Beware of Webinterpret’s scam that ebay is allowing

[bigdeals.etc]

A couple of days ago a banner within my Seller Hub advertised reaching buyers in ebay international sites (shown in screenshot). I clicked it to learn what it was about. It pushed me to a 3rd party page (Webinterpret) explaining what it was and allowed me to register/sign up for their service. I didn’t sign up and just closed the page.

The next day, Webinterpret hacked into my ebay account. They duplicated all of my listings 4-6 times each listing. My usual 200 live listings became over 1200 listings. Each listing was specific to an ebay international website (au, uk, ca, de, etc.). They basically duplicated my inventory quantity as well… obviously I don’t have that much inventory to cover it. Beware, this is on ebay’s Main Seller Hub page that ebay is advertising.

Read further if you want to know ebay’s response to this:

I called my ebay concierge and after a few hours of asking around and researching, he called me back and said the company has been with ebay since 2011, they shouldn’t have access to your account without your signing up, authorizing, generating a token, etc. I told him I did none of that and the agent was confused on how the company was able to hack into my account like that. The agent helped me remove the duplicate listings manually (took awhile) and revoked any access from that company to my account. I checked and it appears many ebay members (dated as far back as 4 years) had the exact same thing happen to them and did the revoking, only to find months later the company hacks back into their accounts doing the same thing… sometimes even billing them. Ebay says they will check on it, but then again… this problem has been around for at least 4 years now and ebay hasn’t done anything about it.

I’m just warning others to NOT click on that banner.

[gracieallen01]

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@ted_200 wrote:

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@imapaqrat wrote:

eBay is trolling for a Class Action Lawsuit

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Well, that's one nightmare they did fix (since it's their nightmare).  The UA limits you to arbitration, and only on an individual basis. 

That's how they fix things. 

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Welllllllllll, some of us DID opt-out - in writing - when the opportunity was presented. 

[imakesugar]

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@femmefan1946 wrote:

But I can't have any duplication of existing .com listings, I run auctions, and then I'd have two active auction listings for the same (one) item! 

I sell internationally.

If I ship to a country, my items show up on that country's site , in both the listing currency and the site's currency.

There is no charge for this.

EBay has a program that allows US and UK sellers to ship domestically to international customers.

It's called the Global Shipping Program .

Now, while as a Canadian I am required to detest the GSP, it is a Seller Protection against some of the problems of shipping internationally.

The seller is only responsible for shipping to the GSP plant in Kentucky. GSP is responsible for the prompt overseas delivery.

The buyer pays duty and taxes to GSPbefore the seller is told to ship. 

And while the seller does have to describe what is being shipped (and where it was manufactured) most of worries about customs forms are dealt with by GSP.

I won't bore you by telling you why we Canadians hate it, but it is the fault of our own previous government, not eBay.

Of course there are still questions about this...

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[imakesugar]

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@usgamecollector wrote:

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@ted_200 wrot

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i've actually sold 5 items so far from 5K+ listings, however none of them except one have paid yet. I don't know why people aren't paying. I don't know what the listings above the 3K free ones were charged since it says I have too many charges to view. My other listings were all ended automatically when the item sold, so that is something they actually did right. The one person that did pay paid in GBP so I had to take a huge loss on the paypal conversion rate. I don't know if customers on other ebay sites can pay in USD or only with the site's default currency.

I have bought things from the.com site that are listed in Canadian dollars and I usually have to pay an exchange rate...I am confused  ?!?$%

Is there some reason that Sellers are paying the exchange rate? 

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[chrysylys]

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@bigdeals.etc wrote:

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I'm giving ebay a 1 Star for Communication DSR here.

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Do you think my sign is there for fun and giggles?

[gracieallen01]

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@a_c_green wrote:

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@chrysylys wrote: 
They have now responed to several other threads in the last couple of hours, but still nothing here.

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If all else fails, don't forget about the Weekly Chat tomorrow, from 1:00-2:00 p.m. Pacific time.

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It kinda looks like the chat, today, is going to be devoted to the shine award. 

Seems that they tend to take exception to going off-topic when they have something important scheduled.

[d-k_treasures]

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@gracieallen01 wrote:

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@a_c_green wrote:

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@chrysylys wrote: 
They have now responed to several other threads in the last couple of hours, but still nothing here.

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If all else fails, don't forget about the Weekly Chat tomorrow, from 1:00-2:00 p.m. Pacific time.

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It kinda looks like the chat, today, is going to be devoted to the shine award. 

Seems that they tend to take exception to going off-topic when they have something important scheduled.

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Well, wake me when they schedule something that is actually important.

[imapaqrat]

Just got an email from Webby Customer Support.  It says, in brief, "We have received your request to exit our Zero Fees promotion, however as authorization via token is not connected, we cannot remove the listings we have created."

So Webby needs a token to remove the listings, but they didn't need one to create the listing to start with? 

I am sure eBay will be all over them for that!  {Yes Sheldon, that's sarcasm. }

[gracieallen01]

Tokens = Another source of collecting data for recording current activities and for 'future reference'.

(personal opinion - your mileage may vary)

[deja8318]

@Anonymous brian@ebay.com    Can I please have some assistance with this mess? I did not authorize, accept, even get a chance to read terms and conditions before I was automatically Opted in with a company who has tons of negative reviews out there the more I research them the more upset I am. I clicked on an Ebay promo banner to get more information (the terms and condition aka the fine print) like any promo Ebay offers before I accept it or decline it.     

 I have finally received an email back from this 3rd party, first email to them to remove my data was sent on the 4th. They want access to my Ebay account again to clean up this mess or take more of my data who knows, I do not trust them having access to my account. I am not giving them access again and I should not have to. Even CS and their supervisors stated not to give them access again.  Ebay needs to do something on their end this is not right this is something I never expected from Ebay. I still do not have a clear answer if any of my listings are still showing internationally there is no tool I can find to help figure this out. I have around 2k listings going thru each one individually is going to take me more time than I have. I would have to put my whole business on vacation not just Ebay to have the time.

I also do not have any clarity what type of information was given to this company without my permission, I know they were given my private email, day one they sent me a welcome email to a program I did NOT want to be automatically opted into. 

[ymeagainlord]

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@d-k_treasures wrote:

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@imapaqrat wrote:

Even Webinterpret's Opt-Out page is a SCAM!

http://portal.ebay.com/european-sales-booster/opt-out?_trksid=p2157312.m2236

You go to the trouble of choosing a reason, entering your eBay name and associated email address. Click the Opt-Out button . . . . It then takes you to a page that asks "You are about to Opt. Out.  Are you sure you want to opt out?"  That page has not button to push, so OPT OUT isn't an option.

Seriously how does eBay allow themselves to go into business with such an incompetent, unscrupulous, dishonest company?

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Companies always migrate to like companies.

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(Cough cough) anyone recall the 3rd party we'll sell your phone for you fiasco?

[ymeagainlord]

I was reading what WI pages I could find and it appears when you cancel they ask you to NOT remove the token (authorisation) as this prevents them removing the listings, so that may be correct.

I also found what looks like their charges of 5% commission on sales plus a transaction fee. Transaction fee is $1.29 per sale, or $0 per sale if you pay $35.99 per month.

But from what I've seen they're very loathe to actually STATE what their charges are once the "free trial" is over.

[rennybooks]

I think it's safe to assume at this point that the Webinterpret sign up is working as intended.

[rennybooks]

Dear rennybooks, We want to inform you of a recent technical error that occurred when you clicked on a promotional banner advertisement in Seller Hub between May 1, 2018 and May 4, 2018.

The promotional offer is for a free trial of Webinterpret and zero fees on up to 3,000 listings on each of eBay’s six international sites. Our intention was to direct you to an informational sign-up page. Unfortunately, when you clicked on the banner, you were auto-opted into the promotion, and your ebay.com listings were automatically translated and listed on eligible international sites.

The promotion was offered to you to increase your listings’ visibility and grow your international sales. Webinterpret automatically translates, converts currency, and lists your ebay.com listings on eBay’s international sites where you had already enabled shipping. You may in fact have already seen an increase in your international sales. If you do not want your ebay.com listings on eBay’s international sites as part of this promotion, you can remove them by opting out. To opt out, click here and fill out the form on the page.

If you do not opt out, Webinterpret will continue to post your listings on eligible international sites during the promotional period and your Webinterpret trial will automatically end at the end of the promotional period, at no cost to you.

If you continue with this promotion: • You will not be charged fees during the promotion period (no insertion fees or final value fees on eligible international sites, and no cost for Webinterpret). • Your items will remain listed on eBay’s international sites based on the shipping destinations and return policies you had already enabled in your ebay.com listings. • Webinterpret will remove all of the listings that were created during the promotional period, on or before July 1, 2018. No action is required from you.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Thank you for selling on eBay.

[rennybooks]

The email above just came in a few minutes ago.  Edited to remove links.

[imapaqrat]

Believe it or not I just got an email from eBay admitting their mistake in the Auto-Sign-Up error.  So at least they have now acknowledge it was an error on their part.

Unfortunately Opting Out requires that I log into Webinterpret, which I don't want to do.  I've never created an account with them and don't intend to.