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Changes to Member to Member Emails


What's Changing?

What's changing about member to member emails?
Starting late October, email addresses sent through the eBay system (ie Ask Seller a Question, Reply to Question and Contact Member links on the site) will be made anonymous in emails sent before the sale takes place. This applies to members who have not recently transacted with each other. Once the item is purchased, the members’ email address will be visible.

This helps eBay to detect and stop spam and fraudulent messages. It also helps prevent fraudsters from easily obtaining members’ email addresses.


What will the anonymous email look like?
eBay will replace the sender’s email address in the “From” field with a temporary anonymous address. You’ll still be able to identify the eBay member from their User ID included in the subject header or personal details which are included in most communications
How will this affect buyers?
Buyers do not need to prepare for this change, but wil notice some differences.
When sending an email to a member through eBay, you will not have the option to hide your email address, as this will be done automatically.

The yellow Respond button that is embedded within emails sent through eBay is being removed. You will be able to respond in the same way you reply to normal emails.


How will this affect sellers?

Responding to customers’ emails:

Sellers can still respond to customers’ questions using their own email client (eg Outlook and Hotmail); sellers no longer have to use My Messages.

The yellow Respond button:

Many larger sellers don’t like this button as it slowed down their response speed. This button will be removed as it’s no longer needed.

 

Sender email address:

To ensure emails are from legitimate members, email addresses must be added to your eBay account.  

 

Sellers may want to set up a separate email address anyway so that customer emails don’t get lost in their inbox.

To register an email address:

 

Sign in to My eBay.

Go to My Account > Notification Preferences (this will be renamed as Communication Preferences).

A new section will be added named "Member to Member email address".

 

 

Email sorting:

The subject header is changing to:

Live item: “<UserID> has sent a question about item #<Number>, ending on <XXX> - <Item Title>”.

Ended item: “<UserID> has sent a question about item #<Number>, that ended on <XXX> - <Item Title>”

 

eBay is adding more information so sellers can search and sort by:

User ID

Pre and post transaction questions

Subject:

Payment and checkout for this item

Request to change this order

Where is my item

Item I received is not as described

General support question

 

Limitations on emails:

No embedded images (images that are embedded in the message will be forced to open as attachments).

The email, including attachments, must be less than 500kb.

The only attachments allowed are image types - no PDF, Word, or Excel documents.

Email addresses will automatically be stripped out of pre-sale emails.


How will eBay prevent spam and fraudulent emails ?
The eBay email system has a range of filters to reduce spam and emails from fraudsters. It will check for spam, viruses, encryption, and size (max 500kb); confirm the member’s status (good standing or suspended); and ensure the item hasn’t been removed by eBay. If an email does not get through these filters, the sender will usually receive a failure notification.


What are the benefits to sellers?
Increased security will make it harder for fraudsters and spammers

to abuse the system. This will reduce the amount of spam sellers received.Sellers will be able to clearly differentiate pre-sale and post-sale questions, enabling them to better prioritise and ‘find’ member emails.


Is there a time limit to respond to emails?

Yes, the temporary anonymous email address created by eBay will expire depending on the listing format. Addresses for auction-style listings will last until a few days after the listing ends. Addresses for eBay Store listings will expire after 30 days. You will still be able to contact a member through Find a Member on both the search and community pages


Will all emails sent before a transaction be made anonymous?

Email addresses will only be made anonymous for members who have not recently transacted with each other. Once members have transacted, real email addresses will be provided in all future email correspondence for at least 3 months and up to one year from the last transaction date.
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