Does eBay prefer US account over international accounts?

jeffweico · #23 08-26-2012

Also, when it comes to dealing with eBay, and/or your customers, drop the foul language. Professionalism is necessary. In here, of course, it is more relaxed.

theseller · #24 08-26-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffweico

For eBay to allow you to sell in the volumes you want, you will have to convince them that you are not a risk.

And, generally speaking, a seller outside the USA using a drop-shipper inside the USA to make USA sales is VERY risky. Dropshipping is the first problem and the fact that you are outside the USA compounds it.

There is ONE WAY I can see this working. Call eBay's office in Israel and explain to them what you want to do. You mentioned elsewhere that you were working directly with the manufacturer - maybe they will vouch for you. If you can convince eBay that the manufactuirer is standing behind you, then there IS A CHANCE - albeit a small one they will allow it. Even then, you can expect a rolling reserve on your PayPal funds.

But you MUST be honest with them from the start! If they suspect ANYTHING is not 100% Kosher, they will not want to do busines with you.

Be prepared to answer the following types of questions:

1) Being in Israel, how will you handle customer service issues? Let's say a package has gone missing... Can you call the carrier, resolve the problem and communicate that to your customer?

2) Do you have any working capital in reserve? You cannot operate this under the plan of getting the money from PayPal to pay the manufacturer BEFORE the customer's items are sent.

3) Please tell us about your previous business experience. Especially relevant would be any previous experience selling or operating in the USA, any e-commerce experience, etc.

Ebay doesn't have offices in Israel but they are setting up a development center here but it's nothing to do with eBay customer service

I can ask the manufacturer to send me an email confirming I have rights to sell their products and that I have an account with them (I can also ask them to attach my dealer account paperwork) and then fax it to eBay but I'm afraid can't explain them all that on the phone, only by email/fax/chat

1) UPS packages never go missing but if one does I will either refund the money or resend the item. Also everything is coordinated with my supplier. They are the manufacturer as well as the drop shipper

2) I have nearly $10k to back up any issues I may have to resolve with customers (returns etc) and yes I am doing business in my country and I also have a Israeli business certificate

3) I import various type of products to my country that I sell to retailers. I don't stock any product, I do order by order. I have no experience doing business in USA but eBay is a great opportunity to expand my business

theseller · #25 08-26-2012

If I open a US account and I'm in Israel How can I avoid eBay from calling to verify my SSN?

jeffweico · #26 08-26-2012

OK, so there is a start...

I said to contact eBay in Israel since you mentioned you are bad when it comes to speaking English. Someone at eBay development could perhaps help.

Here is the thing... You are going to have to talk to someone from eBay, in my opinion, to make this work. I thought that if you could get an eBay employee in Israel behind you, and explained your business to them, they might be in a better position to approach eBay's offices here in the USA to "go to bat" for you, so to speak.

Whatever you do, I would highlight to eBay the following:

1) Your import business experience.
2) The fact that you are a legal, licensed, real business in Israel.
3) You have working capital and are only using the manufacturer to ship your items as bringing them to Israel to send back to the USA is impractical and prohibitively expensive.

I would ask a couple of the retailers you deal with if you could use them for a reference just in case it is necessary. I would also ask the manufacturer to back you up. This is the most important thing. I don't see eBay calling Israeli retailers, but they will certainly call the manufacturer.

So, you want to convince eBay that you are a real Israeli businessman, who owns a real business, has working capital and experience with importing (not the same as exporting or drop-shipping, but it couldn't hurt since it IS somewhat related) and whom can be trusted. Because if you become argumentative with them, or act unprofessional in any way, they will think you are kid trying to make a buck without anything to back your business up, which can only cause problems for them.

Stealth WOULD work for you as well, but not in the volumes you want to do on one account. The only way that I know of to do what you are proposing is to have eBay's blessing from the get-go, or to buy an older account - which CAN be risky and is VERY expensive.

I wish you the best of luck.

GreenBean · #27 08-26-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by theseller

Ok and if I start an eBay Stealth account in my country but use a US drop shipper to sell items to US only will it put me on the radar? like I am in Israel and the item ships from USA to USA (I am the middleman and I never see the product but just forward orders to my drop shipper)

This post tends to suggest you would not need the SSN.

Until you establish a plan, you can not say if an SSN might be needed.

theseller · #28 08-26-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreenBean™

This post tends to suggest you would not need the SSN.

Until you establish a plan, you can not say if an SSN might be needed.

I KNOW that I won't need SSN if I open an account in my country that is why I was asking if they prefer US accounts over international (Israel in my case)

But it will still put me on their radar if I'm in Israel and the items are in USA and sold to USA

If I have a stealth US account then I won't be on the radar cause I'm in USA, items are in USA and I only ship to USA, but then there is the SSN issue

GreenBean · #29 08-26-2012

You claimed to NOT want to be stealth.

Have you been suspended on ebay Israel? US & UK accounts you said were suspended.

What active ebay accounts do you have?

theseller · #30 08-26-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreenBean™

You claimed to NOT want to be stealth.

Have you been suspended on ebay Israel? US & UK accounts you said were suspended.

What active ebay accounts do you have?

I opened my main account on July and my second account 2 weeks later
The newer account got suspended first and because the main account was linked to the new one by financial and personal information they suspended my main account as well

Right now I have no active eBay accounts

I registered them both on ebay.com

Yes I said I don't want to be stealth and I stand behind it

If there is really no other way to go, if it's a dead end, I will go stealth, but it is my last priority

GreenBean · #31 08-26-2012

So in the two weeks prior to joining here, you ended two accounts.

I accept you want to do business.

I accept ebay might be a suitable option.

You have to work out the most suitable way.

As a minimum amount of hassles, it may be preferable to operate from Israel.

Have you associates in Israel with any ebay knowledge?

Let me add, I can not respond to your reply until later... thanks

theseller · #32 08-26-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreenBean™

So in the two weeks prior to joining here, you ended two accounts.

I accept you want to do business.

I accept ebay might be a suitable option.

You have to work out the most suitable way.

As a minimum amount of hassles, it may be preferable to operate from Israel.

Have you associates in Israel with any ebay knowledge?

Let me add, I can not respond to your reply until later... thanks

Start a Israel stealth account? But again it immediately raises a red flag if I am in Israel and the items in USA and they ship to USA

There is an Israeli eBay community where I can find a lot of eBay sellers that operate from Israel but how is it going to help?

GreenBean · #33 08-26-2012

PLEASE do not edit your posts AFTER you have had a reply.

You added info that affects the reply.

slim jim · #34 08-26-2012

i know i am still considered a newb here but i am not new to business. when people bitch and moan about losing $200 to start running a business it drives me insane. it just proves they should not be in business period. there was actually someone on here that complained because i believe a dongle would cost them $10 a month. $10 a month!!!!! are people really this insane? sorry for my rant but it made me feel better

slapped · #35 08-26-2012

Ok, here is the deal,,,

First off, I want to commend the OP for a MUCH Improved attitude on this thread,,,Keep this up and a with little more improvement, you will learn a LOT,,,,,Because More Knowledgable Members like Jeffweico and RSOT will respond to your threads

Now, you should open up an account in Israel in my opinion less Headaches. Now the Information that you use to Open that account MUST BE 100% FRESH, otherwise Ebay at some point will Link your new Account to your Old ones,,,This is GUARANTEED, Here take a look at what you are up against:

http://www.palantir.com/

This is who Ebay/Paypal use to create their Cysersecurity software, The American CIA as well as EVERY Major Western goverment (Including Israel) use them as well,,,so trying to get past them with some type of "slight Alteration to YOUR info will NOT happen,,

You NEED Fresh Info, Real or Stealth, you Decide,,,

On the selling limits, these are determined by what Ebay calls a "Trust Score" this is a Score that you will NEVER Know, only Ebay Employees have access to this info,,the higher the score,, the Greater the Trust,,, the Higher the Selling limits, it is really VERY Simple,,,

Now, the trust score is influenced by a LARGE Number of things,,,the MORE Verifiable Information Ebay has, the better, Known Website, Known Brick-n-Mortar Location (an ACTUAL Store on the Street), Photo, Copy of Govnt ID on File, ect, ect, The Length of Time you have been selling, your DSR's, Amount of Sales, Disputes, along with Comments Placed on your "File" by Ebay when they do a Manual review of your account, and Sooooo Much more,,,

As your account goes foward POSITIVELY, your trust score increases, so will your Selling Limits, and at some point you will be Allowed to list 1000+ items,,,,that will NOT Happen in the Begining, not even if Mr. Donahoe HIMSELF (Ebay CEO) opens your account, so get that OUT of your mind, It took me almost 3 Years to build several Stealth accounts Ever so Slowly to that Level, you MAY get there a little sooner, ONLY because you have the benefit of this forums Knowledge, I did NOT at the time,,

Now BELIEVE me there are NO shortcuts,,,,

Oh, and on your "Dropshipping",,,Well, I would make SURE Ebay NEVER gets wind of it in ANY way, shape or Form, which includes the "Item Location" on your Listings when the time comes,,,Ebay does NOT like Dropshipping, they WILL TAKE Points from your Trust score,,,,

Another GOOD thing that you can do is to get the stealth guide and go Over the MANY different Issues in creating a FRESH account, It will save you a LOT of time, Effort, and Money,,

Now continue to Behave and Learn

theseller · #36 08-26-2012

slapped thanks for the good info I learned a lot from it, I never heard about Trust Score and now I know how it affects everything

But even if I go for an account in Israel how can I start FRESH new as you say if I can't provide them an ID? I don't really want to involve family/friends

If they only told me the real reason why they put the indefinite selling restriction on my account I could prove them everything they wanted but because there are so many possible reasons I have no idea what they really want from me, what will satisfy them and what will make them reconsider reinstating my account

I forgot to mention that my first and main account is not suspended but indefinitely restricted from selling so is there still a chance? (the other account is a goner)

theseller · #37 08-26-2012

I also remember on one of my recent chat sessions with them trying to know more about the suspension of my second account (which led to restricting the main account) they said "due to the severe nature of your policy breaches we will not be reinstating your account" and then the agent closed the window without even waiting for my response (guess he was mad?)

But the problem is every time, on chat, email and on the phone, I get different reasons that contradict each other so I am completely lost about why they suspended my account

SUVE · #38 08-26-2012

FORGET about this indefinitely suspended eb a/c you continually refer to or you are actively continually trying to get back. This won't happen. You need to move on from this eb a/c otherwise nothing will be achieved.

Take on board the advise given above & start afresh.

theseller · #39 08-26-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by SUVE

FORGET about this indefinitely suspended eb a/c you continually refer to or you are actively continually trying to get back. This won't happen. You need to move on from this eb a/c otherwise nothing will be achieved.

Take on board the advise given above & start afresh.

Ok... I guess I'll need to mind switch and forget about that account but how can I start fresh if I always have the feeling that I'm being hunted

SUVE · #40 08-26-2012

It is all in your mind in this respect.

I'd consolidate all the advise given from various folks on here on several thread posts to date on the circumstances you've outlined & start from that point onwards.

slapped · #41 08-26-2012

Ok, look, at SOME point, you are going to get a Request for More information, there is really NO way to avoid that, but you CAN Satisfy Ebay, you may have to get a little "creative" but I Assure you that it CAN be done, you will figure it out Im Sure,,,

As for your suspension,Ebay Suspends accounts in a Variety of ways, from COMPLETE Suspensions to Simple Catagory Restrictions, My Experience has ALWAYS been that whatever activity they restrict you from is NEVER reversed,,,A VERY Few Members here have reported Occasional reinstatements,,but VERY,VERY, few, so do NOT count on it, you may try for reinstatement, after all, it can't make it worse, but do NOT expect anything.

theseller · #42 08-26-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by slapped

Ok, look, at SOME point, you are going to get a Request for More information, there is really NO way to avoid that, but you CAN Satisfy Ebay, you may have to get a little "creative" but I Assure you that it CAN be done, you will figure it out Im Sure,,,

As for your suspension,Ebay Suspends accounts in a Variety of ways, from COMPLETE Suspensions to Simple Catagory Restrictions, My Experience has ALWAYS been that whatever activity they restrict you from is NEVER reversed,,,A VERY Few Members here have reported Occasional reinstatements,,but VERY,VERY, few, so do NOT count on it, you may try for reinstatement, after all, it can't make it worse, but do NOT expect anything.

I am pretty sure now that I will go stealth but I still don't know if I should get a Israel account or a US account

Both have pros and cons but (given the items are in USA and shipping to USA) I'm not sure what is best for me

Israel account:
Pro - no SSN call
Con - I get the red flag for being in Israel and shipping US items to US customers

US account:
Pro - I don't get the red flag
Con - I get the SSN call

GreenBean · #43 08-26-2012

IF these items you intend to drop-ship are in any way connected to those of your currently suspended accounts, you are in trouble.

Will they be?

theseller · #44 08-27-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreenBean™

IF these items you intend to drop-ship are in any way connected to those of your currently suspended accounts, you are in trouble.

Will they be?

Yes well of course they are the same items but I am not the only seller to sell them on eBay there, there is also Babies R Us and some other smaller retailers that sell the same products but the only sellers who sell the COMPLETE line are me and Babies R Us