I tried to solve this one myself first... maybe someone has a clue:

How do you contact someone on ebay simply knowing their USER ID if:
you have never had a transaction with them &
they haven't sold anything in a while (so that you can't use an old link)?

I have no evil purpose in mind I just want to email someone who won an auction (yes, I came in second...)

eBay understandably instituted all kinds of safeguards to make this information hard to come by. Nonetheless, it was kind of nice for those of us who aren't aspirant con artists or fraudmiesters to be able to email people.

I hope Leon is cool with this post...
(I included my email above)

You can't. They changed the format to make contacts impossible. I think they are trying to keep people from making deals without an auction, i.e. you see someone bidding on an item and you let them know you have one like it for $.

What if you click on their feedback number and look for something they sold fairly recently. Won't there still be a link "ask seller a question?" I don't know if this will work.

Go to the person's feedback page (either via "find a member" or whatever). In the blue block in upper RH corner is "contact member" button.

J

I think ebay uses some type of security that requires you to be logged into system with your password. I guess this is so the person knows who is emailing them. Also, a screen may appear with funny looking characters and you are supposed to enter those characters in the box/field provided on the monitor. Sometimes those characters look a little odd...

Thanks for trying but...
Barry -- Thanks, unfortunately I tried that and s/he has only been buying (not selling) during the time period for which his links are still "live".

Joann -- Thanks you also. Unfotunately, there is no link on that page to contact him/her (assuming I understand your instructions).

......
I guess I'll have to contact someone I know who has sold him something.
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If that fails I'll see if Leon will let me post the eBay Id and then someone can contact me if they have contact info.
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Brian,

Check your email - I just sent a screen capture showing what I was talking about. It only lets you send message to their ebay message center - no independent email contact info.

J

I reread Joann's note and figured it out (I think) ...
(Thanks!)
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