Closing down my eBay store after 24 years :/

[maddocks]

Long story made short...

I had a major heart attack in July and nearly died and spent a month in the hospital.  As a result about a months worth of sales were shipped late or canceled.  In 100% of the cases, I emailed each of the buyers and apologized, and everyone was understanding - except for eBay Customer Service.

My selling account was deemed Below Standard and my selling amount crippled to 10% of what I'd had listed.  Sales went from 10+ a week to maybe 2 per month.  I used to have the largest sized store and I had to forcibly downsize to the smallest, to fit my then revised selling limit.  Now six months later (about) it's been reduced yet again.

Starting in late September I repeatedly contacted CS (4 times via chat and 3+ times by phone) and I have each time been told a different story.  First they said they would 'fix' my account, as of the 20th of the month - but it would never be done.  Nothing changed.  Since then I've been told there is no manual means of overriding the eBay computer after 30 days.  I spent 30+ years in IT - I know that's nonsense!  The low level CS drones in India might not have any supervisory editing ability but someone higher up the chain of command must, somewhere.

For six months, I've been trying to find someone at CS with a ounce of common sense - and failing.  No One can override the almighty computer and my selling account is effectively disabled until late this summer.  I've been selling on eBay since 1998 and had a 100% Postive FB score... but while they thank 'my loyalty' in every conversation, no one can 'adjust' the computer system or raise my selling limit to anything practical (until the old defects automatically expire in a year or so).

I've had to remove about a thousand sale items off of eBay initially, and even now today I'm 'disallowed' from editing old existing items - forget adding any new ones!  I've had NONE of these problems with Etsy and I'm moving everything there. 

I regret that it has come to this, but I expected some minimal small amount of flexibility from a company I have been paying fees to for 24 years.   I'm still recovering fairly slowly and I just don't need or want this kind of stress and frustration in my life now.  I'm disabled now and need this sort of income - but I'll try and get it exclusively from Etsy now.

Am I being in the least bit unreasonable???

Regards, Alex

Enough.

[mtgraves7984]

I'm still recovering fairly slowly and I just don't need or want this kind of stress and frustration in my life now.

@maddocks 

^^^ You said it. Godspeed.

[fern*wood]

Take care of yourself first. I wish you well.

[mam98031]

It is unfortunate that this happened to you.  I do sincerely hope that your health has vastly improved.

Ebay is a big site and they need to have rules that everyone has to comply with.  Ebay also offers tools in which to help you when something like this happens.  It is always good to have a back up plan in case you are not available to pause your account on Ebay.  I have someone that knows where to get my passwords and put my accounts on vacation hold or shut them down completely depending on what is needed.

We all should have a Plan B, sometimes life just gets in the way.

I do hope that whatever you decide to do is a wonderful thing for you.  Good Luck.

Or maybe since you still have quite a few listings up you will decide to stay.

[inhawaii]

Nevermind ebay.  

Focus on your health and getting better.

Wishing you a speedy and full recovery.

[lakefor94]

Hope your health continues to improve.

They won't do anything about the defects. They have to fall off in their due time. We see similar posts here. Seems like one of the things they don't bend on. The overseas CS reps will tell you anything to get off the phone and on to the next call.

Sorry to hear you lost all those listings. Good luck moving on. Diversity might be your best bet if depending upon sales to supplement income. You can build it up over there and then back here eventually. 

Best to you in recovery. 

[ten_o_nine]

Just read your post and didn't see any of the other responses. I am really sorry to hear about your health problems. 

It's not just you, anyone of us here could lose their selling privilege at anytime.

Few issues and you're done as far as eBay thinks no matter how loyal you are to serving customers of eBay, just a shame and I am sorry and hope you get back up, and speedy recovery.

[authenticu]

Hello, I wish you blessings and a speedy recovery.

I've only been selling for 3 months, and I'm already moving items to Amazon, Poshmark, etc.  My standing is above average, however it's not been profitable for me, and the cs sucks.

I totally support you, and your feelings.  28 Years, You deserve a Platinum Standard.  They're Loss.

R A

[714ricki]

Focus on your health! We wish you all the best. 

[mam98031]

---

@authenticu wrote:

Hello, I wish you blessings and a speedy recovery.

I've only been selling for 3 months, and I'm already moving items to Amazon, Poshmark, etc.  My standing is above average, however it's not been profitable for me, and the cs sucks.

I totally support you, and your feelings.  28 Years, You deserve a Platinum Standard.  They're Loss.

R A

---

Selling on more than one venue can be the right thing to do.  But to judge Ebay as a whole on just a couple transactions isn't really going to give you a fair view.  And remember the boards will likely only show you problems, not the feel good stories.  Those just aren't common on boards like this.

The OP is still selling on Ebay, so they haven't left yet and maybe they won't.  I understand why they are upset, but Ebay is a very big site and the rules are important.  Having a plan B as I outlined in my earlier post is very important too.

Be very careful as you move some stuff to other sites.  If you are doing it because you don't like the rules on Ebay, look closely as the other sites sometimes have even worse rules.  Not to mention higher fees.

[maddocks]

OP...

Haven't shut down the store yet because I've got seven months left on it's paid subscription and I'd just lose the money closing now today, it seems... but functionally it's dead to me.  All new sale postings are going to Etsy now and I'll close here when my time is up.

I've heard mixed stories about selling on Amazon... higher fees for certain, so good luck to those that can make it work there.

[coolections]

Sorry about your heart attack but honestly someone in your family should have put your items on hold before all this happened. Good luck at Etsy and hope you get better.

[shashedevind0]

You have to be in good health even just to press a button, take a rest and recover fully and then deal with this "eBay". I wish you all the very best.

[chapeau-noir]

If you're mad at eBay, you'll just LOVE Etsy 😖  Wherever you go, be sure to make a backup plan so if this happens again, you don't have to deal with a mess when you should be concentrating on recovering. 

[ed8108]

Stress reduction

If ebay hasn't met or fails to meet your expectations , your needs are priority #1, so act accordingly.