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BooMer Story
 

Hi everyone, Here is my Story and hopefully New and Old members of this forum can learn from this.

Well I have been in the Optical Business for over 12 Years and had a Lab and Doctor on premise. I sold that business and opened up a Sunglass Only Store and been doing that for the past 8 years. Less hassle and paperwork to deal with.
I was approach one day by one of my customer who just started selling on ebay and asked me if I would like to do a consignment with my sunglasses. I agreed and gave her around 5 popular pairs to start out. She gave me her Ebay ID and item # so I could check on the status. She listed and re-listed with no bids and sales. So that ended and I got my sunglasses back and it didn't cost me anything. I looked at her pictures and the descriptions she put and thought to myself "No wonder they didn't sell" She had blurry photos and a very short description. I knew I could take better, clearer photos and give a detailed description. So I started an Ebay account back in 2000 and l listed in the regular auction format and to my surprise I got bids but when it all ended I either lost money or just made a little. I knew I was new with Zero Feedback and that was why I was getting some bids just below my cost. Well I still shipped out the items and received positive feedback. I also did some shill bidding on this account and got 7 day suspension but it was reopened with out a problem.

After building up my feedback My bids began to grow and I was making profit now. I only listed about 10 at a time but when they had the Buy it now feature and me gaining more knowledge of ebay and options I set my starting price higher and with a Buy it now option. People was buying it left and right.

Then Ebay created the "Ebay Store" and Listings only cost 1 to 3 cents to list. That was when I went big and started listing like crazy. Taking pictures and writing descriptions is very time consuming but I had about 600 items in my Ebay Store. Keep in mind that I was doing this all by myself. Listing, Ordering, Packing, Shipping, responding to emails etc..

I now got myself Platinum PowerSeller Status and everything was smooth sailing. Then I received a Phone call from my distributor telling me that I was not allowed to sell on ebay since it was in breach of our Contract. Apparently they found out about me because I left my business card in every sunglass I shipped to provide better customer service and warranty repairs. I had over 1800 feedback and had to remove all my listing or risk losing the account with the distributor. So I had no choice but to agree but didn't really listen to the warning. I wasn't going to lose my ebay income just that easy so I started a New Ebay account using different ID and left the other one on standby for just buying stuff.
Well I had to start all over again with Zero feedback and work my way up. I changed all my info to my girlfriend name and address and didn't leave any phone or business card that could be traced back to me by my distributor. Well remember I said taking photos and listing description is time consuming? Well I reused my old listing format and pictures in my new account. Bad decision on my part. Keep in mind both account was legit and never suspended indefinitely. That will come later on in the story. After building up my feedback again to about 1000 and a Gold Powerseller status, I get another call from my distributor telling me that they know that I am still selling on Ebay. This time they followed up on it by sending me a registered mail stating that they will not renew my contract with "CHANEL". That brand was my biggest seller 70% of my sales was Chanel. I had couple of months before my contract ends so I ordered a lot to stock up Probably $50,000 worth of Sunglasses for Chanel.

I knew the end was coming So I prepared by stocking up. So now my account with Chanel is closed but I was still listing and selling other brands. The other brands was not that strict on enforcing their contract as Chanel.
Well now I am up to 1500 feedback and ebay raised their listing fees, and Final Value fees. I wasn't making that much profit from the other brands and 5 years has past and ebay increased their fees again, This time a lot Ebay Store 12% Final Value Fee?? More and more Sunglass sellers are selling and competition is everywhere and Ebay decided to increase the FEES. Now I really wasn't making that much.

So I was looking for ways to save on my Final Value fees and this was what I found. I tried the Store referral credit but that was once in a blue moon, and I tried filing a dispute with the buyer to "Mutually agree not to complete this transaction" with all my sunglass sales through ebay. This method worked most of the time and I was saving $12 to $25 on final value fees that I got back as credit. Then I got reported to ebay from some buyers who felt that it was unethical to do that. That in returned raised a flag to ebay why I filed a dispute on almost all my High priced Transaction. So I get limited on listing in the Sunglass Category to only 1 or 2 a week. I looked around to find other things to make up for my income So I resorted to selling dvd copying digital software. This is what did it for me and worked for about 3 months. I make mostly all profit since the item was being emailed and was easily reproduced. Well I got the Listing cancellation and waring but relisted anyway. Then I got the vero tutorial. So I stop selling the DVD Software.
Everything was fine and I think they gave me a lot of outs because I was a powerseller but it only took one more violation to give me the 7 day suspension. That violation was a College textbook that I had listed that came with a free email of a .PDF that I got reported from a vero member. I received the 7 day suspension and was told not to use ebay in any way. Well I had a chance to get my account reinstated but my girlfriend did not read the suspension notice and bought some womens clothing. I waited the 7 days and emailed ebay back and was told that I was indefinitely suspended because I have use my account to purchase stuff. I appealed and was denied.

I thought to myself I still got my first account that I had under my name with 1800 feedback so I'll just go back on that account to relist and go back to normal. Well that account was shut down after 2 weeks and was linked to the suspended account. I was sad and Mad at the same time. So I opened a new account under my sister name and that account got linked and shut down.

I said WTF is going on. So I did a search on ebay suspension and found this forum and read before trying to open another account and I got the EbayStealth book. I reopened another account under my mom name but found out later about the Feedback manipulation and was instantly suspended indefinitely.

Now I have a account under my Girlfriend father name and address with over 350 feedback and good for 4 months and counting. But the only thing is the STRICT EBAY VERO 30 DAY LISTING LIMITATIONS that I don't like.

That is my story.
BooMer

jeez very interesting to hear peoples stories

Are you running shop as well now?

Hope you are doing well

Noel

It's going to be hard now to sell ANY kind of branded item. full stop.!

interesting story. good luck!

Noel, My physical store is closed now and all inventory is just collecting dust.:(
I have found cosmetic stuff to sell on ebay to get by.

jeez sorry to hear that

hope your doing ok


noel

BooMer id be careful with cosmetics aswell:/ just as notorious for vero.

Good story BooMer, a good read.

Good luck with your Girlfriend father's account. Dont' go crazy with that one and you should be okay.

I thought it's OK to sell as long the stuff is authentic! I too bought some things for resale, spent some serious money on inventory, but can't list but every 30 days? Not fair.. We are paying for all the ⊗⊗⊗⊗ being sold on Ebay..

Why dont you list a couple things in the 'sell' section of this forum? Are you still selling authentic sunglasses?

pukker story boomer. good stuff !!

Noel~~ I am doing ok. I'm not really hurting on cash right now to worry.

Greg~~ I've been selling my Cosmetics for a long time 4 years and never had any problems.

Aspkin~~ Thank you and I am taking it easy with this account.

Lyda~~ I know what you mean and how you feel. Ebay's Making it tough for sellers all the time. They need to Hire Real Professionals to say what is Real and what is not and not to rely on ebay staff that just graduated high school.

Divine~~ I do have the Authentic Sunglasses listed in the forum in the Sell section.

BadEbay~~ Thank you, glad you like it.

thats what ebay have said acttualy modee. i watched a video of ebays lawyer or spokesperson. they won a case against tiffany as you know. He said that they will strive to make ebay a level playing field for people who sell genuine items. and to deter brand names from wiping all off the site. Seems a waste of time as there all vero members and can wipe even genuine items if they want. stilffle all competition. surely if you had a tiffany item bought for you and you wanted to sell itafter a year..why not indeed. why not !!!

why not make this " ourBay " and we sell all our goods here. ( anyone want a wedding hat : very posh . ) could be an avalanche of users now ebay have peeved all thier sellers off. Stop !! writing books Aspkin.. start writing user agreements !!!! then you can suspend too.. ( joke ) slap..ouch !!!!

I should stop replying to threads and start working on more updates... Arg!

I think I'll have to wait until I get back from my trip. I leave on Monday and I'll be gone for a week. Mike is busy as well, so it's probably best. I don't want to rush things either.

Modee, I think mike is ivegotinfo.

Great Story! I love hearing about the war stories, ALL Very Interesting! I'll head over to the sale section and take a look at some genuine designer sunglasses! LOL

Then maybe you should sell ⊗⊗⊗⊗..:D

What? And risk being Suspended... and back to square one. :eek:

Imthatguy........Selling ⊗⊗⊗⊗ is just not my style. I like to be able to sleep at night. I think it is terrible to rip off unsuspecting buyers like that. I have seen ⊗⊗⊗⊗ sold on Ebay for little less than the real thing.....Of course I can't sell my item, when ⊗⊗⊗⊗rs are competing with seamingly identical item, but cheaper..Honest sellers are in the worst position; restricted by Ebay and competing against "⊗⊗⊗⊗rs".

Great Story! I am also under the 30 day limitation. Does anyone know how long they keep you on that?

I personally feel you should of not did the mutual cancel agreement thing to get back your fvfs. Had I been the buyer, I'd probably report you as well. That is basically raping ebay of their fees. I only did it when they requested a refund.

As for sunglasses, yes ⊗⊗⊗⊗ ones give you more profit margin, as they typically cost $1.50-$3.00 with good ⊗⊗⊗⊗ at $5.00. Then you sell them for $20 on ioffer. lol. I'd do it but I'm just tired of selling physical crap you have package, mail, etc.

Thanks, my 30 day vero selling limitation is up. I think it's been about 45 days since they gave it to me. I'm going to try to start listing my sunglasses again. Hopefully they will let me list more than 2 items before Ebay come up with some other Bull S*** excuse. I will keep you guys posted on my outcome over this upcoming week.

BooMer

I was reading your story and I wonder if they give you problems if the item is used? Do you still get the same 30 day warning?

I sell ⊗⊗⊗⊗, I sleep quite well when my money comes in.

Update on my 30 day limit.
 

Well it's been awhile now since I contacted ebay. But My selling limits have not been lifted yet. After over 45 days of waiting I am still getting the selling limits in the designer sunglass category. That is a bunch of Bull because I manage to become a Gold/Silver Power seller with 4.9 DSR across the board and I still get treated like this.

This is the email I got from ebay.

"Dear "BooMer"<~~~ (Not my real ID or name),

Thank you for writing eBay in regard to your listing concerns.

eBay is committed to providing a positive buying experience on our site.
In order to help maintain a safe trading environment, selling limits are
occasionally placed on accounts.

Sellers who have a good track record on our site and are confident in
the authenticity and origin of their items may be eligible to have their
selling limits raised. Our considerations include buyer feedback, time
and activity on site, compliance with eBay policies, and other factors.

We've carefully reviewed your account and history with eBay, and we're
sorry to say that we can't change your current selling limits. Please
note, however, that the restrictions you're experiencing are only for
certain categories or items. You should be able to list other items
without encountering these restrictions.

Please contact us in 90 days, and we'll review your account again. In
the meantime, we encourage you to continue to follow all policies and
build a positive selling history on eBay.

For the latest tips, tools, information, and resources for selling on
eBay, please visit eBay's Seller Central pages:

eBay: Redirect

Also, please visit eBay's Help pages for more information on our listing
policies and guidelines:

Rules for Sellers – Overview

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Emery

eBay Customer Support"


Well I'm not worried about it anymore because I have my items in other optical shops around my area and not on ebay.

BooMer

I think that is a little rediculous. I can only imagine what the excuse from ebay would be...

I was able to list one item today in the category. I think I get 1 every 7 days or more. I have to do some testing on what is my limit now.

BooMer

Boomer, I got exact same email from Ebay when I asked them to lift restrictions...And they say they have "carefully reviewed the account and selling history?".. Yea, right!:pound:

LOOOL I got the same one too and I have only been on ebay for 2 minutes and selling 3 items LMAO...

Great story Boomer, Massive outlay of $50,000 for the glasses, I would be too scared of getting stuck with them.

Thats a long story

Update: Lifting Limits Denied Again!!!!
 

So the last time I contacted ebay on this account to lift my limits they told me to wait 90 days. Well I waited longer about 11 months to be exact. This is what I sent them.
"I get this message when I try to list some stuff.
Can you remove my limits. Please tell me what I need to do to lift my
selling limits. I am a TOP RATED POWER SELLER NOW With Excellent
FEEDBACK
Thank You"

This is what Ebay Replied back with.

"Dear eBay member,

Thank you for writing eBay in regard to being unable to list the item on
eBay.

I recognize your concern and want to quickly and responsively resolve
your concern. I appreciate the efforts you have already taken to resolve
this issue. However, let me explain you that, this selling limit is not
a disciplinary action; it is a default account state.

Every seller on eBay has been faced with this restriction at some point
or another as their account has grown. Eventually the seller can request
to have their account reviewed and cleared to sell luxury items in
larger quantities.

The best course of action for you at this time would be to continue
selling your luxury items on the site within your limits. If you have
other types of items you may be able to list them on the site once you
have hit your weekly limits to help you build your selling reputation on
eBay and generate revenue.

Moreover, first we will need to ensure that your PayPal account is
verified. Do you know if it is?

Thus, Verifying your PayPal account is easy to do, but first you'll need
to go to www.paypal.com and log in. After you do that, please follow
these steps.

1. Go to your profile, then add and confirm your bank account.
2. Once you have completed the process, please update your PayPal
account by selecting "My Account", then "Profile", then "Selling
Preferences" and choose "Auctions".
3. Click on "Add" and enter your eBay User ID.
Re-Linking your PayPal Account (There are 2 ways to do this)

Re-Linking your PayPal account - The training way

1) Since your account is verified, what we can try is re-linking your
PayPal account to your eBay account. I can guide you through the steps
if you need me to.

2) Can you please go to you're my eBay page? To get there click the My
eBay link at the top of the eBay homepage. Then click the Addresses link
on the left side of the page. Let me know if you have troubles finding
that link.

3) Then, please click the link called "View All Shipping Addresses". If
your account is not linked, you will see a button at the top of the page
to add your PayPal address. Please click this and follow the site's
instructions.

Re-Linking your PayPal Account - The PayPal way

1) At this time you will need to link your eBay account to your PayPal
account. You can do this by logging into your PayPal account. Then
follow these 3 easy steps:

2)a. Make sure that the My Account tab is selected at the top of the
page, then click the Profile tab on the far right of the screen, found
directly below the Auction Tools tab.

b. Under the "Selling Preference" heading, click the first link for
"Auctions".

c. Click the Add button and you're on your way to linking your eBay
account to PayPal. It's that simple!

However, if you are still facing the problem in listing your item I
request you to write back to us with the exact error you are receiving
so that we could provide you with the precise solution to solve your
problem.

There is unfortunately no timeline for the removal of the limits from
your account. Additionally, the limits are variable in nature, and as
such we are unable to define them more clearly for you. They change
depending on a wide variety of situations.

While we are unable to currently remove your limits, you may wish to
appeal them some time in the future. At that point we will review your
account again and determine whether or not we can lift those
restrictions.

Please note that only a small percentage of items will be restricted by
these limits. A majority of items should still be permissible for you to
list without any restrictions or penalties.

We are committed to making your eBay experiences pleasant and
fulfilling.

Sincerely,
Suzanne L.

eBay Customer Support"


I just don't get them. My paypal account is already verified and linked to the ebay account but that is still not good enough. They just want me to appeal to get denied again. 100% Positive feedback, Over 2000 Feedback, Top Rated Seller 4.9 - 5.0 DSR's, Silver/Gold Power Seller status is what I have and is not what ebay is looking for to lift limits.

The only major violation was a Listing removal I received on Copyright violation for some coupons that were legit.

So to all who are still looking to lift limits Don't Bother trying. If you have not received any Selling Limits and want it to stay that way then you should KEEP a perfect squeaky clean record with NO VIOLATION WHATSOEVER FOR THE WHOLE LIFETIME OF YOUR EBAY ACCOUNT.

Hope this helps.
BooMer

So, once you have your listing removed you are screwed forever... Better chance to start all over I think.. They make you think high positive feedback and DSR is relevant, but not so....

Start a website selling those glasses. I saw my friend who owns 4 kiosks selling them 2 for $20 glasses get rich. He just bought a house and car....cash! These days, ebay is only for those selling their used stuff, not for a serious business. For that, go with website or storefront with real merchant account no one can fvck with.

Thats a great story and you get 10/10 for perseverence with them.

what a cool idea i always see those in the mall and thought how much those could possibly make. but its cool to know he did well with acouple of them!

Legend of a post here.

And been there since 2008 :boink:

True but was unearthed by another user so...