EBAY IS THE MOST RIDICULOUS BUSINESS IN THE FREAKING WORLD

[bass2mouth019]

I just got off the phone with a customer service rep because every time I tried to post a listing it would say we can't verify your identity so I went to settings and made sure everything matched and again and again it would say the same thing. So I called customer service after I finally found that I had a fee for $18 for some sale in 2016 but it wouldnt explain anything else at all. When the guy started to explain I was freaking shocked he said its for the sale of my Toshiba laptop that is sitting right in front of me in my house I told him I never sold it I can prove it because its sitting right in front of me?

he replied it doesn't matter and I said how can That be I didn't sell it. He said its so long ago it doesn't matter. He said you would have got a something in my mailbox.

then I said I don't have one ?

To which he replied I know its deleted by now.?

So I go you have to have it in your database so I know the details of what happened and some kind of proof they had sent one?

He said ya we deleted it as a company we dont keep those kinds of things my freaking jaw dropped so let me get this straight a seller owes you money and you delete the documentation that proves that to collect?

Yes sir thats correct, then he goes on rude attitude the whole time and tells me ive been ducking paying the fee only $18 I mind you for 5 years. I said why didnt you take the fee out before you sent this ghost payment?

We dont do that sir we send nonexistent messages 6 years after the fact and say we cant verify your identity until you figure out by diving through all your info. For days and finally see that is a $18 fee but on the same invoice it says you owe $0 haha Thats what he meant  to say. Ive never really lost it with a customer service person before but he was treating me like a thief and real snarky for something they sold thats sitting right in front of me and cant show that I never sold or have proof of it because we don't that sir!

Last thing he said just pay the $18......whatever

last thing I said is can I give a survey right after this call and he said it depends 3 times when I asked on what does it depend on? He said its quote system generated he knew It would be bad for him. **bleep** 

[wastingtime101]

Do you remember the transaction from 2016? My best guess here with the incredibly limited information is that you sold the laptop and encountered a non-payer. Instead of filing an unpaid item case to get a fee credit, you ignored the transaction.

It's from five years ago so it doesn't really matter at this point. I'd pay the $18 to get my selling ability reinstated and move on from it. Something less than $20 is rarely worth such a headache.

Five years is a pretty long break. Before you do anything else, I suggest reading up on the new managed payments system along with all the Seller Updates from the past 5 years to make sure you really do want your selling access restored.

[bass2mouth019]

There was no transaction I don't think because I would have sent the item but Ya I feel you its more about the item he said I sold is sitting right in front of me right now it makes no sense at all and the dont have any record in ebay's internal records you would think they would go out of there way to save outstanding fees owed to them it doesn't make sense. Im not trippin' about the money its was his attitude telling me He couldn't prove it and said it doesn't matter when I could. And no theres no info about it at all. Ive got a screen shot of what it showed me about it. But ya Idk if I want to reinstate I have read all the nightmare stuff about managed payments and fees and so on lately. I use mercari, fb market, offer-up but this place is the best for sports trading cards and collectibles which I have a lot of so I thought I would give it a try.

[bass2mouth019]

Now I cant get to the screen that had the invoice info It keeps sending me in a "vindaloop" -southpark

luckily I took a screen shot with my ipad that last search is what they say I sold that I still have

 

 

 

[franven_4123]

I think this is not way bro! 🙄

[wastingtime101]

According to those screenshots, eBay owes you $18.02, not the other way around. Maybe the problem "can't verify your identity" has to do with registering for managed payments. When you go here, what does it show you, @bass2mouth019 ?

Do this:

• Check this page regarding registering for managed payments.
• Check this page to see what your  listing limits are.

Once you've taken care of registering your payments info and verified that your listing limit isn't 0 due to inactivity, see if you can list with success. If not, get back on with eBay CS.

[toysaver]

If you listed an auction with a reserve and it does not sell there are fees you are resposible to pay, for a laptop $18 sounds about right.  Ebay does not forgive such type of debts; they can't they're a business accountable to stock holders and employees not to mention the IRS. 

[bass2mouth019]

Ive done that already or it wont let me until this $18 is paid because in listings  it gets down to the final step and then says over and over again your identity does not match I have emailed so many times asking what doesnt match and its always maybe its this maybe ots that but im no stranger to ebay and I know it all matches they just really screwed up my account royally I cant make a new because ot does the same, they sent me an email incouraging me to finish my listing so I thought nice its fixed but nope rejected again. I just happened upon that invoice finally when I clicked one time payment finally but ya it seems like they owe me theres no record of the sale ive searched and in invoices ive gone as far back as I can and it says $0 every time so idk I think im going to have to bite the bullett on this one

[mr_lincoln]

@bass2mouth019   I would disregard what the rep said and pay the $ 18 so you can sell again.  You will easily make up that money in short order.  It was only recently (with Managed Payments) that eBay stated they would keep records longer than 90 days ... I think they said 10 years.  Of course we won't know if that is true until like 2030 or 2031 right?!?  If you used PayPal you can always get your records since they go back 7 years.

[katzrul15]

I guess it depends on how badly you want your ability to sell here back?

I would pay the $18+ and move on.  Shocked they did not charge you interest for 5 years. 

[bass2mouth019]

I never sold that way but they could have posted it on their own. Because they dont get pay pal money anymore I think their finding any way to keep your money or make you pay like pay pal is actually doing now freezing peoples accounts for nothing im glad its only $18

[mr_lincoln]

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@katzrul15 wrote:

I guess it depends on how badly you want your ability to sell here back?

I would pay the $18+ and move on.  Shocked they did not charge you interest for 5 years. 

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@katzrul15   I agree and good one!  Still laughing about the "interest" ... don't say it too loud right?!?

[bass2mouth019]

Thats a good idea

[mr_lincoln]

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@bass2mouth019 wrote:

Thats a good idea

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@bass2mouth019   Thank you ... we sincerely wish you the best moving forward ...

[lacemaker3]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

According to those screenshots, eBay owes you $18.02, not the other way around.  ...

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Sorry, but that is not correct. The screenshots clearly show the amount $18.02 in bold red font, with no negative sign in front of it (which is how a credit balance is shown). Also, the text clearly states that OP owes $18.02 to eBay.

@wastingtime101,

I see that you must have sold several listings in 2016, because you received feedback for a sale in Jan. 2016, and your last payment to eBay was made in Sep. 2016, so that had to be for two different sales.

There are two possible ways that you could owe money to eBay for a listing that wasn't actually sold at the end of the day:

1. You used a reserve fee.
   • In that time frame, I think the reserve fee was 4% of the reserve price, and it is charged whether the item is sold or not.
   • My best guess is that the laptop was probably under $200, so it probably wasn't the reserve fee.
2. The item was sold but the buyer didn't pay for it.
   • I don't remember what the Final Value Fee was in 2016, but it was probably about 10%. If that is correct, then the purchase price would have been about $180 dollars, depending on whether there were other fees/payments/credits on your account around the same time.
   • The Final Value Fee on the purchase price was charged to your account when the item was sold, which eBay defines as when the listing ended with a buyer. If the buyer doesn't pay, you had up to 30 days to file an Unpaid Item case, and you could close it after another 4 days if the buyer still didn't pay. If the UPI was closed without payment, then you would have gotten the $18.02 credited back to your account.
   • Since you didn't file the Unpaid Item case within 30 days, there was no way to get the FVF credit, and there's no way now, 5 years later.

I tried searching for the listing to see if there was any chance that a cached page of the listing was still available. There wasn't; it was a real longshot anyway. 

At this point, if you want to be able to sell on eBay again, you will need to pay the fee. I'm surprised it hasn't been sent to collections already, but if it had, you would have gotten letters from the collections agency. Be glad for small favors, I guess.