Ebay-How Do You Report Offers Bypassing Ebay Fees

Great thread... Inhave several ebay sellers that I have purchased coins through there ebay store. And in most of the packaging is a pricelist or a website offering the same coins from there own personal websites, I dont see any problem with that and it allows me to do my favorite thing shop coin shops I would never get to..and due ue to either getting whooped on a auction or not having the funds when a coin is auctioned off it gives me a second chance to acquire a similiar coin and I have also made some awesome friendships and gained numismatic knowledge.
Latest example the make offer option..instead of playing the electronic dicker game I will message a seller and ask him his minimum. If we agree boom done instant pay and a certain amount of personal is added to the transaction. Dont be afraid to message or be messaged dont attempt to defraud anyone live right count your blessings and enjoy the hobby...this should be fun and more or less one or both of the parties will be a better person for it... I thank every seller for the auction for there time posting the auction and for shipping the items to me.. This is a labor of love for me..and by golly I intend on enjoying this hobby all the way through and until my collection is complete and I have to wait for the annual mint releases.

Interesting topic and some seem to be to one extreme ( the heck with eBay/PP ) or the other ( the OP wanting to know how to tattle on someone trying to cut out the middle men ).

I'm no fan of the middle man so I would not narc on someone but if you are worried about their honesty then it is fully fine to tell them you aren't interested and want the protection of doing it all above board with ebay.

I am in between the two extremes. I'd be wary of a newbie seller offering something on the side. But once a relationship has been established ( via a purchase on or off ebay ), with a semi-high profile seller or one that has their own website, I typically will from then on contact the seller by email with offers ( typically starting at 10% below the ebay listing at the very MOST ) even if the coin is ONLY LISTED on ebay. Particularly with sellers that have their own websites or post their coins on several sites ( Collector's Corner for instance ) as well as ebay. You can get at least a 10% discount - via check - and they net the same profit. Haggling via email is no worse than via ebay's BO system, IMO. You can also "bundle"/combine offers this way and obviously some sellers will give better prices on a 2,3,4 coin deal than on only one.

I do still get "surprised" when I see coins on a dealer's own website listed for MORE than the same coin is listed on ebay. I don't understand their logic of offering for less on a site they have to pay fees than on one they will keep all of the selling $ instead ( save for cc/PP but I mostly send checks to save them that fee as well which again usually means 3% less on my offer ).

I don't blame anyone for wanting the safety net, just think it is absurd to narc on others when there is nothing to be gained - it isn't like ebay will reward you! LOL I recently had trouble with a coupon they gave me, and for my trouble(didn't work for days and they said to keep trying every 2 hours - for 6 days? ) - what worthless customer support - I got a replacement coupon for the exact same amount and even less days before it would expire for the trouble. THANKS A WHOLE LOT for wasting my time and then rewarding me with NOTHING for the trouble! Adding a little to the coupon woulda bankrupted them? IDIOTS!