# Why can't I block eBay in Outlook? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 12, 2017, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-block-ebay-in-outlook/793466 "2017-08-12T21:20:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-block-ebay-in-outlook/793466/1 "2017-08-12T21:20:11Z")
Every time I block email from eBay, it never sticks. The reply address is always the same, but I block it and block it and block it, and I still get several stupid messages a day from them. How can I block them for good without changing my address or mail server? ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-block-ebay-in-outlook/793466/2 "2017-08-12T21:25:04Z")
You might change your eBay mail preferences: [https://pages.ebay.com/help/account/change-preferences.html](https://pages.ebay.com/help/account/change-preferences.html) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-block-ebay-in-outlook/793466/3 "2017-08-12T21:37:30Z")
A-ha. That looks like it might do it. Still doesn’t explain why they can’t be blocked from the receiving end, though. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-block-ebay-in-outlook/793466/4 "2017-08-13T19:15:39Z")
If you’re using the outlook option “block emails from …” you’re filtering by SENDER, not reply-to address. In large companies, the reply-to address is often different from the sending address, even to the point of having different subdomains. This lets different departments release information while insuring that any questions about or responses to that information go to, for example, customer relations. I did a quick poke around outlook couldn’t find an option to filter by reply-to address. ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-block-ebay-in-outlook/793466/5 "2017-08-14T02:59:43Z")
block mail from \*@ebay.com that will kill off ALL ebay email ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-block-ebay-in-outlook/793466/6 "2017-08-14T14:32:56Z")
> [@Weisshund](#): > > block mail from \*@ebay.com > that will kill off ALL ebay email How is that done in outlook? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-block-ebay-in-outlook/793466/7 "2017-08-14T14:38:52Z")
> [@Weisshund](#): > > block mail from \*@ebay.com > that will kill off ALL ebay email Not necessarily. That won’t block mail from an address like “[abc@def.ebay.com](mailto:abc@def.ebay.com)”. Which eBay may well use for many different values of “def”. After turning the emails off at the source via eBay’s configuration page as **PastTense** wisely suggests, if the problem continues the OP probably wants to look into using Outlook’s “Rules” feature to make a smarter blocking rule. The “Block sender” menu item is the kiddy training wheels version of Rules. Doing that will require looking in detail at the headers of the emails still coming in from eBay to identify which attributes are common to all of them and so can be used as selection criteria for a rule which will grab all the eBay emails and no others. It may in fact take a couple of rules to get them all. ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-block-ebay-in-outlook/793466/8 "2017-08-15T23:32:41Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Not necessarily. That won’t block mail from an address like “[abc@def.ebay.com](mailto:abc@def.ebay.com)”. Which eBay may well use for many different values of “def”. > > After turning the emails off at the source via eBay’s configuration page as **PastTense** wisely suggests, if the problem continues the OP probably wants to look into using Outlook’s “Rules” feature to make a smarter blocking rule. The “Block sender” menu item is the kiddy training wheels version of Rules. > > Doing that will require looking in detail at the headers of the emails still coming in from eBay to identify which attributes are common to all of them and so can be used as selection criteria for a rule which will grab all the eBay emails and no others. It may in fact take a couple of rules to get them all. It should but if not then do _@_.ebay.com ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-block-ebay-in-outlook/793466/9 "2017-08-15T23:40:38Z")
Why not just use \*.ebay.com for the Outlook rule? ---
**Author:** ![Blakeyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blakeyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blakeyrat)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2017, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-block-ebay-in-outlook/793466/10 "2017-08-16T21:06:47Z")
> [@dstarfire](#): > > If you’re using the outlook option “block emails from …” you’re filtering by SENDER, not reply-to address. > > In large companies, the reply-to address is often different from the sending address, even to the point of having different subdomains. This lets different departments release information while insuring that any questions about or responses to that information go to, for example, customer relations. > > I did a quick poke around outlook couldn’t find an option to filter by reply-to address. You can create a “mail rule” that sends those messages directly to the trash folder. Close enough. Mail Rules certainly allow actions based on the reply-to address.