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Navigating eBay’s Policy Against Contact Information in Messages

customer serviceeBaytools | July 15, 2020
eBay’s Policy

eBay sellers who include prohibited info in messages experience send errors and worse. Learn how to navigate this policy to keep your account running smoothly.

Here at Replyco, we are dedicated to helping online sellers succeed. That’s why we constantly monitor what’s happening in the world of eCommerce. Recently, we’ve noticed a recurring problem for eBay sellers. It seems more and more sellers are experiencing eBay message rejections and account issues due to the inclusion of contact information and unsupported file types. 

As some of you know, eBay prohibits phone numbers, email addresses, website links and any other contact information from being included in messages from sellers to shoppers. The marketplace also disallows attachments of any kind besides image files (JPG, PNG). Let’s explore the risks for users who unintentionally violate this policy and how Replyco can help.

Message Rejections and Worse Account Penalties

If you’re an eBay seller and you include contact information, a website link or an unsupported file type in a message to a buyer, eBay will reject that message. What’s worse, you may not even receive a notification that the message wasn’t sent — which means you will unknowingly leave a customer hanging without a reply to their inquiry. 

This can actually affect you in two ways. The first is obvious: your customers won’t receive answers to their queries. Secondly, eBay could further penalize you for not responding to buyers in a timely manner (or at all). 

Including contact information in messages can even result in your eBay account being suspended if you’re violating the policy frequently or if your account is new. 

How Can I Avoid These Problems?

The easiest way to avoid this issue is to refrain from sending messages that contain any prohibited information. This includes phone numbers, email addresses and website links anywhere in the message such as the subject line, message body or signature. You should also make sure to only attach file types that are supported by the eBay system, such as JPG and PNG files.

Additionally, you’ll need to train your staff on the policy and make sure each member of your eBay customer service team knows what not to include in messages or in their personalized signature.

How Does Replyco Help?

Even if you and your staff are well aware of eBay’s message sending policies, we want to make sure you have extra safeguards in place. After all, mistakes happen, and you don’t want your customer service or eBay account to suffer because of them. That’s why we’re excited to announce a new error tracking report.

If you’re a Replyco customer and you send an eBay message that results in an error, you can quickly identify those messages using the Error After Sending report, as long as eBay has communicated the error with Replyco. Please note, that it is not uncommon for eBay to hold a message in review without delivering it to your buyer and without generating an error message.

Replyco eBay Error Messages Report - Helpdesk for eCommerce

Once you go into those messages, you will see a red “Error” label above the rejected message. Hover over that label to view information about why your message was rejected. You can then remove or correct any prohibited information or file types and resend. 

Replyco Helpdesk for eCommerce - Addressing eBay error messages

Lastly, we have also just implemented a new functionality into the Replyco system that automatically converts any PDF you attach to an eBay message into an image file. This ensures delivery of both your message AND your attachment.

These are just some of the many ways Replyco helps you stay on top of your customer messaging. To learn more about the latest features and improvements, as well as what’s in store next, visit our Public Roadmap

If you’re not a Replyco customer but are ready to take control of your inbox with centralized messaging and advanced reporting, start your free trial today or take a tour of our features.

“Helpdesk
HELPDESK FOR EBAY SELLERS

Manage eBay Messaging, Cases & Feedback

Struggling to stay on top of emails, returns and feedback? Check out the Replyco eBay integration to learn how to get total control over your customer communications.

Learn More

 

Jodi Gaines CGO Replyco Helpdesk for eCommerce

About the author: Jodi Gaines

Jodi has been helping eCommerce sellers improve their communication and marketing strategies for more than 20 years. She currently serves as a Strategic Advisor for Replyco Helpdesk. Jodi was also the co-founder, CEO and editor at ReplyManager (sold to Xsellco in 2015) and has helped manage growth strategies for multiple businesses and start-ups, including eBay, VWERL and Stop Aging Now (The Clorox Company). Follow Jodi on LinkedIn.

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