Hello All.
Might i start by thanking you all in advance for any help or advice you might be able to offer us in this darkest of times for me, and my eBay business.
I must apologise for the volume of this post but understandably, when considering the position we find ourselves in, i feel it important to tell my story as clearly, comprehensively and accurately as possible, so we might benefit from all of the experience and expertise i believe there to be on this site.
Bearing in mind the trauma i have experienced in recent days, i will apologise now for any important information/detail i might have neglected to include but, should any further info be required, i will add it upon request.
About 3 years ago, i turned a hobby of mine into a business by selling used furniture through eBay and, through a lot of hard work, effort and luck, managed to develop this 1-man enterprise into an eBay business turning over £000,000's through a top-rated eBay shop. A real-life eBay success story. At the risk of sounding cheesy, it totally changed my life. I could provide for my family like never before and, more importantly, was able to involve and employ some old friends of mine who had fallen on difficult times, changing their lives for the better too. It was amazing. Understandably, i was the biggest eBay and Paypal fan you could find.
Until about 10 days ago.
Our modest success had led to us starting to sell our furniture internationally, as well as in the UK, through eBay and, most recently, we had sold a sofa to a gentleman in the South of France for £2000, for which he paid through Paypal. Courier (delivery) issues meant there was a delay in shipping this piece down to him as promptly as we would have hoped and, despite being in regular contact with him regarding this delay, he decided (without our knowledge) to open a Paypal dispute to register this fact.
Almost immediately he did this, we received the following message from Paypal.
"We need your help resolving an issue with your account. To give us time to
work together on this, we've temporarily limited what you can do with your
account until the issue is resolved.
We understand it may be frustrating not to have full access to your PayPal
account. We want to work with you to get your account back to normal as
quickly as possible.
What's the problem?
For reasons relating to the safe use of the PayPal service we need some
more information about some of your recent eBay and PayPal activity."
Naturally, i was alarmed. Up until this point, we had always enjoyed a trouble-free relationship with Paypal, processing between £1000 and £5000 of payments through our fully-verified business account a month (we also have a dedicated merchant account with our bank, through which we captured the majority of payments directly from our clients). These payments ranged from a couple of hundred £'s for modest, basic pieces of furniture, up to several thousand £'s for more rare, collectable pieces but, in the 3 years we had operated this Paypal account, we had not encountered a single issue/problem, until now.
Almost immediately this Paypal message arrived, the following message landed from eBay.
"We have limited your eBay account as a precaution because our review of your account has identified an issue regarding its safe use.
As part of our efforts to provide a safe and secure environment for the online community, we regularly screen account activity. We never share exactly what gave us reason to place limitations on an account as this information could assist an individual, who may present a safety risk, avoid such limitations.
Please understand we're not accusing you of dishonest behaviour. Our top priority is to keep our online community safe, which is why we'd like to ask you for some further information.
If, once we review your further information, we're confident that the use of your account does not present a safety risk to our service and customers, we'll be happy to reinstate your account.
Here's what you need to do to resolve the limitations:
1. Log into your PayPal account.
2. Click on the 'Account' tab.
3. Click on the sub-tab 'Resolution Centre'.
4. Go to the 'Action' column.
5. Click on the 'Resolve' button to view the requirements and follow the instructions provided.
After we have gathered the necessary information, we'll review your account and notify you by email of our decision.
Please note that any selling fees owed to eBay may become due and payable
We thank you for your prompt attention to this important matter.
Regards,
eBay Trust & Safety
H41380"
I was stunned. Within the space of 15 minutes, our thriving, relatively long-standing eBay business had been stopped in its tracks.
In a state of mild panic, i followed all steps required without delay, providing both eBay and Paypal with all the information and documentary evidence requested, and took the action of refunding the whole of the £2000 Paypal payment back to the French client in order to resolve the outstanding dispute (against his wishes, as he was desperate to secure this rare, collectable piece) in the hope that this would restore the situation back to normality without further, undue delay.
I was reassured that this had been the correct course of action when the following message arrived from Paypal.
"xxxxxx xxxxxxxx has closed this dispute.
Thank you for working with your buyer to resolve their concern. We hope
you found the PayPal dispute resolution process to be helpful as you worked
toward an agreement.
Any funds associated with this payment that may have been considered
'Disputed' are now available for withdrawal.
Thank you,
PayPal"
However, far from this being the case, the following message from Paypal arrived shortly afterwards.
"To protect all members of our online community, we must part ways with you.
We've reviewed your PayPal account and determined there is excessive risk
involved in doing business with you. To minimize the disruption to your
business, you can continue to log in to your account for the next 180 days.
If you have a negative balance, please add money to your PayPal account. If
you choose not to add money and bring your balance to at least zero, we
reserve the right to collect the money through legal means.
Please go to the Resolution Center to resolve any outstanding buyer
complaints or chargebacks. If you would like to refund any of your buyers,
reply to this email with the transaction details. We'll send a refund on
your behalf using money from your PayPal balance.
Here's how to view the status of a buyer complaint:
1. Go to
www.paypal.com and log in to your account.
2. Click 'Resolution Centre' near the top of the page.
3. Select 'Open Cases' from the drop-down list next to 'View.'
4. Click 'Status' next to the transaction.
After 180 days, we'll contact you with information on how to withdraw any
money in your PayPal account. You'll be able to transfer money to your bank
account or request a check. You can't withdraw it now because we want to
make sure that you have money in your account to cover any new payment
reversals.
If you'd like more information about our policies, please read our User
Agreement. Click 'Legal Agreements' at the bottom of any PayPal page, and
then click 'User Agreement for PayPal Service.'
Yours sincerely,
PayPal"
Needless to say, at this point, i was in shock, and totally devastated. I spoke to customer services at both eBay and Paypal immediately, with a view to making some sense of this situation but, whilst the chap at eBay was helpful enough to clarify that the Paypal situation would need to be resolved in order to have the limitation on my eBay account lifted (this, to me, made some sense), the lady i spoke to in Paypal Limitations was rude, curt, unwilling to discuss the reasons behind this decision (other than to repeat that this decision was final, and that no appeal could be made) and, eventually, hung-up on me.
At this point, the gravity of the situation hit me. Our eBay business was, potentially, dead in the water, with all the associated consequences for both me and those others involved. You will not be surprised to hear that, for a short while at least, i was in bits.
I called Paypal again later that day, in the hope that, by speaking to someone else, i might get more information and help on this matter. The lady was a little more forthcoming on this occasion, and even agreed that she could not see why this decision could of been arrived at, and escalated the matter back to the department responsible for this matter to be reconsidered. However, despite being asked for further information by Paypal again (which i provided immediately and comprehensively), my hope that this could all be a misunderstanding/mistake was only to last the day or so until their response arrived.
"We have reviewed your PayPal Account, and due to the excessive risk
involved, we would like to begin parting ways in a manner that is least
disruptive to your business."
Again, this left me totally devastated. A further phone call to Paypal proved pointless, as the operative simply re-itterated that this decision was final, and that no further opportunity for appeal was available to me.
This was confirmed by the following message from Paypal that arrived yesterday.
"We appreciate your interest in PayPal; however, our decision to leave your
account in a permanent limitation status is final.
PayPal reserves the right to limit access to any account reported to be
involved in possible fraudulent or high risk behaviour. In the event of a
dispute, PayPal will seek to recover the funds from you by debiting your
PayPal balance and, if there are not sufficient funds in your PayPal
balance, PayPal reserves the right to collect your debt to PayPal by any
other legal means.
We regret any inconvenience this may cause.
Yours sincerely,
Rudi
PayPal"
So, in the course of about 7 days, i have gone from having everything to having nothing, and due to reasons i am at a loss to explain.
From the very start of this eBay business 3+ years ago, we have being honest, courteous, transparent and genuine in all of our dealings, as our near-perfect eBay feedback and Paypal record would confirm, and Paypal thinks it appropriate to twist the knife in its parting shot by accusing us of "possible fraudulent or high risk behaviour"? Unbelievable. Surely, the ultimate example of adding insult to injury.
So, what on earth do i do next?
Our pristine eBay sellers account is entirely limited (i can sign-in, but cannot access any information at all) until this Paypal issue is resolved to their satisfaction which, now, it would appear impossible to do.
From what i can gather, i cannot set-up on eBay or Paypal again as our business/bank details will probably lead to any new accounts becoming linked and limited too.
I have a personal eBay account too which, as a consequence of the link to my business (it has a different name, address, email address and bank details, but shares a delivery address as, when not at home, i chose to accept personal deliveries at work) has also been limited. I can buy through it, but cannot sell until the issues relating to my business account have been resolved, so it would appear that my personal and professional life on eBay is at an end.
It would appear i have exhausted all avenues for appeal at Paypal and, despite all this extended correspondence with them, still cannot get any concrete reasons for our expulsion from, or contact with, those who saw fit to impose this decision upon us. I really am lost for words when it comes to the lack of transparency exhibited by Paypal throughout this process. For a company in their position, I really do not know how they get away with this kind of behaviour and practice, or that it is even legally sound.
All that said, any thoughts/help/advice would be gratefully received, as I really am at a loss as to what to do next.
Regarding the business, our cashflow has practically dried up overnight, but the bills and wages still need paying and, if nothing changes in the next week or so, i will be left with no option but to let the business go which, as you will no doubt appreciate, will truly break my heart (not through self-pity however, but due to returning my old friends back to the difficulties from which this business rescued them).
I had considered selling most of my more valuable personal effects on eBay to prop things up for as long as possible but, with my personal eBay account being limited, i do not even have this option left open to me.
My apologies for this post resembling "War and Peace" but, as i hope you will appreciate, this means an awful lot to me (and others), and i am desperately trying to find a solution to, what appears to be, an impossible situation.
Thank you for reading my story and, again, many thanks in advance for any help or advice you may be able to offer.
Warm regards.
Paypla limitation ruins ebay account 
