need an honest and true advice about my Ebay problem

[aimar2952]

I have been selling on Ebay for over 4 years now and I'm a platinum power seller with 2500 postive feedbacks and 98% .My interests is in selling video games, game consoles, cell phones and many other electronics. I have been selling these items succesfully on Ebay for over 4 years now.

My business model is very successful and I had many happy customers throughout the world. Recently on 03/28/2011, I got an email from the so called Ebay (SafeHarber) trust and safety Dept.(as they claim) stating that they have noticed some activity recently on my account (which is a big lie because I have been selling the same things all along for 4 years), and they have decided without any prior notice to cancel all my listings and restrict sellings on my Ebay account and asked me to wait for an email to explain how to remove this selling restrictions.

Two days later, i get an email from the so called "trust and safety Dept." asking me to fax purchase invoices proving the purchase of the items listed on Ebay from a supplier. I did fax all the documents they requested, and send them an email asking them to please view the documents and remove the selling restrictions asap because i got a business to run and customers are waiting for me to list products. I get an email 4 days later saying that they recieved all the invoices but they can't read them because they claim the faxed copies were not clear. so thay asked me to fax the documents again which i did.

I get the same copy and paste email again 4 days later mentioning the same old story. I faxed the documents again, and I get the same copy and paste message again in my ebay after 5 days from faxing the documents.

This time I went out to the local Fedex store and faxed all the documenst that they requested. I faxed one copy to them and one copy to me just to make sure that I can read it to close their claim that they can't read it and spend over $160 in faxing these documents.Send them an email again to please review the documents and please resolve the issues that they created on my account.

After 8 days of waiting, I get another email from that Dept. stating that after reviewing all my Documents, they decided that it is better that I don't sell on Ebay anymore and not only that, they also mentioned that i will not be allowed to appeal this decision and also they will no longer respond to my emails and request.

I have never seen such a terrible people and terrible customer service in my whole life. After paying all these high outrageous selling fees and after building such a solid FB of postive 2500 feedbacks with 99.8% positive feedback since 2006. This is my reward from Ebay after all this hard work. My Ebay selling account is suspended forever for no reason at all and now I can't sell anything on ebay at ll.

Is there any way that anyone can help me in resolving this issue???? Is there any higher Dept. above this so called "Safety and Trust Dept." I need to file a claim on them and try to file a law suit because they are nothing but a bunch of liars and theifs who let the scammers get away with their crimes and only target the innocent and honest Ebay Power sellers as their punching bags for practices.

Any advice would be really appreciated and thanks for all your help

[ShadyOne]

Read your novel

This is how e bay and pp treat their 'customers'/sellers and it has only gotten worse of the last few years.

Don't even mention waiting many days, faxing, faxing, faxing and 'trust and safety'! Happens to all of us, it's terrible!

Their is a way to appeal a suspension if you have not yet tried, some people have managed to get back on e bay as well. I do not have that info as I have never had chance to appeal my old suspended accounts.

[oompaloompa]

no their terms and conditions mean they can deal with who they choose, a law suit cannot force them to deal with you. Law suits can work if money is trapped in paypal though. So you have no clue as to why this happened, you had no complaints outstanding when this occurred? its usually high risk goods (eg. electronics often in this catagory) or high volumes (in their opinion) that trigger it..if you have received a parting of ways email, it is best you start anew, I know it is hard for you, and soul-destroying, when you give good service and build good feedback it hurts, similar thing happened to me. You may have to decide if you want to go stealth after reading forums and getting Stealth Book....

[jeffweico]

Oompa is right. eBay is a private company. If they perceive you as a risk, they do not have to allow you to sell on their website. In fact, they can kick you off for almost ANY reason they like, as long as they don't disciminate based on race, religion, etc.

So your lawsuit is going nowhere.

I feel your pain, I really do. I have been there, as we all have. For 4 years you had a business selling your items. Customers were happy, you were happy and all was well. One day you wake up and you went from making money to NOT making money. Worse, your PayPal funds are probably frozen for 180 days. There have been some lawsuits here in the US, and sometimes PayPal settles, but good luck. I would assume it is the same in the UK by what Oompa sasys - and our laws are fairly similar.

While it is not impossible to get the account back it is highly unlikely. eBay RARELY reverses such decisions. Stealth is the answer.

However, there is something you can try. I don't know if this will work or not, but if your items are legitimate and come from an authorized supplier, it might be worth a try. Draft a letter (a polite one) outlining the situation and include copies of all your documentation. Ask them why they would do this to you after 4 years? Send it to the President of eBay UK. The President of the company will never see it, of course, but their secretary will. They have people to deal with that type of stuff. This is definitely a "Hail Mary" pass, but even if it doesn't work you will at least know that you tried.

However, right now your main goal should be to go into Stealth mode and get back to business. Spread your sales over a few accounts. That way, you are more "under the radar" so to speak, and it would be uinlikely (if you follow the stealth techniques correctly) to have all of the new accounts shut down at any one time. That will make your business stronger and you will sleep better at night.

Also, consider other venues and your own website. With each sale, enclose a flyer for your website and maybe a coupon offering a discount. You won't make a ton of money right away, but if you can pull customers little by little, you will have a venue that CANNOT shut you down. Websites work over time, they are not instant money - but are very worthwhile IMHO.

Good luck!

[GrannyT]

Originally Posted by jeffweico

Oompa is right. eBay is a private company. If they perceive you as a risk, they do not have to allow you to sell on their website. In fact, they can kick you off for almost ANY reason they like, as long as they don't disciminate based on race, religion, etc.

So your lawsuit is going nowhere.

I feel your pain, I really do. I have been there, as we all have. For 4 years you had a business selling your items. Customers were happy, you were happy and all was well. One day you wake up and you went from making money to NOT making money. Worse, your PayPal funds are probably frozen for 180 days. There have been some lawsuits here in the US, and sometimes PayPal settles, but good luck. I would assume it is the same in the UK by what Oompa sasys - and our laws are fairly similar.

While it is not impossible to get the account back it is highly unlikely. eBay RARELY reverses such decisions. Stealth is the answer.

However, there is something you can try. I don't know if this will work or not, but if your items are legitimate and come from an authorized supplier, it might be worth a try. Draft a letter (a polite one) outlining the situation and include copies of all your documentation. Ask them why they would do this to you after 4 years? Send it to the President of eBay UK. The President of the company will never see it, of course, but their secretary will. They have people to deal with that type of stuff. This is definitely a "Hail Mary" pass, but even if it doesn't work you will at least know that you tried.

However, right now your main goal should be to go into Stealth mode and get back to business. Spread your sales over a few accounts. That way, you are more "under the radar" so to speak, and it would be uinlikely (if you follow the stealth techniques correctly) to have all of the new accounts shut down at any one time. That will make your business stronger and you will sleep better at night.

Also, consider other venues and your own website. With each sale, enclose a flyer for your website and maybe a coupon offering a discount. You won't make a ton of money right away, but if you can pull customers little by little, you will have a venue that CANNOT shut you down. Websites work over time, they are not instant money - but are very worthwhile IMHO.

Good luck!

Nicely done

[Apple on Head]

I sympathise totally with the - the same thing happened to me as well. The biggest mistake that I did was to use a variety of user i.d.'s from the same i.p. address and have all payments go to the same pp address. I have read the stealth guide now and I realise where I am going wrong. I have gone from a scenario of wanting to scream, cry and stamp my feet to now feeling that I am getting somewhere. Stealthing is difficult, it's like having to change your clothes everytime you go outside of the house, but if it gets the money coming back in again then I will carry on doing it.

Thanks to the stealth guide I now feel more confident, I know where I went wrong and I won't make the same mistakes again so thanks Aspkin!

The only problem is that from going from 3,000+ positive feedback to zero, with a different user i.d. is going to be difficult, having to start again to build up a good reputation. What ebay and paypal have done is absolutely scandalous but there is absolutely nothing I can do about it.

Good luck with your future sales and thanks once again to the creators of this website and the stealth guide

[ets]

i think we can all identify with the demonic behaviour of ebay! I was a Power Seller and got my money stuck with paypal when ebay closed me down. I've had countless claims and chargebacks which I choose to ignore totally. I have learnt my lesson the hard way and have opened numerous stealth accounts so if I fall in this boat again I have a back up plan. Ebay really doesn't care about us. They only want their fees paid and when they want to shut you down they will. It's a harsh world out there!

[ShadyOne]

@Apple On Head, I agreed with everything you said, though one thing made me laugh:

Originally Posted by Apple on Head

Stealthing is difficult, it's like having to change your clothes everytime you go outside of the house

[GreenBean]

Kindly remember this is an INTRODUCTION thread
Small chat & direct the poster to make a thread in the correct section.