eBay question for sellers

Factual Questions
1

Two questions: 1) When someone sends you a question about your item, what information do you receive about the person inquiring? And 2) if I actually place a bid, what information do you see on your end?

The reason I am asking is because in the last 2 months, I have sent messages to 2 different dealerships selling cars. Each one of those dealerships contacted me through my personal email address, outside of the eBay system. One of the dealers also called me numerous times on my cell phone.

I am surprised if eBay would give this information out, since as a buyer (or seller) cutting eBay out of the loop would be against their business model (I would think, anyway). They get a percentage of the sale price, correct? If I win a car for $10,000, what would eBay’s cut be? Let’s say it is 5% (I have no idea, just a working number). eBay would get $500 from the seller as a commission, and the seller gets $9500.

If the seller can contact me directly, he can give me a better deal on the car, and eBay would have no way of knowing. Most cars have a disclaimer saying “I am selling this car locally and reserve the right to end the auction at any time for any reason.” Well, if I am local and buy the car, I am not sure what, if any, fees the seller would be obligated to pay eBay (over any listing fee they are responsible for).

This makes no sense to me. I contacted eBay after the first occurrence, and they claim that they send NO personal information to the seller. But this is clearly not true. They told me they were going to “investigate” my complaint, but of course, no one got back to me. If this is a glitch in the eBay software it is a pretty big one.

Why would I not just go to the seller, and split the savings with him? That is a win-win for buyer and seller, and eBay is losing a nice chunk of revenue. Considering how many cars they sell, I would think they’d be motivated to chase this down. I also realize that the person I talked to has no interest in doing any real work and the odds of them putting any effort in chasing this down is close to zero.

TL;DR - as a seller, what information do you receive from potential buyers who send you questions, and bidders?

2

The fee structure on eBay Motors is quite different than the one for selling junk in your attic. Basically, high volume advertisers do not pay a successful auction completion fee for “Cars & Trucks, RVs & Campers, and Commercial Trucks.”

3

Ok… Thanks for the link. If I don’t get any real-user experience answers here, I will try sifting through that, but there is a lot of information there.

They also seem to have at least two designations for sellers… One is for high volume dealerships and the second for low volume (like a private seller) trying to move the occasional car for whatever reason.

Still doesn’t answer my question of WHAT information they send to the seller about the potential buyer, though.

4

Alley Dweller,

Thanks again for the link. I read through the information, and you are right. A high volume seller only pays for an insertion fee (boy, is THAT an appropriate name).

That explains why the dealers are getting my contact information. Not something eBay actually mentions, but this is clearly what they are doing.

Whatever information is in your profile is sent to the seller.

That includes your name, phone number, email address and location. That is a lot of information to give out, especially if, as an eBay buyer, you aren’t aware that a simple question can result in you being called and/or emailed repeatedly.