WTF is eBay even thinking

[dozen12x12]

WTF is eBay even thinking?

I'm running a legit business. We have a trademarked brand. Manufacture and hold stock. Amazon seller. Registered S Corp with EIN. Good bank. Shipping from stock in the USA to American customers.

I registered a new eBay account with the legit business details, got an account with 500k limit. Went to post the first item and WHAM, the account is limited. Realized it's a nightmare to even figure out HOW to email or call these guys, so dropped it for a few months.

I finally figured out how to email a ticket. The first response:

Your eBay account has been permanently suspended because we noticed activity that we believe is a risk to our community.

The safety of our community is a top priority for us, so our decision to permanently suspend your account is final and can’t be appealed.

(haha, yeah, read that already on so many forums and heard about a lot of people getting reinstated after a "whoops" so it seems the words in this message are nearly meaningless, right?)

I replied - there must be some mistake - It's obviously because I accidentally opened my account while traveling internationally (probably a huge mistake). Let me prove my details are correct with whatever you need. BTW here's all these other selling profiles where we sell to show how legit we are.

Nope, they sent me the same copy pasta again.

So I replied AGAIN: come on, clearly, there's been some mistake here. How to escalate this so someone who'd review the facts as I'm not breaking the ToS (I read them)

We have reviewed your account and have determined that your business may not be right for the eBay marketplace. We have observed some risk patterns which may caused bad buying experiences. As a result, we have indefinitely restricted your selling privileges in all regions.

In addition, you may not open a new account to sell items with, as that account will also be subject to an indefinite selling restriction. At this point, your account will remain restricted from selling on eBay. You will need to find another venue to sell your items.

Wow. For real? They really reviewed my business? They know nothing about my business.

Is this company relying on some overactive HAL 9000 bot to run the shop over there? If eBay wasn't posting increasing revenue in their quarterlies, I'd say whatever, the feeling's mutual.

But we can't ignore the places where the buyers go shopping. And my competitors are on there.

We sell a few standing electric scooter products. Nothing sexy. Nothing risky. We have less than a 1% return rate. The product carries our brand name, our photos, our everything. The S-Corp is 6 years old. I *did* open the eBay account while traveling in Asia, but tried to explain that, and seems to have been ignored.

So. eBay wants us to just keep pounding on the door to get through this tier 1 customer service wasteland? Because there might be a "whoops our bad" if I managed to talk to the right guy?

Or they just decided that a voodoo decision making scheme about who gets to sell and who doesn't is the way to grow? Stealth is like the witch doctor ninja for your eBay woes.

Intuitively it seems the scammers won and drove eBay to wreck it's relationships with real sellers.

Insane.

(I'm butt hurt, sorry for the rant).

12x12x12

[muzzie]

Originally Posted by dozen12x12

WTF is eBay even thinking?



I'm running a legit business. We have a trademarked brand. Manufacture and hold stock. Amazon seller. Registered S Corp with EIN. Good bank. Shipping from stock in the USA to American customers.



I registered a new eBay account with the legit business details, got an account with 500k limit. Went to post the first item and WHAM, the account is limited. Realized it's a nightmare to even figure out HOW to email or call these guys, so dropped it for a few months.



I finally figured out how to email a ticket. The first response:







(haha, yeah, read that already on so many forums and heard about a lot of people getting reinstated after a "whoops" so it seems the words in this message are nearly meaningless, right?)



I replied - there must be some mistake - It's obviously because I accidentally opened my account while traveling internationally (probably a huge mistake). Let me prove my details are correct with whatever you need. BTW here's all these other selling profiles where we sell to show how legit we are.



Nope, they sent me the same copy pasta again.



So I replied AGAIN: come on, clearly, there's been some mistake here. How to escalate this so someone who'd review the facts as I'm not breaking the ToS (I read them)







Wow. For real? They really reviewed my business? They know nothing about my business.



Is this company relying on some overactive HAL 9000 bot to run the shop over there? If eBay wasn't posting increasing revenue in their quarterlies, I'd say whatever, the feeling's mutual.



But we can't ignore the places where the buyers go shopping. And my competitors are on there.



We sell a few standing electric scooter products. Nothing sexy. Nothing risky. We have less than a 1% return rate. The product carries our brand name, our photos, our everything. The S-Corp is 6 years old. I *did* open the eBay account while traveling in Asia, but tried to explain that, and seems to have been ignored.



So. eBay wants us to just keep pounding on the door to get through this tier 1 customer service wasteland? Because there might be a "whoops our bad" if I managed to talk to the right guy?



Or they just decided that a voodoo decision making scheme about who gets to sell and who doesn't is the way to grow? Stealth is like the witch doctor ninja for your eBay woes.



Intuitively it seems the scammers won and drove eBay to wreck it's relationships with real sellers.



Insane.



(I'm butt hurt, sorry for the rant).



12x12x12

That is very common. Send them emails over and over until someone with a gray matter in place will reply. Sometimes it takes more than 10 angry emails to succeed. As they are heavily relying on bots now, and do not actually check anything by hand unless you are very insisting.

[nanyitech]

They just ban new accounts randomly, and you just need call and email them, usually they will lift it if the account is not stealth. And YES, they are sh*t

[dozen12x12]

So all this language about "this is permanent" is just hot air?

It's like no doesn't equal no. No = maybe. No = maybe later, but will you ask again more nicely, maybe at 3:57 am?

No = call me 10 more times and Venmo me $50 and we'll see. (I think I heard that on Tinder once, haha )

[muzzie]

Originally Posted by dozen12x12

So all this language about "this is permanent" is just hot air?

It's like no doesn't equal no. No = maybe. No = maybe later, but will you ask again more nicely, maybe at 3:57 am?

No = call me 10 more times and Venmo me $50 and we'll see. (I think I heard that on Tinder once, haha )

It is a generic template, but real info can be obtained only by kicking them 10 times. Just because i think your account creation methods were not perfect, and as they heavily rely on bots now, that stick to the smallest error that anyone can make, and ban you. But if you manage to talk to a normal rep, you will be reinstated, if you are really legit, of course.

[rsot]

Originally Posted by dozen12x12

So all this language about "this is permanent" is just hot air?

It's like no doesn't equal no. No = maybe. No = maybe later, but will you ask again more nicely, maybe at 3:57 am?

No = call me 10 more times and Venmo me $50 and we'll see. (I think I heard that on Tinder once, haha )

muzzie is right on with the need for repetitive prodding

[dozen12x12]

Wouldn't this encourage eBay's sellers to repetitively hound their customer service team?

I can't imagine that helps their CS meet any goals or improve company morale. Sheesh!

Maybe that explains the army of tier 1 copy-paster CS reps.


Should I keep replying to this one open ticket? Open a new ticket through "Contact us"? Or calling that number (866-540-3229 or 866-961-9253‬)? I called but the automated message says a few times that they don't want to talk if it's not about a fraud issue.

There is surely is a point where a no = no. I just don't want to blow a future opportunity by literally meeting the definition of stalking.

[muzzie]

Ebay is just a piece of nonsense lately, but what to do. Just continue to spam them via emails and eventually that will help.

[murdered_by_ebay]

ebay don't care if your details are genuine and how established you are. this may play a role later down the road if you start receiving large turnovers but on new accounts they really don't check any of this

they just created a system under which people get suspended randomly and anyone can be hit with this so that legitimate sellers are forced to give up and fraudsters of various types would come through

they just reduce verification to bot programming and opinion of their reps based in the philippines etc. so that eventually legitimate sellers will get suspended a few times and will go elsewhere while fraudsters will learn how this works and will be opening accounts in massive quantities knowing that a portion will be certain to pass this "verification"

the problem that most legitimate sellers have is that they want to run the business honestly but ebay do not behave honestly suspending people randomly without any real checks so eventually you either forget about honesty and start behaving like a crook since you are dealing with crooks or you will have to give up

the good news is that you are not blacklisted so you can apply with your real details over and over again

[dozen12x12]

Whoa, that's amazing... it seems like eBay dug this hole for themselves with the idea that more sellers = more profit. So they lower the bar to nothing but bots. I think that explains why people would focus on how to cheat the bots.

But if they attract the wrong kind of sellers I'm not sure what they are left with. This mess, I guess.

[dozen12x12]

I read the eBay user agreement so that in good faith, I can see if I'd broken any "rule".

Interestingly, the word "true" doesn't appear in the user agreement I'm not sure if providing eBay True and Correct info is something we ever agree to (hope someone could correct me). The word Accurate only shows in the context of product listings.

You don't have to reside in the country for the platform/region you register for. They say you CAN have more than one account; just don't post all the same products to more than one account. They say you CAN sell from stock that is held abroad (i.e. dropshipping or sophisticated seller).

Their bot sending an automated "you're suspended for life" email doesn't appear to constitute any type of legal notice according to the agreement, it's not even addressed to a person or entity, just a username.

In fact, copy/paste messages could easily be an accidental click by an errant CS worker who speaks English as a second language and doesn't know the rules either. How would we be expected to know if we can't even contact them through a reasonable channel?

It's not even clear if the "you" (meaning us) mentioned in their contract is me personally or the legal entity under which I registered.

In any case, of course they can still ban for any reason they like. Now I see why Aspkin exists - eBay wants to play games, so playing games is what they get.

[muzzie]

Yes, the price for operating on this wild market is a complete lack of stability and a need to play games all the time. But this is how it is.

[dozen12x12]

Someone PM'd me with some great suggestions about an alternative way to contact eBay, thank you for that insight! I can't reply, it says I need 25 posts to reply privately.

Your information might be useful to the others here too, would encourage sharing it publically if you feel up to it!

[rsot]

Originally Posted by dozen12x12

I think that explains why people would focus on how to cheat the bots.

Exhausting but have to be on that bandwagon to stay afloat

[dozen12x12]

Got another PM from someone who read this thread, but I can't reply, getting this message below.

Sorry, you can only send messages to the Marketplace Sellers group until you have 25 posts.

[rsot]

Originally Posted by dozen12x12

Got another PM from someone who read this thread, but I can't reply, getting this message below.

Correct - 25 posts needed on your end

[Gotya108]

Their entire system is run by bots. You opened an account while traveling and on a foreign IP then logged in on a foreign IP I´m surprised you were able to get in to the my accounts age to post a product. More times then not you´d be hit with a "we noticed some usual activity on your account" error and would have to verify your account via SMS and more then likely still call them and get transferred to 3 or 4 different account and security specialist to get things resolved. I once had a 5 day long ordeal with them because I logged in to manage sales while visiting my in-laws in Sao Paulo.

[yungsc1005]

Originally Posted by Gotya108

Their entire system is run by bots. You opened an account while traveling and on a foreign IP then logged in on a foreign IP I´m surprised you were able to get in to the my accounts age to post a product. More times then not you´d be hit with a "we noticed some usual activity on your account" error and would have to verify your account via SMS and more then likely still call them and get transferred to 3 or 4 different account and security specialist to get things resolved. I once had a 5 day long ordeal with them because I logged in to manage sales while visiting my in-laws in Sao Paulo.

Better off using a VPN

[JamesLee]

try to register again by new PC with Residential IP and fresh phone number if you could not appeal it back

[rsot]

Originally Posted by Gotya108

Their entire system is run by bots. You opened an account while traveling and on a foreign IP then logged in on a foreign IP I´m surprised you were able to get in to the my accounts age to post a product. More times then not you´d be hit with a "we noticed some usual activity on your account" error and would have to verify your account via SMS and more then likely still call them and get transferred to 3 or 4 different account and security specialist to get things resolved. I once had a 5 day long ordeal with them because I logged in to manage sales while visiting my in-laws in Sao Paulo.

Oh man - 5 days

[muzzie]

Originally Posted by yungsc1005

Better off using a VPN

Never use VPN for fresh accounts.

[james_112233]

It's a labyrinth ebay is. A rollercoaster of anxiety when it goes wrong, euphoria when it goes right and you have multiple accounts bringing in multiple streams of revenue.

All I can say is good luck, but keep trying. Those of us selling truly appreciate our accounts even more when we read about other peoples misfortune.