Buyers being obliged to go through Q&A when contacting sellers?

[rose-dee]

This topic came up recently, but I thought I'd start a new thread for the sake of clarity.  I thought I had finally found a way to opt out of the automated list of "pre-set" Q&A about items through Preferences page/Communication with Buyers.  When following the links you get this information:

"Manage your Q&A for buyers [...] Choose how you want to answer buyers' questions:

[1]  Allow buyers to provide special instructions on their order during checkout

[2]  Allow buyers to contact you from your active listings If you don't provide a Q&A page, then you must allow buyers to contact you directly.

[3]  Show Q&A Show your Q&A page when buyers click "Ask a question" on your item listings."

It seems that if you "uncheck" box #3 (in other words, if you don't want the list of Q&A to appear, box #2 is also automatically unchecked as well, apparently meaning that buyers would no longer be able to contact a seller directly via an active listing. 

This is problematic.  As a buyer I really dislike the pesky set of Q&A that never seem to be relevant, and only serve to interfere with the process of contacting the seller.  They remind me of those ever-so-unhelpful automated phone answering systems.  As a seller, I like my prospective customers to be able to get in touch with me directly about an item for sale. 

Does anyone know a way to both opt out of the silly Q&A page and at the same time allow buyer contact through active listings? 

If so, would opting out of Q&A prevent a post-sale question about an item from automatically becoming a "case"?  At the moment, a buyer must apparently choose 'Other' from the Q&A list in order to avoid creating an automatic case. 

[pjcdn2005]

It seems that if you "uncheck" box #3 (in other words, if you don't want the list of Q&A to appear, box #2 is also automatically unchecked as well, apparently meaning that buyers would no longer be able to contact a seller directly via an active listing.

Are you saying the second question actually did became unchecked when you said no to question 3?

That would be odd as #2 basically says that you MUST answer yes to question 2 if you say no to question 3. That's how mine is set up.

If so, would opting out of Q&A prevent a post-sale question about an item from automatically becoming a "case"?  At the moment, a buyer must apparently choose 'Other' from the Q&A list in order to avoid creating an automatic case.

No. When you click on a question category on the Q &A page an answer comes up. The 'other' option is for when your question hasn't been answered or the topic isn't addressed on that page and you want to send a message. It has nothing to do with a case opening.

When someone sends a message a list of categories (not a list of questions) will still come up and if the person clicks on certain categories a case will be opened.

[pierrelebel]

I miss the "good old days" when a seller could simply offer his/her email address (link) in the listing.

Life was so much easier then.....

[rose-dee]

I miss the "good old days" when a seller could simply offer his/her email address (link) in the listing.

Life was so much easier then.....

Amen.

[rose-dee]

It seems that if you "uncheck" box #3 (in other words, if you don't want the list of Q&A to appear, box #2 is also automatically unchecked as well, apparently meaning that buyers would no longer be able to contact a seller directly via an active listing.

Are you saying the second question actually did became unchecked when you said no to question 3?

That would be odd as #2 basically says that you MUST answer yes to question 2 if you say no to question 3. That's how mine is set up.

If so, would opting out of Q&A prevent a post-sale question about an item from automatically becoming a "case"?  At the moment, a buyer must apparently choose 'Other' from the Q&A list in order to avoid creating an automatic case.

No. When you click on a question category on the Q &A page an answer comes up. The 'other' option is for when your question hasn't been answered or the topic isn't addressed on that page and you want to send a message. It has nothing to do with a case opening.

When someone sends a message a list of categories (not a list of questions) will still come up and if the person clicks on certain categories a case will be opened.

a) To your first question above, yes, option#2 became unchecked when I unchecked option#3.  I found that very odd indeed, which is why I found the text next to option#2 very confusing -- what do they mean by "contact directly"?  Are they referring to "via an item", or through the process of clicking on the user name and contacting the seller outside the item.  The latter is the only way I could make sense of it, considering box #2 had unchecked itself automatically once I unchecked #3.

b) I think you may have misinterpreted what I was saying.  I do understand what the Q&A process is intended to do and how it works.  What I was hoping was that if I unchecked the Q&A option (in other words, got rid of the multi-choice list that comes up normally), that this would also eliminate the problem many sellers are having with buyers' questions after a sale being funnelled through automatically to a case. 

I've seen a number of sellers mention this problem on these boards.  It seems they've discovered that if, after a sale a buyer attempts to ask a question (e.g. about shipping, or any other follow-up), unless that buyer knows enough to select "Other" from the Q&A list, his question automatically becomes a case.  Presumably this is because eBay assumes that any question after a transaction must be a problem/issue.  This problem has understandably been embarrassing for sellers and buyers alike!

I would simply like to cut through all the dross and just allow my buyers to contact me directly and easily, both before and after a sale. 

Personally my belief is that eBay is slowly but surely conditioning sellers and buyers to accept an eventual cutting off of direct communication.  My prediction is that within 3 to 5 years, all communication between buyer and seller will be "automated" in some way.  Yikes.

[pjcdn2005]

a) To your first question above, yes, option#2 became unchecked when I unchecked option#3.  I found that very odd indeed, which is why I found the text next to option#2 very confusing -- what do they mean by "contact directly"?  Are they referring to "via an item", or through the process of clicking on the user name and contacting the seller outside the item.  The latter is the only way I could make sense of it, considering box #2 had unchecked itself automatically once I unchecked #3.

I'm not sure what to say as I tested this last night and again just now on Firefox and IE and it seems to be working correctly. When I put a check next to 'show questions and answers' the check beside 'allow buyers to contact...." becomes darker and allows me to click it off and on. But if I uncheck the show question and answer line, the check next to allow buyers to contact....remains but it is very light and not clickable  and it is enabled which means buyers can contact me.

b) I think you may have misinterpreted what I was saying.  I do understand what the Q&A process is intended to do and how it works.  What I was hoping was that if I unchecked the Q&A option (in other words, got rid of the multi-choice list that comes up normally), that this would also eliminate the problem many sellers are having with buyers' questions after a sale being funnelled through automatically to a case

I understood your question but I didn't understand why you thought the two things were related although I do understand now.

I don't have the Q & A function enabled but you do....When you ask me a question, the same list  comes up as when I ask you a question except my list doesn't have any answers so a buyer has one less click before being able to type out a question.  So it stand to reason that basically the same thing would happen after a sale on your listings and on my listings.

The one less step doesn't sound like a big deal but I find it less annoying and since all of the answers were taken from the listing anyway, the list is redundant imo.

I tried to confirm this but all of the sellers I have purchased from had the q & a enabled so I could not see what would happen if they didn't. However, I would bet money that a case can still be opened through ask a question regardless of how Q & A is set up..

[rose-dee]

When I put a check next to 'show questions and answers' the check beside 'allow buyers to contact...." becomes darker and allows me to click it off and on. But if I uncheck the show question and answer line, the check next to allow buyers to contact....remains but it is very light and not clickable  and it is enabled which means buyers can contact me.

As an update to this mystery, I've tried twice more to "uncheck" the Q&A option, and I still end up with the checkmark in Box #2 ("allow buyers to contact you from active listings") showing as faded out.  It isn't clickable, but it's also not the obvious dark blue colour of the check mark on the line above it. 

I interpreted this to mean that Option#2 was disabled if Option #3 was unchecked, i.e. that buyers would have to contact me directly through my eBay ID, rather than through a particular listing, which would obviously cause some havoc and confusion for buyers.  For this reason, I've been really reluctant to uncheck Option #3, just in case. 

For easier reference I've copied the 3 options again here.  I wasn't able to cut and paste or drop a screen shot in this post, but anyone can go to the "Manage Communications with Buyers" page and reproduce the issue by toggling/unchecking option #3:

[   ]  Allow buyers to provide special instructions on their order during checkout

[   ]  Allow buyers to contact you from your active listings If you don't provide a Q&A page, then you must allow buyers to contact you directly.

[   ]  Show Q&A Show your Q&A page when buyers click "Ask a question" on your item listings.

I'll probably bring this up with the "Pinks" next week, as it's not at all clear.  Has any seller out there actually "unchecked" the Q&A box yet still received questions from buyers through listed items?  You'll obviously know if this is the case because the message/question from the buyer will be linked to a photo of the listed item. 

[rose-dee]

OK, a related point, maybe I'm dreaming, but didn't there also used to be a line (in blue type) near the top right of listings that said "Contact Seller" or "Ask Seller a Question" or similar text?

I note also that the "Ask A Question" is now way down at the bottom left, and that it no longer says "Ask Seller a Question".  This little change confirms my belief that eBay ultimately intends to do away with direct communication between sellers and buyers.  They are only a further step or two away from it.

EBay is tinkering all over the site, and it's getting very difficult to know what's permanent and what is a glitch anymore.

[pjcdn2005]

I interpreted this to mean that Option#2 was disabled if Option #3 was unchecked, i.e. that buyers would have to contact me directly through my eBay ID, rather than through a particular listing, which would obviously cause some havoc and confusion for buyers.  For this reason, I've been really reluctant to uncheck Option #3, just in case.

You're making things too complicated. 🙂

It is not saying that if you don't have Q & A enabled that buyers or potential buyers can not ask you a question through your listings. It is saying that if you disable Q & A you MUST allow buyers to ask you a question through your listings which is why no. 2 is automatically checked (and can't be unchecked) when you uncheck option 3. Contact directly = Contact through your listings.
 If you have both option 2 AND 3 checked off, buyers and potential buyers would not be able to contact you through your listings. I'm not sure whether or not they could contact you directly through your id as this seems to work at times and not work at other times.

I'll probably bring this up with the "Pinks" next week, as it's not at all clear.  Has any seller out there actually "unchecked" the Q&A box yet still received questions from buyers through listed items?

As stated earlier, YES....for at least a year if not longer. I'm pretty sure that I would have noticed by now if buyers were having a tough time reaching me. 🙂

Do ask the pinks though if you think that I may be wrong. Or test it yourself. Uncheck your Q & A and then get someone to ask you a question.That should take less than 5 minutes and would tell you if it works or not.

[pjcdn2005]

I note also that the "Ask A Question" is now way down at the bottom left, and that it no longer says "Ask Seller a Question".  This little change confirms my belief that eBay ultimately intends to do away with direct communication between sellers and buyers.  They are only a further step or two away from it.

It's been like that on .com for quite a while..they just changed it on .ca recently. I think it's a dumb move but I suspect that the big box sellers  don't want to be bothered being asked questions all the time so ebay is trying to acommodate those sellers.

[rose-dee]

I think it's a dumb move but I suspect that the big box sellers  don't want to be bothered being asked questions all the time so ebay is trying to acommodate those sellers.

I agree.  Catering to big box sellers is doubtless also why eBay is moving in the direction of encouraging virtually no direct buyer-seller communication at all, either before or after a sale.

I think eBay is in fact making the communication options more complicated than they need to be for this very reason.  It's just so much easier to choose the Q&A option than to have to be concerned about how buyers are going to make direct contact otherwise.  This is precisely what eBay wants and what it is encouraging -- canned, automated responses, and minimal personal contact. 

As I said, I believe EBay has been playing this strategy at the other end too, by channeling after-sales questions from buyers automatically into a "case" (unless buyers know enough to use the "Other" button), the assumption being that any such after-sale communication must be a problem!  This will very effectively serve to completely discourage direct communication after a sale.  I expect one of these days that "Other" button will just quietly disappear.  I still want to know whether opting out of the Q&A will remove this problem of inadvertent 'cases', although I realize I'm probably going against the tide and that eBay policies will eventually force me to comply.  I'll be asking this next Wed.

There is also the new "automated returns" policy that I see being touted to sellers on eBay.com -- another way of eliminating direct buyer-seller contact.  

Consider too eBay's 5-star DSR policy for communication.  This is, in effect, a reward for no  communication -- absurd!  Now, if you decide to contact a buyer directly (with, for example, a friendly post-sale message), you're risking the possibility of poor DSRs for communication.  Better -- and safer -- not to communicate at all...  This is a sort of thinly-veiled coercion (dare I say - extortion) on the part of eBay that I resent. 

Taken as a whole, these policies are intended to condition buyers and sellers not to speak to each other.  What a shame.