When did it become the trend for eBay sellers to offer PayPal (non-eBay) invoices?

OK, never mind the eBay schtick about "do not respond if this message offers to sell you item(s) outside eBay," "you are not protected," "terms violation," blah blah blah. Lately, I've had a rash of sellers respond to any questions I've had about items—and even a "Best Offer"—with "Oh hey, if you pay me through PayPal, here's the deal I'll cut you." Every. Single. Time.

I get "why," since it saves them on eBay fees. I just wanna know WHEN this became the "going thing." It happened once when I inquired about additional pins that the seller may or may not have from a set, and I didn't think too much of it. But then, as I said, I made a "Best Offer" on an item and instead of accepting or counteroffering, the seller sent a message saying, "Hey, I'll sell it to you for this much, invoiced direct from PayPal." (Side note: It wasn't that good a deal, either, and I subsequently found the item cheaper ON eBay, ha.) Then it happened a third time when I inquired, again, about additional pins from a presale event set.

So ... is this the "new normal"? Anybody else encounter this more often recently? And what are your thoughts? Do you feel protected enough with PayPal (if the invoice specifies "goods/services") or do you get creeped out?

And I posted this here because it's always pins. Nothing else I've ever bought, considered buying, inquired about, has generated these types of "offers."

I haven't had those kind of offers made. Interesting though. I'd probably stick to the eBay rules myself.

This has never happened to me, although my buying on eBay has slowed considerably in the past year.

I don't think I would trust these offers.

I as a seller have had people offer to buy using deals like this, I have declined all of them because I prefer the protection on EBay myself.
But I would say this has been a 'thing' for at least 6months that I know of.

GreyWyvern said:

This has never happened to me, although my buying on eBay has slowed considerably in the past year.

I don't think I would trust these offers.

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"Trust" is the key word. One of the "offers" was actually good. Not "too good to be true," just a more reasonable mark-up on pins than was otherwise available. Presumably because of the no-eBay-fees profit margin for the seller. So it was certainly tempting. But still weird. And I'm not a trusting person to begin with, so I feel like "goods/services" or not, I'd be sitting there the whole time, waiting for my pins to ship, freaking out that somehow my $$$ would be stolen. But the offers have occurred three times in a very short (three weeks or so) period, and they are definitely different sellers from totally different locations—all with impeccable feedback, etc. So it's not the obviously suspicious characters, either.

Trust is the key thing.

However, the invoicing past eBay always been a "thing" just more prevalent as of late. I can not begin to speculate why, but I would guess its because of international shipping and etc, the new "programs" that eBay implemented. Really, to me, Its like buying and selling pins on FB. Yes, its true that eBay does not offer the same protection, but PayPal still offers the same protection for buyer and seller.

As long as it is not "Friends/Family" you are under the same protection eBay offers.

This is actually against ebay policies. You are not allowed to sell something via ebay and then invoice elsewhere to avoid the ebay fees. The sellers could get in trouble with ebay if they are caught.

I sell and buy on eBay all the time. I've had people ask me to drop my prices and sell to them outside of eBay (I've always said no) and I've never had a seller ask me to complete the purchase outside of eBay. I actually don't know how that would even save them money... they pay eBay fees when they sell the item. So if you buy something from them on eBay and they want you to pay outside of eBay, they would have to cancel the sale (and have you agree to cancel it) in order to get their final value fee refunded. Seems like a big hassle for pins not worth a significant amount of money. And even then, eBay most likely has a way to track sellers who constantly ask buyers to cancel their purchases. They're in the business of making money, and wouldn't want to see it walking off their site like that.

I've been buying and selling on ebay for over a decade. I have had a couple of people, in my earlier years, ask for me to sell outside of ebay - but not recently. Interesting....

Having bought and sold for years on ebay (to be fair, I have not sold on ebay in about 5 years) I have had buyers ask if they could buy outside of ebay for a deal but never had a seller offer something outside of ebay. I would not do that. A side note, I don't know how much ebay feedback really means. There are a ton of sellers out there who are selling fake pins and you would never know it by their feedback.

timeerkat said:

This is actually against ebay policies. You are not allowed to sell something via ebay and then invoice elsewhere to avoid the ebay fees. The sellers could get in trouble with ebay if they are caught.

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This is my favorite part: eBay's "DO NOT DO THIS" message is right at the top of the screen, above the seller's "Hey, there, DO THIS AND SAVE ME MONEY!!!!" It's either ironic, stupid, or a big "up yours" to eBay.

supertank said:

I sell and buy on eBay all the time. I've had people ask me to drop my prices and sell to them outside of eBay (I've always said no) and I've never had a seller ask me to complete the purchase outside of eBay. I actually don't know how that would even save them money... they pay eBay fees when they sell the item. So if you buy something from them on eBay and they want you to pay outside of eBay, they would have to cancel the sale (and have you agree to cancel it) in order to get their final value fee refunded. Seems like a big hassle for pins not worth a significant amount of money. And even then, eBay most likely has a way to track sellers who constantly ask buyers to cancel their purchases. They're in the business of making money, and wouldn't want to see it walking off their site like that.

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They save money because there is no eBay transaction. They just have to, if anything, end the listing as "item no longer available," which doesn't require any input from anyone but the seller. I'm not talking about items I've purchased/won. I'm talking about, someone has a listing and I message them to say, "Hey, I'm interested in this item; do you also happen to have X, Y, or Z while I'm purchasing?" And then boom, there's a message saying yes/no re: the item I asked about ANNNNNDDDDD "if you pay me outside of eBay, I'll lower the total cost." In the past, if I've inquired about additional items from a seller, if he/she has the item, they list it and send me a link or item # so I can find it. I've never even thought about going outside eBay for items I saw listed on eBay. I find it fascinating.

This is interesting...buuuut doesnt suprise me one bit lol.

Personally i have been buying and selling items for other hobbies of mine for a few years on eBay And never had an offer like this.

Personally i prefer to keep eBay sales on eBay. I have sold items through forums usinh Paypal gift for payment, but if i decide i want to sell an item on eBay, i keep it on eBay. Its convient, its heavily trafficked, and offeres protection from both parties. Obviously eBay is a big company, but they need to make money and if they dont they will shut down and that means that trying to sell things online COULD be alot harder.

I've bought things off ebay for over 15 years. When I buy an item from someone I always check their ended auctions and if I see they have other items that were like what I bought/won and ask if they still are for sale or have others for sale. Some will re-list and others will just offer to sell the items to me either at the same price or a discount. I always pay with paypal goods/services and am insured through them. For almost 2 years, I've been buying Radko Christmas ornaments from a man that I won one of his auctions on ebay. The first purchase went through ebay, the rest were just through emails. This all started after I inquired if he had more for sale after the first ebay purchase. Most of the payments went through paypal but now we both trust each other and he sends the package and I'll send out a money order to help him save the fees. I look at ebay as a way to make good connections for what I collect. Sometimes it's just one sale but I've done multiple sales/purchases off ebay from just one sale, and from what I can remember I've never lost $$ or items this way. Ebay has gotten smart to this too as it is harder to get an email address to another ebayer.

I haven't sold in a few years, but I buy. I always appreciate it when they make the offer. For me, personally, if the offer comes from a seller I have done business with before, I have no issue paying them through Paypal to get a better deal. I'd never gift the money, but buyers have a lot of protection through Paypal. The only thing you gain buying through ebay is having the ability to leave feedback, but if I trust the seller, I'd rather have their best price.