Ebay terminated account. (As a Buyer only)

[ibn2019dxb]

So guys, I need your help.

Here is my case:
- I am a totally new user of Ebay/Paypal. Never used it before. Both Ebay accounts/Paypal were opened 25/DEC/2018.
- I am not selling anything. I am only a Buyer buying various items for my private collection (golf clubs and books).
- I am living in Dubai (UAE).
- I am using Shop and Ship US address because most of the Sellers that sell the items I am looking for, are willing to ship to US only. Anyway Shop And Ship service is amazing, safe, and very cheap to ship items from US to UAE.
- I have bank account/credit cards (100% legit) issued in Dubai (UAE).
- I have been verified in great detail by Paypal and my account is in excellent standing. I am buying items for about 30k USD per month average for my private collection.
- Nevr had any dispute with Paypal. I just had once a case opened with Ebay for a Seller that did not deliver. It was ruled in my favor.

Right now my Ebay account has been terminated (not suspended). I have provided them all docs required. (passport, residency visa, etc). I spoke by phone with them and answered all their questions.
EBAY said that I am a threat to the Ebay community. LOL. Immagine me, as an educated woman, living in the UAE, and buying only Books and Golf collector items being considered as a threat. )

Conclusion:
- Ebay account terminated although I am ONLY a Buyer. I am actually a totally 100% legit buyer. No scams. No issues. No other Ebay accounts.
- Paypal account in excellent standing as per their own affirmations. Paypal keeps telling me that from their point of view I am a perfect/ideal client and that they are very happy with me. Passed all verifications of Paypal as I am a totally legit client anyway.

Everything started when suddenly Ebay started rejecting my payments for no reason. Paypal said everything si fine on their end. Still Ebay payments did not go through Ebay checkout even as guest.
Ebay reps (email records) told me to ask Sellers to send me directly invoices to Paypal since clearly their checkout system has issues with me. Did that. It worked perfectly. Paypal processed all my payments.

15 days later, Ebay account terminated for being a threat to the Ebay community. Paypal account in excellent standing working perfectly.

Any ideas?

[nickopedia]

OP: Sorry to hear your eBay buyer account got terminated because they said you are a threat.

Is this a UAE or USA eBay account?
How old is the account?
How are you accessing the account? Using public wifi, mobile, VPN?

[ibn2019dxb]

It is a UAE based account. I have 5 shipping addresses, all provided by Shop and Ship service. One of these addresses is US based where all my shippings were going.
The account was opened on 25DEC2018.
Access account is done from my office and home wifi. Never used VPN.
Email account is my private real one.
Paypal account also has me registered as UAE user. Passed all their verifications easily since I am a 100% legit client anyway.

I mean the account is on EBAY US but both Ebay and Paypal know that I am based in the UAE.
I have been very opened and never tried to hide anything about my identity.
I have 85 Positive feedback (100%) as Buyer.

[nickopedia]

I do agree this does seem highly unusual, especially considering the number of prior successful transactions on the account.

The funny thing about eBay is they don't often give you the true reason why they suspend accounts.

Something on your account or the way you were buying your items might have been a factor. I myself use a forwarding service like your Shop and Ship to send items from the USA to a foreign country. Nothing at all ususual about that.

My guess is somehow the Shop and Ship address you are using was abused and somehow blacklisted by eBay for fraud.

[ibn2019dxb]

The thing is that Ebay blames it on Paypal.
Paypal blames it on Ebay.

The following facts are sure though:
a) My Ebay account (Buyer only!) has been terminated even though I have 85 positive feedback (100%). No reason provided by Ebay although I have zero disputes.
b) My Paypal account works perfectly but I can not pay with it on Ebay.
c) A Seller that sends me the invoice through Paypal works perfectly, I mean payment is successful. Same invoice, if I try to pay it through Ebay checkout, it fails.
d) Ebay terminated the account after they asked for my ID/Address proof. Of course I provided them my UAE ID and Utility Bill since I have no ties to the US anyway other than my Shop and Ship address.

[nickopedia]

eBay was the one who terminated your account, it doesn't have anything to do with PayPal. If it were, your PayPal would be limited.

If I were you, I would appeal the decision made by eBay, call them and try and get another rep who is more reasonable to deal with.

Although rare, I have heard of instances where a "ship to" address was on a blacklist and eBay suspended the account due to that.

Can you continue to pay merchants that ship through the S&S service using your PayPal?

[ibn2019dxb]

Technically, Paypal does not allow me to have a US address because according to them, you can have an address in ONE country only. So Paypal has my UAE address as registered on file and that can not be changed. However, for about 2 weeks, I had also my US address added there as verified (I have no idea how they did it)

So Paypal works randomly as follows:
- 90% of the times they reject my transactions going to the US address.
- 10% of the attempts the transactions go through, to the same US address. Absolutely randomly.
- A few times, the payment was declined 2-3 times, and it went through at the 4th attempt. (nothing changed from my side between the attempts)

Also Ebay message said that their decision is final and can not be appealed.
They provided literally zero explanations besides that I am a threat to Ebay community.

[nickopedia]

I think the problem is again with the address. That said, there are plenty of people who have non USA accounts with a USA address on it for exactly this type of thing.

The use of forwarding services is common enough. I can only assume they didn't like the one that belongs to Shop and Ship maybe due to fraud from other buys.

[JamesNorth101]

I’m afraid that they won’t give you an explanation

I expect it’s simple a case of the account getting flagged and some key rapper at eBay banning you. It’s not fair and it’s not just but it’s the way eBay operates I’m afraid

[ibn2019dxb]

I am old enough to know that life is not fair in many cases.

Anyway, what is your suggestion? What should I do?
Can Ebay decision be further appealed although they say the account is terminated?
Again, please note that I am just a Buyer. I have no plans to ever sell anything on Ebay. I am just looking to buy items of interest for me. I never had any dispute of any kind with my banks/credit cards/Paypal.

The only issue I ever had was with Ebay.

[JamesNorth101]

There is no harm in trying, but it is a log shot

[nickopedia]

I know you are seeking a resolution to this but eBay is being difficult, and it's not the first time.

As I suggested already, your only real option is to appeal this to eBay support. Maybe calling a USA based rep during US business hours. Explain your situation and ask them how this can be resolved.

If you don't get anywhere, then your only remaining option is to use a new stealth account using the techniques in the stealth guide. The information in this guide is relevant for both Buyer & Seller accounts.

[ibn2019dxb]

Also does anyone here know if the phone conversations I had with Ebay reps are recorded? I would really love to take some further action because during the last conversation, the Ebay rep told me the following:

Quote: (something along this line that I found really insulting)
"You are living in an Arab country. What are you doing to buy in the US? Why do you not buy things in your home country? Are you a Muslim?...."
I was literally left speechless...

So I have no idea what are your laws in the USA but in the UAE for using such language there would be serious consequences. Is it not illegal in the USA to take action against people based on their sex, nationality or religion?

I mean the above is just a supposition, of course, but since literally there is no other reason that I can find.

Anyway, let's focus on the solutions. Your suggestions would be truly appreciated since clearly you have a lot of knowledge about Ebay.

[nickopedia]

Originally Posted by ibn2019dxb

Also does anyone here know if the phone conversations I had with Ebay reps are recorded? I would really love to take some further action because during the last conversation, the Ebay rep told me the following:

Quote: (something along this line that I found really insulting)
"You are living in an Arab country. What are you doing to buy in the US? Why do you not buy things in your home country? Are you a Muslim?...."
I was literally left speechless...

So I have no idea what are your laws in the USA but in the UAE for using such language there would be serious consequences. Is it not illegal in the USA to take action against people based on their sex, nationality or religion?

I mean the above is just a supposition, of course, but since literally there is no other reason that I can find.

Anyway, let's focus on the solutions. Your suggestions would be truly appreciated since clearly you have a lot of knowledge about Ebay.

If true, this is extremely out of line for the rep to have questioned your nationality and especially your religion.

Calls made to both eBay and PayPal are indeed recorded. That said, those calls are not accessible unless you have a court order/subpoena.

As JamesNorth said above, sometimes life is unfair, but you really are best advised to contact eBay again on their USA line during business hours to discuss your case. Kindly ask that your matter be escalated to a Supervisor.

If you don't get any satisfaction with this route, PM me and I will give you the Executive Office contacts at headquarters in San Jose California.

[ibn2019dxb]

Thank you Nickopedia!

I will try to contact Ebay US on Monday and let's see what they will say. I truly hope to solve this matter because it is truly not just and totally unwarranted according to my understanding.

[rsot]

Originally Posted by ibn2019dxb

Thank you Nickopedia!

I will try to contact Ebay US on Monday and let's see what they will say. I truly hope to solve this matter because it is truly not just and totally unwarranted according to my understanding.

Best of luck - might as well try the shot.

I believe conversations are recorded

[ibn2019dxb]

Originally Posted by tinsoldier

Why the need to mess about with ebay, if you've got 30K per month to spend then simply buy direct from bona fide outlets for the goods you need.

The only reason is that I am buying collector items that are not easy to find anymore in outlet shops. Collector items are usually sold at auctions and on Ebay sometimes.
Basically I am buying old books and golf collector items. Sadly Ebay remains the best source for what I am looking to buy.
And there are a lot of bona fide Sellers that are selling rare items at excellent prices.

The fact that I am a legit buyer is also the reason why I have a flawless perfect record and relation with Paypal even now. What happened with my Ebay account is totally wrong.

[Dufus]

Ah just open another ebay account its not that hard.

[ibn2019dxb]

Originally Posted by Dufus

Ah just open another ebay account its not that hard.

I thought to do that but Ebay clearly said that all accounts that I may have or create, will be terminated as well so I guess that if I open another Ebay account and I link my existing Paypal account, this will lead to have again the new Ebay account suspended, right?

I never tried to hide my identity because I see no reason for an honest individual to do that (no offense to anyone here). On my suspended Ebay account, they have my actual Paypal registered account. So I guess that simply opening a new Ebay account, will lead again to a suspension. Am I missing something here?

Paypal confirmed just today that from their point of view I can open how many Ebay accounts I want as my record with them is really solid. The issue is Ebay here

I mean that I understand perfectly that in this strange new world, potentially everything may look suspicious but truly I am just a Buyer that never sold anything on Ebay and I am not looking to sell anything.

Update: 4 hours ago I bought an item on Ebay UK (as guest) by using my Paypal account. It worked perfectly. Point is that there is limit of 1000 USD or something that you have as Guest non-registered with Ebay.

[nickopedia]

The sad thing is even if you "do the right thing" by eBay or PayPal, they have no loyalty to you as a seller. It doesn't matter how old your account is, or how much you pay in fees. If they don't like you for any reason, they can kick you off as you have discovered.

This forum is about creating new stealth accounts so you can continue selling or buying. If you plan on moving forward with your plans, you might want to think about this. You will need backup accounts when they go down, which sooner or later they will anyway.

2018 was one my my worst years for suspentions. I lost about 5 accounts last year, some of then through no direct fault of my own. Good thing I have ready and multiple backups to fall back on.

[degsey69]

The red flag to eBay was the amount of items purchased in a short time and probably a lot of money spent as well on a new account and all being shipped to 5 different freight forwarders.

if you open a stealth account then you need to take it slow and build up the account and stick to one shipping address in USA, or use eBay global shipping

[rsot]

Originally Posted by ibn2019dxb

Paypal confirmed just today that from their point of view I can open how many Ebay accounts I want as my record with them is really solid. The issue is Ebay here

How did you get this kind of confirmation? PP agents are notorious for not providing the best of info...