I think the vendor should be able to choose what they sell through what
channel. Listing an item on ebay takes a certain amount of labour AND
costs a commission fee. If it already exists for sale elsewhere at no
additional cost to the vendor, why would they want to go to the extra
effort at a potentially lower margin? Or perhaps they simply have
limited marketing resources and would rather focus on other products or
services rather than promote a slow-mover.

If we're talking about a known supplier within the community I would say
the risks would be reasonable, esp. if you pay with a credit card.
Resolving conflicts through eBay and Paypal is quite slow and painful in
my experience.

Happy Trails,

Greg Potts
Toronto, Ontario Canada
197x Westfakia "Bob the Tomato"
1987 Wolfsburg Weekender Hardtop
www.pottsfamily.ca

BUSES OF THE CORN - AUGUST 13-15th, 2010
www.busesofthecorn.ca

On 6/22/2010 12:41 AM, BenT Syncro wrote:
> Thanks, Mike. You wrote exactly what I obviously did not express
> clearly.
>
>
> BenT
>
>
>
> On Jun 21, 2010, at 9:07 PM, mikes@flatsurface.com (Mike S) wrote:
>
>> At 10:23 PM 6/21/2010, BenT Syncro wrote...
>>> How do you guys feel about vendors you find on eBay who insist on
>>> completing deals outside of eBay?
>>
>> It's dishonest (against eBay rules) and unethical (using eBay as
>> advertising, then trying to deny them payment for that service).
>>
>> As a buyer, it's also potentially more dangerous - you don't have
>> the level of buyer protection as you do on eBay (not that that
>> amounts to a whole lot, but you can at least leave feedback).
>>
>> I'm not particularly fond of eBay, but it's disingenuous to say
>> they're evil, then turn around and use them to arrange business.
>