To ack:
I wanted to give you the courtesy of replying to your further post, since you believe I didn't address your earlier points.
I'm not sure I understand why this topic has elicited such anger on your part -- are you a seller who has been restricted by eBay due to similar issues by any chance?
I'll try to reply (again) to your comments (in italics):
What I said was that posters were showing how to circumvent Ebay's blocks on sharing email addresses. This is against ebay policy and against these forum rules.
And I did agree with you, strictly speaking, if you'll re-read my earlier post. However, the problem with the blocks on sharing contact information is that these are run by robotic programmes ("bots") that can't exercise judgment.
So, for example, in this situation, where someone wants to send me something (for free) and I'm happy to provide something for free as a gesture of thanks in exchange, the "bots" aren't going to understand the distinction, and will simply delete an email with any "key" words in it. There are no people looking at the correspondence and applying reasonable judgment. Similarly, if a customer to whom I've sold an item gets in touch with me a month later (through eBay messages) and wants to share more than 5 photos of an item they've made from one of my designs (or just keep in touch), it's difficult.
In other words, I think the poster who suggested a "workaround" for communicating understood the situation well vis-a-vis the rather arbitrary "bots", and understood that there was no intention of depriving eBay of its fees in this scenario, because there would be virtually no fees on items with nominal value.
The other side of this coin is that it may be unfair to both parties for eBay to expect fees to be paid at all in such circumstances.
I also said that while you did not say the items were listed, that another posters specifically advised to delist listed items and sell them outside of ebay. That too is against ebay policy.
This suggestion, it is true, is more problematic, and was not the wisest piece of advice to post in this case (aside from the poster not understanding that my item wasn't a listed item). However, details can alter whether this is strictly against eBay's policy or not. For example, if a customer contacts me weeks after a sale, using my personal email information from her Paypal records, and asks if I can delist an item and sell it directly (or create something similar for direct sale), this is clearly beyond the purview of eBay's policies.
I went on to say that anyone who follows this advice is going to get themselves in trouble eventually with ebay. Is this not true?
Well, I do agree that this could happen, perhaps to those who didn't read my initial post carefully, or who may be inexperienced as sellers and take the advice at face value. As I mentioned, because the eBay message system is policed by "bots", it's unlikely any awkward attempts at circumventing it would directly affect a seller's status. You simply get your email message deleted before it's sent.
I am not going to argue with you about both being sellers. That is clearly impossible. If one is selliing, then one is buying. There is no way around that. Regardless of the level of value of the item, you both perceive value in the items.
I disagree still. Why should eBay intervene to tell the two of us that there must be a specific monetary value set on these items if we two sellers agree they are without any inherent value, i.e. both equally valueless? You're thinking far too narrowly in terms of a regular eBay transaction. Is it the fact that she contacted me via eBay that is the main objection, or the fact that you see there is fee avoidance, or both?
I frequently tuck in a small item of low value, free of charge, to my customers as a special thank-you on larger purchases. Should I be listing those items for sale? The analogy is the same. My item in this case is a gesture of thanks to someone who contacted me to let me know they'd send me something that is worthless to them (and to most people on the planet), but that I may be able to turn into something of value, given time and effort. Believe it or not, she was not looking to sell anything, but was actually being kind and realized she'd found someone who might be able to preserve something that would otherwise be tossed in the garbage. As a matter of fact, I may never be able to make anything saleable of it -- my interest in this item goes beyond mere money. It is more in the realm of restoration and preservation.
You both were introduced via ebay and both wish to transact with each other. If you do want to then you have an obligation to do that transaction within the ebay evironment.
While I agree that she found me as a result of seeing what I sell on eBay, I disagree that there is a transaction involved, in any sense of a usual eBay transaction (see my remarks above). Hence I don't feel there is any obligation to involve eBay.
The fact that your actions are actively blocked by ebay are proof that that is how ebay perceives it.
Again, eBay "bots" that arbitrarily block everything on their pre-programmed list are not "perceiving" anything; there is no judgment or consideration of the circumstances, and no proof of anything. As I said, my correspondent worked out how to find me through other channels (I have a website with my email information on it).
I apologize if I was condescending but was just trying to explain things in a logical way as it appeared that people were giving advice that was against ebay policies.
I appreciate your apology, and I understand your initial concern.
I see from the responses that people aren't really interested in advice. Maybe I misunderstood this was a public forum and not a private messaging system.
I am interested in all suggestions and opinions, as long as they are presented in a respectful and courteous way. I've appreciated everyone who has posted on this situation, as it is admittedly a difficult one to parse.
