Ebay Account suspended permanent

[Austin65]

I am a U.K Bronze seller with a 100% positive feedback on ebay, yet I get suspended for refunding customers when I could not supply a product. this is crazy, the suspension is permanent and two appeals have been refused, and all I did was in my opinion the right thing by refunding customers when I was unable to supply a product, apparently this pushed my defect rate to an unacceptable level, even though my months of trading prior to this was error free with no negative feedback.

Yes I agree with other comments on this forum, ebay do not care about people, they have the monopoly and it is all about making money. I have appealed again and really feel like telling ebay to get stuffed and run my business without them, the problem is that ebay, even with all it's faults does work and is a good boost to sales. when is somebody going to come up with a online auction site that gives ebay a run for its money and really threatens its existance?

[garry9061]

ebay dont care if you had 24 months of impecible selling, without 1 defect in those months and 0 negatives, if you have 1 bad month and your rating drops to below standard they will decrease your allowance or suspend you,they choose. if you get the decreased allowance you will then have 1 more turn at not screwing up and if that goes tits up well then, welcome to the club! You will more than likely wont have the account reinstated and if you do, you will have a crap page listing. Nearly everyone on this forum have had issues with ebay but now have the tools thanks to the ebook to get back on it and start making a living again. Read through the forums there is a fountain of information!! Good luck

[james13v]

how many people did you refund exactly? Did you not know prior about defect ratings?

[AccountMaster]

Hopefully someone gives them a run for their money soon! maybe that can be your next project! =D

Have you tried setting up a brand new strictly stealth account? Once you do that suspensions are laughable!

[Austin65]

I refunded 14 customers, yes I knew it would affect my ratings but did not realise it would result in suspension, besides what was I to do, I had no choice but to refund.

I am still looking into eBay Stealth, the more I look the more it looks like I have to do it.

[Bunneh]

You were refunding people that you could not supply items to... does that mean you were dropshipping?

[revenge]

Can't be drop shipping, probably ran out of inventory.

I have a rule for my employees, they are not allowed to exceed 14 refunds a month. If we reach 14 then I have to evaluation the numbers of sales received for the month to see if it's safe. If not we refund off of eBay and never had a problem.

14 refunds shouldn't affect a bronze seller. When we were bronze 14 refunds was the max we did but our sales was like 600 items a month. I would recommend refunding customers outside of eBay.

I remember years ago writing out checks to Amazon customers and they never had a problem with it. That helped our ODR.

[james13v]

Originally Posted by Austin65

I refunded 14 customers, yes I knew it would affect my ratings but did not realise it would result in suspension, besides what was I to do, I had no choice but to refund.

I am still looking into eBay Stealth, the more I look the more it looks like I have to do it.

You had no choice but to refund, but the way you went about it, you had a choice. You chose the method that gives you a defect, and 14 defects is A LOT . Especially in one category. As I mentioned, you should have messaged the buyers one by one. And just refunded them, without cancelling the transaction. You wouldn't have gotten your FVF back of course.

[james13v]

Originally Posted by revenge

Can't be drop shipping, probably ran out of inventory.

I have a rule for my employees, they are not allowed to exceed 14 refunds a month. If we reach 14 then I have to evaluation the numbers of sales received for the month to see if it's safe. If not we refund off of eBay and never had a problem.

14 refunds shouldn't affect a bronze seller. When we were bronze 14 refunds was the max we did but our sales was like 600 items a month. I would recommend refunding customers outside of eBay.

I remember years ago writing out checks to Amazon customers and they never had a problem with it. That helped our ODR.

I don't know when the last time it was that you checked on what makes a bronze powerseller, but bronze means absolutely nothing. It's a measly $3,000.00 and
100 transactions

A YEAR.

If your sales were 600 a MONTH, I can't imagine you still being a bronze.

14 defects in one month as a bronze, is a a death sentence, and then some.

[wtfebay]

Your account wont be reinstated. Period. You made 2 appeals which were denied...you can make 50 appeals and the result will be the same. It is because you failed the matrix...14 refunds is a lot when the total number of transactions isnt that high. Time to start with a new account.

[Dmshark25]

That's the worst thing you can do is sell something not in inventory and than cancel the order.

With eBay this just can't happen, you need to keep a better system of inventory, I sold an item that I didn't have in inventory 2 times in 3 years, and just purchased it retail, and shipped it, because canceling orders or active listings is one of the worst things that can lead to a restricted eBay account in a hurry

[revenge]

Originally Posted by james13v

I don't know when the last time it was that you checked on what makes a bronze powerseller, but bronze means absolutely nothing. It's a measly $3,000.00 and
100 transactions

A YEAR.

If your sales were 600 a MONTH, I can't imagine you still being a bronze.

14 defects in one month as a bronze, is a a death sentence, and then some.

I did write "when we were" past tense. We're gold now moving towards platinum. Also, if you read correctly we did not have 14 defects because the returns were off eBay. I stated 14 refunds not 14 defects nor ebay returns. We have our own return system and also get some return on eBay as well. Those buyers but not all were refunded off eBay how would eBay know?

I checked the power seller chart and your right broze is only $3000 in sales. If we're gold now then we must have been silver. This was back in September 2014 when eBay was just rolling out their new odr system.

I seen our company below average but we overcame that and been top rated for months. Nothing is impossible, been below average, refunded over 14 customers and still standing. There is a way to refund buyers off eBay and process returns off eBay.

Originally Posted by revenge

Can't be drop shipping, probably ran out of inventory.

I have a rule for my employees, they are not allowed to exceed 14 refunds a month. If we reach 14 then I have to evaluation the numbers of sales received for the month to see if it's safe. If not we refund off of eBay and never had a problem.

14 refunds shouldn't affect a bronze seller. When we were bronze 14 refunds was the max we did but our sales was like 600 items a month. I would recommend refunding customers outside of eBay.

I remember years ago writing out checks to Amazon customers and they never had a problem with it. That helped our ODR.

[revenge]

Right now we are running out of inventory on a hot selling item.

What we did? Created a sale/discount, increase the handing time and bought new inventory. Sales are still coming in.

[james13v]

Originally Posted by revenge

I did write "when we were" past tense. We're gold now moving towards platinum. Also, if you read correctly we did not have 14 defects because the returns were off eBay. I stated 14 refunds not 14 defects nor ebay returns. We have our own return system and also get some return on eBay as well. Those buyers but not all were refunded off eBay how would eBay know?

I checked the power seller chart and your right broze is only $3000 in sales. If we're gold now then we must have been silver. This was back in September 2014 when eBay was just rolling out their new odr system.

I seen our company below average but we overcame that and been top rated for months. Nothing is impossible, been below average, refunded over 14 customers and still standing. There is a way to refund buyers off eBay and process returns off eBay.

My comment was directed to your past tense statements. I still stand by everything I've said, please reread it.

The OP refunded 14 people, on ebay, NOW, as a bronze seller. That was what my comment was directed towards. Either way, being a bronze seller, and having 14 defects, as I stated, is a death sentence. There is NO coming back from that.

I'm currently below average and will be top rated again shortly. But even being below average, typically means a death sentence, as most people aren't able to get back above it in the time span ebay gives them. I got lucky.

[revenge]

Originally Posted by james13v

My comment was directed to your past tense statements. I still stand by everything I've said, please reread it.

The OP refunded 14 people, on ebay, NOW, as a bronze seller. That was what my comment was directed towards. Either way, being a bronze seller, and having 14 defects, as I stated, is a death sentence. There is NO coming back from that.

I'm currently below average and will be top rated again shortly. But even being below average, typically means a death sentence, as most people aren't able to get back above it in the time span ebay gives them. I got lucky.

I did state the you were correct. Relax and take a chill pill.

[james13v]

Originally Posted by revenge

I did state the you were correct. Relax and take a chill pill.

I am chill. My response was towards you saying to me " if you read correctly". I did read correctly.

[revenge]

Can't remember the exact year but it was about 3 or 4 years ago. We had about 20 orders we couldn't fulfill.

Starting from 9am to 5pm we called every customers and explained to them that there was going to be a delay. They had the option to cancel or wait for item to arrive along with a $20 discount written out on a check. Many customers decided to wait and took the check with the discount. Loss a little bit of profit but made it back a few months after. The important thing here is that we saw a possible suspension lurking around but found a solution (shortcut).

Different story now. Was just informed yesterday that one of our hot selling items is running out of stock with only 7 left. Solution, create a sale discount, increase the handing time, and wait for the inventory to arrive. On the same day the new inventory arrives we will ship out to customers. All items will arrive on time.

There's always a solution.

[wtfebay]

Originally Posted by Dmshark25

That's the worst thing you can do is sell something not in inventory and than cancel the order.

^^^^^^^^^This.

I always buy a certain quantity and post that quantity when listing the auction. If it is getting low and I want to sell more of them, I make sure I have it in hand FIRST. Then edit the available quantity or list another auction. Be safe, not sorry.

[jeffweico]

Originally Posted by Austin65

the problem is that ebay, even with all it's faults does work and is a good boost to sales. when is somebody going to come up with a online auction site that gives ebay a run for its money and really threatens its existance?

Never. eBay was there with the right business model at the right moment in time. It will never happen again, at least not the same way that eBay did. Any new site would have to attract both buyers and sellers in massive numbers to be successful and it would cost a fortune to do so - tens of millions if not hundreds of millions. Then, they would not have the experience that eBay does in handling problems and customers. It just is not a very good investment for a business to pursue anymore.

It is just like Studio 54 during the Disco era. In it's day, it was THE place to see and be seen, there were hundreds of people lining up, HOPING to be chosen to get in. Celebrities flocked there. Everybody and his brother wanted to get into the club. Then the original owner got busted for tax evasion. A corporation took it over and it died in a couple of years. The magic was gone. There will NEVER be another Studio 54. Not that another club could not be successful, but you cannot rebuild the past.

Etsy became a success story by focusing on handmade items and vintage items. But even with their success, they are tiny compared to eBay.

[Austin65]

Hindsight is a powerful tool, with what I know now I would certainly have done things differently. No I was not drop shipping, I disagree with it. The product in question was the game Pie face, demand had well and truly outstripped supply, I had 40 on order with my supplier, this was reduced to upon 12 upon delivery and I managed to source some from another supplier but not enough to fill my pre order sales, and yes refunding outside of ebay would have been the answer, with hindsight, I would have done that.

[Bunneh]

Droppshiping or preorders are still selling items you dont have.

Its not good for long term though.
It can work if you sell a mixture of preorders and a lot of items you do have in stock.