Cannot Use 'Vintage' or 'Antique' in Title - Get Error Msg Violated Animal Policy - Anyone Else?

[2womenwithapast]

For about the past month, I cannot edit or create listings that have the words antique or vintage in the title or descriptions.  An error message pops up that I have violated eBay's animal products policy.  I have called eBay numerous times and they kept telling me they were working on it.  Now they tell me this is the new policy, don't use these terms, and it is appropriate that I get this weird error message that has nothing to do with it.  Anyone else experiencing this?  eBay is a marketplace for vintage and antique items, so how does this make sense?  

[lamber9347]

I use vintage all the time with no issues. What are the exact words you are using in your title? 

[lamber9347]

Also what category are you attempting to list in?

[coolections]

I've never heard of an antique animal. What category are you listing in? What is the actual item?

[evelyb30]

That's just plain weird.  Sellers of vintage and antique jewelry would be up in arms if that were true across the board.  I've never gotten an error message, so maybe it's category-linked?  

[gkn29]

Let me guess...

Probably elephant or walrus or other ivory producing animal. I would imagine some sellers try to circumvent the restrictions by placing vintage or antique in their listing w/o the words ivory. Not saying you, of course, but a perfect storm of keywords.

[redmodelt]

Sometimes even the word "Ivory" as a color can get a listing pulled. If that is the case, and you do decide to try again (not suggesting you do), change the color to something close but not that word. 

[2womenwithapast]

Thanks, all, for confirming this is NOT a new eBay policy (not using words vintage or antique).  I've had several customer service reps at eBay trying to tell me this is in fact the new policy.  This is weird.

[lamber9347]

That's because you are calling the call center. That is an offshore call center where reps are there to placate callers and get them off the phone quickly. They do not know the correct policies and are reading from a script. If you need to actually speak to someone at eBay, you need to use social media to contact them....

[2womenwithapast]

Yes, I see this in other replies on the seller's forum.  The last time I had an issue was when they migrated us all to managed payments, and back then the call center worked very well.  Sigh, guess I need to make a Twitter account to get this resolved.  Thank you for the advice!

[soh.maryl]

Would be interested in knowing exactly what you were trying to list, in what category and how you were describing itl.

[evelyb30]

If it's bone jewelry... just don't bother.  Bone is one of the words scummy sellers use when they're selling ivory.  Antique bone , ox bone, and vintage bone are a problem unless you specify the species the bone came from.  Ox bone is scummy seller for ivory.  I don't sell bone any more after having a piece yanked because I didn't specify what species my Cow Bone was. ( Unless otherwise specified, cow bone used to moo. Standard American English, but tell a bot or script kiddie that.)   Call ivory-colored fabric items "cream" if need be.  Saves grief.  The bots are stupid and can't figure out that an ivory sheep's wool sweater or skein of wool has nothing to do with an elephant.  They're supposed to, but do we really trust bots? 

[2womenwithapast]

The problem applies to everything in my store, at present about 1100 items!  Any that have the words antique or vintage in title and/or description are effected.  Everything from clothing to dolls to household items, you name it!  So, it doesn't seem to be related to the 'what' or the category, just seems to be something universally applied... which is why I wondered if other sellers were having the same problem.

I am trying to resolve it on Twitter now with eBay help, I guess this is the way to approach customer service these days.

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

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@coolections wrote:

I've never heard of an antique animal. 

You haven't met my husband watching the golf game! Lol

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[lacemaker3]

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@coolections wrote:

I've never heard of an antique animal. What category are you listing in? What is the actual item?

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One definition of "antique" is something that is more than 100 years old, I believe.

Here is Jonathon, who is estimated to be at least 190 years old.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/01/31/oldest-animal-tortoise-jonathan-/