Ebay blocks users from exchanging email addresses, and tries to manage all user communication via their messaging system - subject to their Big Brother surveillance.

This is to stop users setting up deals outside the ebay marketplace, amongst other things.

The proposal is for a very simple searchable database. Each record stores only two items; the user's ebay ID, and their email address.

Ebay members wanting to contact another member directly would be able to search the database, and if the other member is also registered, obtain an email address for them.
-- 8th of 7, Apr 21 2015

You could set it up as an anonymous email forwarder to preserve privacy. This is basically what eBay does but would be better because it wouldn't be monitored by eBay.
-- hippo, Apr 21 2015


How would it get its data? If it is voluntary, you would have trouble getting enough people to submit their info to make it worthwhile. Better to do it by piggybacking on some other service. E.g. now that PayPal is being spun off seperately, they have enough users to be able to offer this service. Or some kind of prize draw type thing.
-- pocmloc, Apr 21 2015


If it's voluntary, how do you ensure that it's the actual eBay user setting it up? What recourse would they have if one or the other cheated? If as an eBay seller you want to sell directly to repeat customers, just add your business card with web site or catalog to the package you ship to them with your first eBay transaction.

eBay's rating system and dispute resolution systems (including logging all communication for future reference) contribute substantially to keeping people in line. Now they may charge too much for those services and need to get some real competition, but that's a different idea.
-- scad mientist, Apr 21 2015


"Caveat emptor".
-- 8th of 7, Apr 21 2015


Beware of the eBayer.
-- pocmloc, Apr 22 2015



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