eBay Sends All Your Information To Any Bidder Who Asks

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At first I thought this was an accident or isolated incident but, as it turns out, this is actually eBay policy.

Typically the seller shouldn’t have anything to worry about, as we only allow members of eBay to request contact information. We allow any transaction partner (including a bidder) to request the buyer/seller’s contact information. This includes a phone number, and the address. This is for all members of the site, and something we’ve found be very helpful overall. There’s not a way to opt out of this as we expect it of everyone on the site, namely because we’re only a venue and don’t buy or sell the item directly.
 
"Typically the seller shouldn’t have anything to worry about,"

Oh good. That's great news!
 
Well that's just super. My wife thinks ebay is the only place you can buy anything online, I swear.
 
its been like that since day 1.

when someone requests my info, they get it. i also get a notification that theyve requested my info and ive been given their info.

this is nothing new.
 
I just logged into Ebay for the first time in about 2 years to change all of my contact info to something fake. Even a winner really doesn't need to know anything beyond an email address. They certainly don't need to give out everything to anyone that asks.
 
Harassment, usually by phone, has been linked to how easy it is to get seller information for years. Not a surprise.

Hopefully a Consumerist shaming can get eBay to at least limit this kind of information to parties involved in a completed transaction. That's unlikely to happen because eBay is hostile to sellers.
 
ebay said:
...we only allow members of eBay to request contact information.
Click to expand...

Well, that puts me at ease. Not a huge deal. I would imagine that becoming a member of eBay is a long, complicated process.

Capture_zpsdzb6uoox.png


Ah, shit.
 
so when a bidder requests the seller's info, the seller gets the bidder's info too?

I changed all my ship to/from addresses to fake ones
 
WTF Ebay? Really? I hope someone releases this information for everyone that works at Ebay. I guess we could just ask for it and Ebay will just send it along.......Right?
 
After purchasing things on ebay, I often get spam email from 3rd parties asking me if I want a warranty on my new electronic item. I always go straight to the seller and give them negative feedback.

Negative feedback is the curse that keeps on giving on ebay. I often tell them that if they do something outrageous for me that I'll switch it to neutral, but if they just keep sending me requests to change it I'll put them on my spam/block list.
 
d_stilgar said:
Negative feedback is the curse that keeps on giving on ebay. I often tell them that if they do something outrageous for me that I'll switch it to neutral, but if they just keep sending me requests to change it I'll put them on my spam/block list.
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In that case Ebay is the one that gives squaretrade your information, not the seller. Hell I'd want to block you if I was selling.
 
another-user said:
its been like that since day 1.

when someone requests my info, they get it. i also get a notification that theyve requested my info and ive been given their info.

this is nothing new.
Click to expand...

It's not new that is true, but it shouldn't be a policy at all.
 
pxc said:
Harassment, usually by phone, has been linked to how easy it is to get seller information for years. Not a surprise.

Hopefully a Consumerist shaming can get eBay to at least limit this kind of information to parties involved in a completed transaction. That's unlikely to happen because eBay is hostile to sellers.
Click to expand...

Looks like ebay is just hostile to everyone.
 
I had to contact eBay to get a situation fixed where a buyer had his e-check cancelled after the shipment of the item he bought. Contacting eBay was of no help as they are simply an "intermediary" between a buyer and seller. The eBay rep who could barely speak any English in a very heavy Indian accent then proceeded to give me the buyers full contact information, where they lived, etc. The buyer did eventually respond back to me via email and we got everything sorted out (his bank declined the transaction due to safety issues), but it seems eBay will give ALL of your information out without any second thoughts.
 
And to those people who sell precious gems, well we know where they live now.
 
I've been on ebay for over 10 years, this info is not given out to just anybody, you have to have sold or bought something from someone to do this, otherwise this info is not available in My experience.
 
JokerCPoC said:
I've been on ebay for over 10 years, this info is not given out to just anybody, you have to have sold or bought something from someone to do this, otherwise this info is not available in My experience.
Click to expand...

Except that is clearly not consistent with what Ebay actual told the Consumerist. If anything, you'd expect them to say things to make themselves look better.. not worse.
 
Don't understand how this is a big deal. This isn't the Silk Road dark web , it's Ebay for chrissakes. If you don't like it, don't sell your shitty stuff on Ebay and expect them to protect your anonymity.
 
The issue is that some people sell a lot of stuff. Or stuff someone may want to come rob you of.

For the most part, except for big businesses using Ebay for extra sales, your home is your warehouse.

When you order online normally, do you always get the warehouse address? No. And for good reason. Do you always get the shipper's home address? Almost never. And for even better reason.

The business/office address for Ebay transactions is more often than not going to be a combined home/warehouse. No one really wants that info going to anyone who asks.
 
Talk about violation(s) of information security principles...

How is it Ebay hasn't been sued or otherwise brought to task over this kind of crap?
 
I can see it now...

iCopsOnDuty has requested information on GrassGrowersAssociation
 
Advil said:
When you order online normally, do you always get the warehouse address? No. And for good reason. Do you always get the shipper's home address? Almost never. And for even better reason.
Click to expand...

You always get some kind of return address though. If people don't want to use their home address they should get a P.O. Box, UPS personal mailbox, etc. AFAIK you can use those for your ebay details.
 
Swore off of Ebay years ago.
It should be renamed FRAUD Inc.

Had 2 cases where the I was shipped busted junk instead of a working products. Seller refused to except a return or credit my payment. And Ebay would do nothing for me. I had no recourse except to leave bad feedback. Then I found out Ebay removed my feedback, letting the crook slide since he is a mega seller.

Had a friends that Ebay ganked funds from his Paypal account without his notification because a buyer wanted his money back. A 12" sub was sold, which was new in the box; the buyer claimed it wasn't new and it was blown. I knew that was BS; saw the subs he was selling first hand. Did he ever get the sub back? Nope.
 
Dr. Righteous said:
Had a friends that Ebay ganked funds from his Paypal account without his notification because a buyer wanted his money back.
Click to expand...

That's not how paypal works - you can't gank funds from a paypal account. There is no "account," there's just an email address. To get money back you have to go through a dispute/claim process. It takes a while - the buyer/seller are required to communicate to try and resolve their dispute. They usually side with the buyer if it gets escalated to a claim, but part of the deal is you get the item back. If you don't get the item back you can appeal and have the claim reversed.
 
Ebay's fees have bordered on ridiculous for the last few years. All of these online auction sites including Amazon rake in money for acting as an intermediary. I find a little legwork selling on non auction sites has been a better deal for me. So much so that I have recently closed my Ebay account due to that. Not having them hand my info out is just a perk.
 
GaryJohnson said:
That's not how paypal works - you can't gank funds from a paypal account. There is no "account," there's just an email address. To get money back you have to go through a dispute/claim process. It takes a while - the buyer/seller are required to communicate to try and resolve their dispute. They usually side with the buyer if it gets escalated to a claim, but part of the deal is you get the item back. If you don't get the item back you can appeal and have the claim reversed.
Click to expand...

This was several years back, and this is exactly what happened.
The buyer/seller was in the middle of a dispute; Buyer claiming the sub was used and blown, the seller saying it was brand new in the box. What really happened? Not hard to figure out that most likely the buyer installed it incorrectly, or over powered it and blew the sub out. Wasn't a competition sub or anything.
They were at an impasse and Ebay removed the funds from his PayPal account and refunded the buyers money.

What this showed me was that unless you are putting a lot of $$$ in Ebays pocket they will throw you under the bus regardless of right or wrong.
 
Pretty sure you see similar information just from the shipping info once an auction has been one. I mean every time I ever purchased something the return address was always listed, and never some funny shell organization.
 
GaryJohnson said:
That's not how paypal works - you can't gank funds from a paypal account. There is no "account," there's just an email address. To get money back you have to go through a dispute/claim process.
Click to expand...
A dispute could lock out at least the funds involved, and so can a chargeback by the buyer. It does not have to be legitimate or resolved for this to happen; it's happens immediately when a dispute is opened or the chargeback hits Paypal. It's surprisingly easy for a seller to get screwed by bad eBay buyers, who can not receive negative feedback in a transaction.
 
If you have a criminal mind this is a very bad idea for anyone dealing on ebay.
 
Haven't sold anything on eBay in maybe 3-4 years. It's simply not worth the risk as a small seller. Sadly, Amazon isn't any better as they too heavily favor buyers. However this policy has been there a while, but it's just another reason at this point.
 
If you've sold to someone or bought from someone eBay can provide this info but IIRC there's a few hoops to jump through so a novice probably wouldn't get it. Then again someone who wants this info with malicious intent is probably not just a "moran".

On the other hand I regularly call non paying bidders using this info; 95% of the time it's a bogus number but that 5% of the time I sometimes get across the point that I don't like to be dicked around as a seller.
 
Dr. Righteous said:
This was several years back, and this is exactly what happened.
The buyer/seller was in the middle of a dispute; Buyer claiming the sub was used and blown, the seller saying it was brand new in the box. What really happened? Not hard to figure out that most likely the buyer installed it incorrectly, or over powered it and blew the sub out. Wasn't a competition sub or anything.
They were at an impasse and Ebay removed the funds from his PayPal account and refunded the buyers money.

What this showed me was that unless you are putting a lot of $$$ in Ebays pocket they will throw you under the bus regardless of right or wrong.
Click to expand...

What this tells me is Ebay is a great place to buy but a bad place to sell if you can't satisfy your customers.
 
Just call in to Ebay support and ask for the rep's real name, home address, and phone number. When they refuse, tell them you are an Ebay member so they typically shouldn't have anything to worry about!
 
ZodaEX said:
What this tells me is Ebay is a great place to buy but a bad place to sell if you can't satisfy your customers.
Click to expand...
It's paypal. I'm glad they're separating but not sure what kinds of practical difference it will make.
 
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