powersellers reporting

hi all members,

i just started a business on ebay, or rather tried to, and it was going well.

i went completely legit, nothing vero, nothing. made sure not to violate any policy at all.

then it all went sour. i started getting messages from alternate accounts of powersellers, sellers of similar items no doubt, that i was going to experience some bad times.

i contacted ebay live help to let them know of my concerns that powersellers were trying to get me removed. they assured me that as long as i was not violating policy, there was nothing the powersellers could do.

the next day i find my selling account restricted MC058 for 7 days and ALL my listings removed. i spent ******* ages on those listings. apparently i violated policy, when powersellers were doing similar descriptions and more. they just bullsh*tted on the reason and when i emailed T&S no one could give me a straight answer. one guy told me that i violated by writing so and so words, so i gave him the link to just a few of the many powersellers writing the same things (nothing at all dishonest, but still very very technically violating policy) yet there was no reply.

i was thinking of listing, and the next time i list, i will email Trust and Safety directly with all item no's , offering full compliance, and requesting written confirmation that my listings have been checked by T&S and will not be removed.

i know this is perhaps naive, but i really want to be legit, i was always complying with them but they just didn't seem to care.

any thoughts on this?

thankyou.

[aspkin]

It's best not to get Trust and Safety involved. We found they do nothing to help users, they often suspend users after being contacted. Just list like you normally would and have back up accounts.

Also you may want to look into who got you suspended and find a way to get them suspended. Just to protect your self.

thanks for the reply aspkin.

i think i made a mistake man.

i was really distressed yesterday, i swear either ebay or paypal is going to be the death of me, and so i wrote about 4 emails to T&S because no one was replying. i just can't believe anyone could just take down all of someone's auctions and not even have the courtesy to respond.

from what you have told me now, it seems this was the wrong thing to do.

i offered my full co operation and offered to send them my listings directly for them to let me know it was ok to list. and if not, they would tell me and i could edit them.

i am not doing anything wrong, i am offering full co operation to trust and safety since i have nothing to hide, but is this a naive mindframe? will i get screwed either way?

if i had the cash i would take modee's tech support but since i have no business, i have no sales and no money whatsoever. powersellers have sent me non functional junk with overcharged postage, and i filed paypal claims but nothing. i am just so angry at them all.

[aspkin]

If after 30 days and you're not getting anywhere with that account, consider it gone.

You need to start work with backup accounts now. Get accounts going and ready to sale asap if you haven't already.

thanks aspkin,

fortunately i've only got a selling restriction for now, that's for 7 days. i guess that's what they class as being 'lenient' on me for my compliance throughout.

but you know something, when i read your eBay Stealth thing it sounds sort of sneaky and all that, but now i realise the cold hard truth. you need to have these things in place otherwise you're going to be toast. i was 100% honest and 100% compliant with ebay and everyone else, but i still get treated like dirt, and i can either scream against the walls until i am blue in the face, or i can get to work on making new accounts.

i did the new bank account thing already, have a new card, i created a new account a couple of months ago (after cleaning all cookies, flash cookies and changing ip), and i left it there to ripen a bit. my main account is a 2004 acc. so it had been able to take quite a lot of hits...now however it seems they're getting me all the time.

i guess i am learning from this that one must always have backup accounts no matter what. even if you're 100% honest and doing nothing wrong, that doesn't matter when there are competitors about. they will find ways. *sigh* have to take new photographs of all my items, write new descriptions, make new auction templates...

then get a paypal account, verify that, phone verify ebay account...and then get feedback on the new one...i'm going to search the forums right now for good ways to build feedback.

is all this worth it? can ebay be good and very profitable when it works well? how long can i expect my next account to stand for? can you give me any assurance that it will be ok in the end? haha i guess i just want to calm down the rage inside me...not healthy...

thankyou for your kind help

[aspkin]

Well, once you get things going and understand everything sure there are a lot of successful eBay sellers because of this forum. But I wouldn't rely on eBay for all your sales. You should create your own website and start selling there when you have the time. That way you always have a way to sell your products that will never get shut down.

thanks aspkin -- i'm working on those accounts, though it's so much hassle to open new bank accounts here in britain :/

you mention in eBay Stealth that one reason you can get shut down is because "a competitor flagged you". does that stand even if you have no policy violations whatsoever. i mean, i've now edited my listing to a very bare, very ebay-policy compliant description, and the things i sell are nothing to do with vero, just various inexpensive pieces really. would i still get shut down if the competitor flags me again?

by the way, how do i find out precisely which powerseller is reporting me? i know how to remove them from eBay Stealth -- would trust and safety give me this information?