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10-Year Top Rated Seller, 100% Positive Feedback — Account Blocked After Israel War. I'm in Despair.
Hello eBay Community,
I'm writing this with shaking hands, hoping someone here — a fellow seller, a moderator, or an eBay representative — can help me understand what is happening to my business and my life.
My background:
10 years as an eBay seller
Top Rated Seller status
100% positive feedback
Based in Israel
I have spent a decade building this business with care, integrity, and dedication to every single customer. eBay is my only sales channel.
What happened:
During the recent war, when Iranian ballistic missiles were falling on Israel, I spent almost an entire month sheltering in a bomb shelter. My office building was closed, my warehouse inaccessible, my work computer unreachable. I was not negligent — I was trying to survive.
When the situation finally stabilized and I returned to my office, I discovered that my account had been blocked, my listings removed, and my funds frozen.
The "explanation" I received:
I contacted customer support. The response I received was vague, generic, full of references to "BBE" (Bad Buyer Experience) policy — but with no real details. Honestly, it felt like I was talking to an AI, not a human being. No specifics. No dialogue. No acknowledgment of the extraordinary circumstances.
After hours of searching, I finally found the file behind this decision. And what I found left me speechless:
TWO orders. TWO.
Order 1: $30 — buyer didn't receive on time. They received both a refund AND the package. They got everything.
Order 2: $10 — buyer simply didn't pick up the package. I personally communicated with this buyer, we agreed that once the package returned to me, I would reship it to them free of charge. And that is exactly what I did.
Two orders. Total value: $40. Both resolved. Both buyers satisfied.
This is what triggered the destruction of a 10-year business?
My current reality:
I have $250,000 worth of inventory in my warehouse — a significant portion purchased with credit/loans
I have no way to sell it — eBay is my only channel
I cannot pay back my creditors
I am on the verge of bankruptcy
A decade of perfect service, wiped out over $40 in delays that occurred while my country was under missile attack
My questions to this community:
Has anyone experienced something similar? How did you get your account reinstated?
Are there official eBay representatives in this forum who can escalate this case to a real human reviewer?
Is there any specific appeal process beyond the standard "Contact Us" form that actually works for Top Rated Sellers in extraordinary circumstances?
Does eBay have any policy that accounts for war zones and force majeure events in seller performance reviews?
I am not asking for special treatment. I am asking to be heard — by a human being — and for my decade of honest work to be weighed against two delayed orders during a war.
I am genuinely in despair. Any guidance, any advice, any voice of support would mean the world to me right now.
Thank you for reading.
A desperate seller from Israel
kh-andreww
·4 months agoHi everyone,
We appreciate your participation in this discussion. However, the conversation has gone off-topic and has become a bit too heated. To help keep the community welcoming and constructive for all members, we're locking this thread from further replies.
Please remember to keep future discussions respectful and on-topic per our Community Guidelines.
Thank you for your understanding and for helping us keep the forums friendly and productive.
— eBay Community Team
funtreasures407
·4 months agoSo sorry about your situation. There are other on-line selling platforms you can try. Google it and you can find other ways to sell on-line. Good luck.
tarotfindsandmore
·4 months agoThis is a really good idea.
OP, what about Amazon? It looks like your inventory might sell decently on that platform.
meme6253
·4 months agoVery sorry for your situation, That being said Ebay has no tolerance for a bad buyer experience, In hindsight you should have put your account on vacation time away, Getting this overturned is going to be very difficult if even possible, I wish I had better news for you, Good Luck to you!
grann-4629
·4 months ago@meme6253 With respect, you need to read what others are saying here. If you looked up and saw a cluster bomb coming your way, would you run inside and put your eBay account on hold just before it hits?
I doubt it. Have a little empathy Man ... most of us have never been in an active war zone just trying to stay alive 😎
There is no hindsight when the bombs are falling ...
moonwalkersha
OP4 months agoHi everyone,
Thank you for the warm words and support. You really are a wonderful community.
Honestly? I don't even know what I wanted to say by coming here. It was emotions. Let me try to explain a little more.
When the war started, my packages had already been shipped. Everything was on its way to buyers before the first siren ever sounded.
And then, while I was sitting in a bomb shelter, I received that ridiculous email. "Your account has been restricted due to BBE." Something like "please take action to resolve the issue." I don't remember the exact words.
Here's the thing.
When the sirens are wailing. When you're sitting in a bomb shelter. When a cluster bomb lands a kilometer from your home — you're not really thinking about "taking action" on an eBay policy notification. You're thinking about whether your family will be alive in an hour.
That is literally what I wrote in my reply to support. I told them this.
And what I got back felt like it was written by a machine. No human read my words. No human understood that a person on the other end of those packages was hiding underground while missiles fell.
So I guess what I really wanted to say is this:
eBay doesn't care. Not about me, not about any seller, not about our problems. The system is designed so that the people who built it are never bothered by us. They block one of us, and ten more will come to take our place. We're interchangeable. Disposable.
That's what hurts the most. Not even the $250,000 of inventory sitting in my warehouse. Not even the loans I took out. Not even the bankruptcy I'm staring down.
It's the silence. The form letters. The feeling that ten years of perfect service, 100% positive feedback, Top Rated Seller status — none of it means anything to them. I am a number. My business is a number. And numbers don't get phone calls back.
I just needed to say it out loud somewhere. Thank you for letting me.
— A seller from Israel, who is very tired
gurlcat
·4 months ago@moonwalkersha Thanks for coming back to the thread. Did you at least try contacting a rep via the eBay Instagram route?
moonwalkersha
OP4 months agoNot yet. I honestly don't know if I want to.
I have 10 days left before the account is permanently deleted. And right now — I just can't bring myself to touch any of it.
Ten years of work. A perfect record. And it comes down to begging through an Instagram for someone to look at me like a human being. I know I probably should. I know every day matters. But every time I open the app, I feel sick.
Maybe in a day or two I'll find the strength.
gurlcat
·4 months ago@moonwalkersha Sweetie you almost certainly have PTSD, and I totally understand that sick feeling you're talking about. It's CRIPPLING and people who don't know can't understand. But you don't have to open the eBay app to do what I'm suggesting. You just go straight to Instagram, and if you don't have an account there, the signup is very easy. -I just did it a few weeks ago, even though I swore I was done signing up with new social media accounts, ha.
Then you search for the eBay account, and send a private message there, stating your problem. Make it briefer than you did here. -Hit the points about being in bomb shelter of course, and describe how the 2 transactions were already shipped, etc. But leave out the stuff about all your years of work, and emotional things like that. Just the relevant facts. You will get a response from a fluent English-speaking real human, who will help you if they have the power to. We have seen MIRACLES performed by these people. No BBE resurrections that I'm aware of, but certainly other things that people said couldn't be done. So that's why I say they are your best bet.
And even if giving you your account back is above their authority, they will at least tell you respectfully and empathetically, not like a machine. They're really nice folks.
I think you owe yourself at least the closure of having done everything possible, while you still can. You don't want to be left with a permanent question of 'What if?'
tobaccocardyahoo
·4 months agoTaking responsibility for your business. even in times when your life is at stake, is a reality of modern life.
I know that I am not the only online seller who has placed their online listings "on vacation" from the emergency room, while being admitted to the hospital for cardiac surgery.
Had I not, I would not have had a business to return to.
This occurred on another larger internet marketplace, which equally reluctant to create exceptions to trust and safety policies.
Ours is not a forgiving G-D and if G-D is unlikely to forgive, why should we expect man to.
bankress
·4 months agoWish I could provide help. My heartfelt sympathy for your plight. I can pray it all works out and please stay safe over there!
ryry-jj
·4 months agoDoes your country have any assistance for lost business/hardships due to war?
wri-8727
·4 months agoOutrageous! eBay policies are so outdated. No, seriously, why didn't you make a preemptive shutdown and booked a flight?
kensgiftshop
·4 months agoThe BBB policy is pretty strict on International sellers and don't think anyone comes back after a BBB suspension.
I'd be looking for other places to start selling.
tarotfindsandmore
·4 months agoMany of us do hear you, that's all we can do. Because this is a community board, there's nothing we can do to fix this and, unfortunately, there are quite a few folks here that will speak out of ignorance and use your post as just another opportunity to promote their own political agendas.
Please try to ignore the useless trash posts and know that there are real people here with real hearts/minds who genuinely do feel for you. None of us who were born here in the US (or Canada) can truly empathize because not one of us has ever lived through what you're going through. We can't really empathize because there isn't a single one of us living in this country today who has ever had to spend a month in a bunker to save his/her life. We say incredibly stupid, thoughtless things because many of us don't even know where you are on a map...let alone the kind of horror you're living through.
Am Yisrael Chai... God will see to it.
inhawaii
·4 months agoDon't worry my friend.
The war should be over any day now.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/25/politics/fact-check-trump-ukraine-war
tarotfindsandmore
·4 months agoWrong war, wrong country... sorry, you can't blame the administration for this one, as disappointing as that may be.
inhawaii
·4 months agoYou're absolutely right.
I picked the wrong country/wrong war.
I feel like an idiot. LOL
Anyways, nice to know that despite out political differences, we can still get along.
What does a Democrat and a Republican both have in common?
They both love their country.
-unknown
tarotfindsandmore
·4 months agoAmen!
And for sure! I enjoy your posts immensely and agree with the majority of your posts, especially when it comes to selling/business practices. I have never had any ill will toward you...even when you might have wanted to poke my eye out. 🤗
stuff4divas
·4 months ago@moonwalkersha
So sorry to hear your situation. We have no power to undo what eBay has done to your account, but, as suggested, contact eBay customer service thru > https://www.instagram.com/ebayforsellers/
In the meantime, maybe read up on some of these eBay policies>
https://export.ebay.com/en/fees-regulations-policies/ebay-policies/bber-2025/
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-policies/seller-protection-policy?id=4345
https://www.ebay.com/help/account/account-restrictions-suspensions/account-restrictions-suspensions?id=4190
God Bless You and your country
gurlcat
·4 months agoOthers may chime in with better advice (or tell you that there's nothing you can do). What I can say is it is worth trying via the eBay Instagram private message contact. At least there you will actually get a real human with more knowledge and discretion to make decisions than what the phone representatives can do.
I still have a very bad feeling about this, as I have never heard of someone regaining their account after BBE closure, but you can at least try. I am so sorry this is happening to you.
quadcitypickers
·4 months agoeBay has made it very clear over the years of reading on this board they only care about the buyer.
We may be the ones paying the fees, but if one seller is banished, the buyer will just purchase from another seller, so they still get paid regardless.
21% of CEO's in America are psychopathic, and in all honesty I think that figure is much greater. It's why they push so hard for AI, because decisions are made without human emotion, and since they themselves lack human emotion, they are all for it.
shire123
·4 months agoI am so sorry for your situation. BUT. This might sound a bit heartless but there are NO extenuating circumstances that ebay would allow for Bad Buyer Experiences. When life throws you curve balls you need to have a plan in place to avoid the consequences of those events.
While it is too late for you, others who read these threads need to have a plan in place that if something happens, your ebay business is put on hold IMMEDIATELY.
For some this might sound like my priorities are out of whack but if something happens in my life that will affect ebay performance one of the first things that I (or a family member) will do is suspend all ebay listings. That only takes a few seconds to accomplish. In this way once those life events have sorted themselves out your ebay business can restart.
soh.maryl
·4 months agoRegardless of how "prepared" we may be for unforeseen circumstances, honestly now, how many of us right this minute are prepared for a war right here, in our town, on our street?
kibble-net
·4 months agoNone of us are. But that won't stop the billionaires from making us fight for them, just to keep the public distracted from the Epstein stuff.
soh.maryl
·4 months agoYou're right, of course. My point was that war isn't an extenuating circumstance and I don't believe that eBay or anyone else should label it as such.
Here's hoping the OP can get some kind of relief from eBay. Will be following this closely because that, and deepest sympathy, are about all we can offer.
tarotfindsandmore
·4 months agoWow. Talk about a tone deaf, selfish, insensitive throw away comment. The OP has lost their livelihood as the result of a war and all you can do is blabber about billionaires and epstein...gross. Next you'll be telling us it was the billionaires and Epstein who killed all those kids on 10/7.
roccotacodad54
·4 months agoThank You.......................
gurlcat
·4 months ago@shire123 If I'm understanding the OP correctly, your suggestion wouldn't have worked. It sounds like they must have suspended their sales when they realized they had to go to a bunker, or else the problem would be unfulfilled orders. But that's not what they were dinged for -it was just 2 orders they had already SHIPPED.
So while you are correct that suspending sales takes only seconds to accomplish, and is something you could have family/friends prepared to do for you, dealing with problems with already-existing orders is a whole other matter.
grann-4629
·4 months agoIf you are living in the US as most posters here are, what is your eBay plan when the missiles start landing in your Country? What is eBay's plan if a missile takes out their mainframe and databases?
tarotfindsandmore
·4 months ago??? LOL, if that happens it's not going to matter to any of us because there will be no more ebay, or anything else for that matter ...nevermind the fact that the only nations in the world with the capacity to even try to pull it off would be shooting themselves in the foot (Russia's a little busy at the moment, China holds so much of our debt that it would immediately collapse right behind us, and North Korea seriously??).
Of all the scenarios that US sellers need to be prepared for, that one is just behind the absolute least likely one. I assume your post was intended to point out the absurdity of any of the usual array of canned responses that get spewed without any thought at all when a poster from another country comes looking for help.
grann-4629
·4 months agoYes, but my point is if I am trying to survive in an active war zone with none of the stuff I am used to having (electricity, cell phones, medicines), worrying about something like keeping up with eBay's requirements would be the last thing on my mind.
If eBay did have humans making the day-to-day decisions, they would certainly be aware of the conditions in that part of the world and would back off a bit on policy enforcement based on how normal people care for human life.
A normal person living in a place like North America should have a contingency plan for things like fire, floods, etc., but planning for a war in our Country is not in most people's plan.
And the Chinese? All they have to do is line up their entire population in a line and jump at the right time and they could send a shock wave around the world that would wipe out our entire continent. I don't know how much warning we would get ... need a physics guy to figure that out. 😎😎 <<< look
tarotfindsandmore
·4 months agoI agree with almost all of that. In fact, that's what I figured you were trying to get across.
As for China wiping us out, well that would be tantamount to tying a rope around your own waist before pushing the enemy you're tethered to off a cliff. Even Wile E. Coyote eventually figured out that wasn't a good plan.
grann-4629
·4 months agoEven Wile E. Coyote eventually figured out that wasn't a good plan.
That's because Wile used Acme junk that he bought on eBay, and didn't qualify for a refund.
grann-4629
·4 months agoAs for China wiping us out, well that would be tantamount to tying a rope around your own waist before pushing the enemy you're tethered to off a cliff.
And the result is MAD
bankress
·4 months agoSorry, wrong post.
soh.maryl
·4 months agoOK, imagine these circumstances: Your city is under siege. Bombs are falling. You're ordered to a shelter. Is suspending your eBay sales the first thing you would think of doing?