Dial A Deal
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How it works

The full flow — and exactly how your data is used

Dial A Deal is your buying assistant: you connect your own eBay account, then we search eBay for you and place the order on your account through eBay's official APIs. Payment is two charges — eBay bills your card for the item, and Dial A Deal bills a separate service fee. Here's every step, on web and by phone, including the eBay API involved and the data that moves at each stage.

User & data flow

Step by step

We collect only what's needed to complete your request — nothing more.

1

You connect your eBay account (once)

Register your phone number and sign in with eBay to link your own account. You sign in on eBay's own page — we never see or store your eBay password. This one-time step is what lets us check out on your account, and it lets our phone line recognize you by caller ID next time you call.

Sign in with eBay (OAuth) — your own account, password never shared
2

You tell us what you want

Phone: call Dial A Deal and describe the item and your budget out loud. Web: submit the same details in a short form. We do the searching and the checkout for you.

Input: your request, budget & delivery address
3

We search live eBay listings

Dial A Deal queries eBay's Browse API and ranks the best matches by price, item condition, shipping, and seller rating. We present the top option(s) on screen or read them back to you on the call.

eBay Browse API — live listing data
4

We confirm the item and the full price

Before any charge, we show or read back the exact item, seller, shipping, taxes, our service fee, and the final total — including which part eBay bills and which part we bill. Nothing is purchased and no payment is taken until you clearly approve.

Transparent price breakdown — no charge yet
5

You pay — two clear charges

After you approve, there are two separate charges: eBay charges your card for the item (item, shipping, and tax) through eBay's own secure checkout on your connected account, and Dial A Deal charges a separate service fee through our PCI DSS compliant processor. On the web your card is entered into encrypted fields; on the phone through your keypad (DTMF) so our team never hears or sees your card number. We never store your full card number or security code.

Two charges — eBay (item) + Dial A Deal (service fee)
6

We place the order on your eBay account

Dial A Deal places the order on your connected eBay account through eBay's Order API (member checkout) and provides your delivery address so the seller ships directly to you. You receive an order confirmation and reference number, and the order appears in your own eBay purchase history.

eBay Order API (member checkout) — order on your account
7

We support you after the purchase

We track the order, keep you updated, and handle any problems — returns, refunds, contacting the seller, and escalating through eBay's buyer protection — all on your behalf, and all backed by your own eBay Money Back Guarantee. See Order help for the full after-purchase flow.

eBay Post-Order API — status, returns & support
Where the money goes. You pay in two parts: eBay charges your card for the item (item, shipping, and tax) through your connected account, and Dial A Deal charges a separate service fee for finding, placing, and supporting the order. Item prices, shipping, taxes, and availability are set by eBay and its sellers and may change before an order is completed — which is why we always confirm the final total with you first.
Transparent pricing

An example total

We always show the complete breakdown before you approve. (Example figures.)

Charge 1 — by eBay · Nintendo Switch (Refurbished)$179.00
Shipping (seller)$0.00
Estimated tax$14.77
eBay charges your card$193.77
Charge 2 — by Dial A Deal · service fee$9.99
Dial A Deal charges your card$9.99
Combined total (two charges)$203.76
Data minimization

What we use — and what we don't

We request only what's required to find your item, take payment, and deliver it.

What Dial A Deal uses

  • A secure connection to your own eBay account (an access token) — never your eBay password
  • Your request, preferences, and delivery address
  • A payment token + last four digits for our service-fee charge
  • Order references needed to buy and track
  • Contact details (phone, email) to keep you updated

What Dial A Deal never stores

  • Your full card number (PAN)
  • Your card security code (CVV)
  • Anything we don't need to fulfil your order
The phone channel

Ordering by voice, paying by keypad

You register once on the web — linking your own eBay account — and after that our phone line recognizes you by caller ID, so you can simply call to order. The phone option runs through the same secure systems as the web; the main difference is how we take payment safely over a call.

How phone payment works: after you approve the total, our system prompts you to enter your card details on your phone's keypad. Those tones are captured directly by our PCI DSS compliant payment provider and masked from our agents and from any call recording — so no person at Dial A Deal ever hears or sees your card number. Your spoken approval of the order is recorded (with your consent) as proof of authorization.

Questions about the flow?

We're happy to walk through any step in detail.

Contact us Security & PCI