System and method to control sending of unsolicited communications relating to a plurality of listings in a network-based commerce facility

A network-based commerce system comprising:

• a listing server to present to a user at least one listing for sale via the network-based commerce system;
• a page server to monitor a request from a sending user to communicate with a recipient user associated with the at least one listing for sale and to generate a contact form, the contact form to receive a message from the sending user to be communicated over the network to the recipient user without the sending user viewing direct contact information of the recipient user;
• and
• a communications server to communicate an electronic communication including the message over the network.

A machine-readable storage medium tangibly embodying a sequence of instructions executable by a machine to perform a method for controlling the sending of unsolicited communications relating to a plurality of listings in a network-based commerce facility, the method comprising:

• presenting at least one listing for sale to a user via the network-based commerce facility;
• monitoring a request from a sending user to communicate with a recipient user associated with the at least one listing for sale;
• generating at the network-based commerce facility, a contact form to receive a message to be communicated to the recipient user without the sending user viewing direct contact information of the recipient user and communicating the contact form to the sending user;
• and
• communicating from the network-based commerce facility, an electronic communication including the message to the recipient user over the network.

A network-based commerce system to control sending of unsolicited communication over a network, the system including:

• means for presenting to a user at least one listing for sale via the network-based commerce system;
• means for monitoring a request from a sending user to communicate with a recipient user associated with at least one of the plurality of listings for sale and for generating, a contact form to receive a message to be communicated to the recipient user without the sending user viewing direct contact information of the recipient user and communicating the contact form to the sending user;
• and
• means for communicating at a network-based commerce system, an electronic communication including the message to the recipient user over the network.