| Quickie | 07-25-2007 01:51 AM |
Is eBay OVERsuspending?
Browsing through the Trust & Safety forums at eBay, you get the distinct feeling that eBay is suspending MORE these days.
MORE often, MORE harshly, MORE unfairly, MORE accounts.
In light of the recent surge in suspension activity this is understandable.
But you also get the distinct feeling that the victims are often not telling everything.
Heck, they're clueless.
They never know what hit them!
Given that they're on eBay property, and their user ID is visible, it's plausible that confession is not exactly what they're there for...
It may then seem disturbing to entertain the thought that eBay may often be UNDERsuspending.
Suspending LESS visibly than their information could prompt them to.
I have on occasion had the opportunity to make mistakes -- and took it.
When account A was in breach, account B, which was linked to A by careless information, fell as well. Yet, to my surprise, account C, which I knew to be linked by the same careless information, was left alone.
At first I thought " They missed it. They're not perfect, they missed it..."
4 months later, Account C (with 44 feedback score) has an auction cancelled for "going against the letter and spirit of the eBay values etc etc..".
What this auction had wrong with it, is that it was a low priced auction (not penny auction, but 10 cents) and had this text:
" If item sells for less than 50 cents, no need to make payment (because of PayPal fees)"
They could not have picked this up by title scanning alone. They had to read descriptions, and read deep. Since they cannot read 1 million auctions every day, it's clear that this account had been singled out for scrutiny.
I suddenly became very weary of this account, in my mind, it was compromised. I realized I would not be able to do any serious selling with this account, so I tested the waters. I bid on 2 ebook penny auctions. The following day, it was suspended. No reason given.
The penny auctions are usually a kiss of death for new accounts, which are kept under close scrutiny. But this account was 14 months old. The fact that 2 penny auctions triggered closure means that the account was heavily flagged.
Lesson learned.
If after an eBay shakedown you still have some assets left standing, they're probably on shaky ground. eBay leaves them standing to watch and see what you do with them.
Cheers | 
