ebay crack down on off-ebay sales

[LarryWalkerFan]

I keep getting this orange warning pop up whenever I sent ANY message to sellers. I think that maybe they've realized that they're not profitable without Paypal.

[dwolfe12345]

I got the same message yesterday. I made a trade with fellow member tella27 for and item I had and an item he had on eBay. They threatened us both with suspensions.

[RaiderNationPDX]

I was threatened with suspension last month for an off-eBay transaction that happened two years ago.

[LarryWalkerFan]

My guess would be that the next step is eBay asking all sellers to place a card on file specifically to charge the eBay fee for any transactions done in an attempt to avoid fees.

Personally, I don't fault eBay for the crackdown. When they owned Paypal, they still made a profit off fees, even if it was a lower amount. Now that they don't own Paypal, they make nothing if a seller transacts offsite.

I think eBay would be best served by lowering their fees down to five percent of actual item costs.

[helmets]

My position through the years is that I will try not to sell items outside of ebay that are listed. Ebay should get their fee. However, when a buyer messages me about another helmet that I may have - that is not listed, and we agree to make a deal, I shouldn't have to list it on ebay and pay them 10% to sell it. It is difficult to make the deals and get the other person's contact info through the ebay messaging system.