The most effective way to discourage bypass in a marketplace is by providing value in the marketplace-backed transaction. However, sometimes, you may prefer to disallow the direct message feature entirely.
How to disable the direct message feature
To prevent users from contacting each other directly:
- log in to your Admin panel
- go to the "Users / User rights" page
- uncheck the "Allow users to message each other freely" box
- save
And voilà!
What changes when users can't contact each other freely?
If that feature is disabled, then:
- the Contact button on user profiles is removed
- the Contact button on listing pages is removed
- users can discuss with each other only by starting a transaction