support my efforts anymore. The following letter I sent to them (Maybe it will get me banned. I should be so lucky. The only satisfaction I get when I correspond to them in this way is the fact that I know that they at least have to be cordial when they reply back. Can't wait to see what kind of "non-answer" they have for this..):
" " Gawd I'm beginning to hate you people.. look at my feedback.. as a buyer AND a seller.. it is next to impeccable. Just this week I sold about $500 worth of items.. and even though 95% of my 600+ POSITIVE feedback is as a buyer.. I generate A LOT of revenue.. for both YOU (eBay) and PayPal. I ALWAYS pay through PayPal and I ALWAYS use nothing BUT PayPal when I sell as my ONLY payment method.
Tonight.. I am trying to inform some bidders who bid on an item like one I'm listing this weekend.. that I am listing a unit like such as they bid on.. but with a BIN price of about 4/5ths of what it went for. NO scheming, NO conniving, NO trying to "undercut" eBay of it's precious sellers fees and sell my item outside of you.. I wouldn't think of that. But I'll be damned if I try to contact these people through the "contact member" link in their OWN feedback profiles.. YOU guys stop me because I'm not directly dealing with them at the moment!
If that's the case.. why don't you remove those contact links altogether anymore? They're useless! (They didn't USED to be.. only since eBay's gotten so damn paranoid about losing a few cents on an outside deal!) If a seller and a buyer ARE currently engaged.. like you say in the refusal/warning page AFTER you ask for a typed in verification number (equally as stupid) they CAN contact each other through the auction page.. so why even have a contact member link anymore? besides.. there's that BIG emblazoned warning to the immediate right of any message warning about outside transactions.. always has been.. ISN'T THAT ENOUGH?
I tell you.. it's getting so damned complicated to deal on evilBay anymore and what with the arm & leg you and PayPal take (rising rates..; the lack of backing for buyers AND sellers.. depending on whatever side of the fence one happens to be on at the time of a dispute; etc.) that I'm beginning to think all this crap is more trouble than it's worth, AND I'VE BEEN A MEMBER SINCE 19-FRICKIN'-99!
You say that the reason we can't contact other members this way anymore is because of concern for our safety and security.. bullcr*p! As a buyer.. I really appreciated when other sellers used to contact me and tell me that they were selling something they noticed I was interested in! I never ONCE.. in all my years.. had a person try to sell me something outside.. or harrass me. It comes down to one thing.. your inescapable fear that you're gonna' lose out on a few bucks of fees. Get over it.
BTW.. JUST FYI.. HERE is the "bulk" of the message I am trying to send these people:
"Hello.
I am seriously considering selling my Turbo Duo which is in like condition to the one you bid on last week. It is boxed; complete with all hookups, only thing missing is the manual.
Should I decide to sell it I will be listing it this Sunday (Sep 17) with a BIN considerabley less than what this unit went for.
I also have ALL the pack-in games that originally came with the unit, but will list them separately.. possibly as a lot. Also have Bomberman, Loom and Vasteel (all complete). If I sell the TD.. I'm selling everything. Please check Sunday early evening if you're interested.
Thank you for your time & attention."
How in the hell am I supposed to drum up interest for my auction if I can't let people know about it? Oh wait.. yeah.. I can add on other features for an added cost to me and give more to YOU.. but god forbid I should try and do that myself.. sheesh. " "
..Ahhh.. good old eBay.. redefining and reinforcing the concept of "necessary evil" on a daily basis.. don't ya' just love 'em?