False targeting and report
I have spoken to two different people in trust and safety in regards to items being taken down which do not violate E-bay policy nor guidelines....either a fellow E-bayer or someone deep in trust and safety has targeted my account...let us not forgot the former head of e-bay trust and safety is currently spending 5 years behind
bars and was arrested by the FBI for cyberstalking a fellow E-bayer....
Both of the individuals in trust and safety said they would call me back and neither have done so...sending off messages to bots does not help either as there has been no response from sent messages...how does a individual on E-bay protect their account from false reports of violation of E-bay policy?
23 comments
bonjourami
·2 years agoOnce you get on Ebays radar, you stay there.
fashunu4eeuh
·2 years agoBelow is the policy covering Black Americana. As you can see, the wording is somewhat vague, and open to interpretation. For example, who decides what is offensive or discriminatory?
Then one can see how some listings could get removed, and others not. The likely cause of this scattered practice is that the removal process is flawed and subjective, dependent on opinions of racism rather than a quantifiable measure.
As a collectibles seller, i simply avoid listing Black Americana now on eBay. It has become too risky.
Final thought—It does not prove a point, nor bolster one’s position, to argue that because others have been targeted before, then it follows that you must be, as well.
Using what other sellers are doing as a basis for one’s own listing choices, can place a selling account in jeopardy. A seller who does so, leaves himself at the mercy of rationalization, and that does not guarantee safety, nor protect one’s selling account by any means.
It comes down to one thing: It does not matter what decisions another seller makes. It only matters what you do.
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/prohibited-restricted-items/offensive-materials-policy?id=4324#:~:text=Items%20with%20racist%2C%20anti%2DSemitic,related%20items%20with%20its%20image
1syndicate
OP2 years agoWhat matters is a fair market place for all....having a vague policy is weak at best....the fact you just stated that in no way will you list a Black Americana item actually hurts the free and open trade market and also does not give a avid collector a chance to buy the item...E-bay banned the sale of ivory the same way years ago and chased away that business as well to all the auction houses....there is nothing offensive about a heading that reads Black Americana hence why there are 160000 headings on E-bay currently that have that.
inhawaii
·2 years agoI agree with you.
It's obvious to me that someone is out to get you.
1syndicate
OP2 years agoJust spoke to a gal here in America with the trust and safety team....here response was any listing that has Black Americana in the heading will be scanned and looked at for racist or negative items in regards to race...there are multiple postcards under Black Americana where an alligator is present and they are still for sale and many have sold.....when I asked the gal about the postcard of a small black girl eating watermelon that recently sold and not taken down the phone went silent....uncomfortable silence....she then came back on the line and said eBay will look into the postcard sale..what are they going to look at when the listing was not taken down and the item sold...the reality is E-bay has become a political activist site and time to sell items on a different platform....
reallynicestamps
·2 years agoThe phone reps have a terrible reputation for getting you off the phone as soon as possible even if that means giving you the advice you want to hear instead of the advice you need to have.

https://www.facebook.com/eBayForBusiness/ — Message button in upper right on landing page.
https://www.instagram.com/ebayforsellers/

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/How-do-I-contact-Customer-Support/m-p/32016431#M1783851 -> Automated Assistant, type AGENT -> enter. You will then get more options.


The social media Chat accounts are covered by trained eBay employees with some authority.
And you get a transcript so you can compare what you heard with what you were told.
ed8108
·2 years agoPerformance appraisal
That is far from appropriate & proper business behavior.
Ebay should make efforts to identify & then counsel those employees to improve their job performance
tobaccocardyahoo
·2 years agoCareless wording can trigger the bots.
Having a listing found by the bots can increase the likelihood of being checked by the bots in the future.
Relisting an item taken down by the bots, can increase the likelihood of more frequent checking.
Before you know it, you are buried by an avalanche.
All without human intervention.
1syndicate
OP2 years agoWhat are careless words? If you are referring to Black Americana there are over 160000 items on E-bay with the same words....if bots were looking for listings with Black Americana how is there 160000 items for sale with those words?
mtgraves7984
·2 years agoWhat are careless words?
@1syndicate
Good question. I searched 'postcard trains black americana' and found only 8 with those words. But they're still listed. 🤔
1syndicate
OP2 years agoThe lot had over 30 postcards so there was cities..trains..and only one postcard that was Black Americana..the said postcard has sold numerous times with Black Americana and Alligator...you can see them listed now...also go into listings and you can see where people list the actual word RACIST along with Black Americana eating watermelon and the listing was not taken down and sold.....there is no reason for a E-bay bot to target a account with just Black Americana in the heading as the trains and cities had nothing to do with it...also I wrote to one of the heads of the community and they acted like a War-Mart greeter stating nothing they could do and contact the help section.....
gone.c-33
·2 years agoYou keep mentioning the word alligator. Did the removed listing have anything to do with “gator baitâ€?
1syndicate
OP2 years agoNo...you can see multiple postcards on E-bay with alligators...none are taken down and available for sale
retro_entertainment_collectibles
·2 years agoI gather you're not into software engineering. First logic place to active filter upon is new listings. Code finds one questionable the account gets elevated for further scans across time.
Existing listings going to be treated completely different, likely periodic random scan and dont think eBay doesn't remove things. They remove 241,000+ on average every day, seven days a week by robotic code.
1syndicate
OP2 years agoIf there are 160000 listed items under Black Americana and none are taken down then there is obviously not a bot at work....there was nothing in the listing that warranted a bot or human to take it down...software engineering has nothing to do with it....just ask the couple who just won 3 million dollars from E-bay when
trust and safety targeted them...or go ask James Baugh who is now serving a 5 year prison sentence for
cyberstalking and false targeting who was head of E-bay trust and safety....he even had E-bay legal fooled so I am aware there are bad seeds in E-bay targeting accounts
12345jamesstamps
·2 years agoCertain words in the title can take down a listing....
Anything "confederate" related as well.
That "Cleveland Indians" post card....might want to change the title....some lookers might tag it as well. Just my opinion.
1syndicate
OP2 years agoThe item is a vintage Cleveland Indians Pin....there is over 30000 items listed under Cleveland Indians...also there is over 160000 items listed under Black Americana....none of these items are against E-bay policy hence why they are all still available for sale
luckythewinner
·2 years agoeBay user agreement says you do not have to violate any policy for an item to be taken down:
"we reserve the right to refuse, modify, or terminate all or part of our Services to anyone for any reason at our discretion."
I sincerely doubt you are being targeted by some conspiracy within eBay. I suspect there is simply some combination of factors in your listing that is triggering a bot. And I suspect that no one you can talk to in customer service has the authority or capability to override the bots for a specific item.
1syndicate
OP2 years agoThere are other things wrong with my account and there is no conspiracy...there was nothing in my heading to trigger a bot when 160000 items currently have the same words....my listing simply read Postcard lot with trains cities Black Americana....also I did not talk to customer service about the situation instead spoke to two people in trust and safety which is a specific division of E-bay not a phone service operating just answering the phone
m60driver
·2 years agoYou can't, you just have to go with the flow and not relist the items removed. Resistance is futile.
bashort
·2 years agoyes, once skynet removes a item there is nothing a mere human including a ebay "trust and safety" person can do.
mtgraves7984
·2 years agoYour listings look rather innocuous to me, plus... you have some cool stuff. What did you try to list? 🤔
1syndicate
OP2 years agoMtgraves....there are 2000 postcards on E-bay under Black Americana...the item I listed was a postcard lot that had nothing against E-bay policy...just a standard Black Americana in the heading...also note there are over 160,000 items on e-bay under Black Americana...also the exact postcard in question has been sold several times and currently there is two available for sale under the same heading with more words for detail...
My hunch is someone from E-bay trust and safety has targeted my account because other suspicious activity has been going on for several months which makes no sense...this is not something to take lightly as E-bay was forced to pay 3 million dollars to a couple who were victims of James Baugh Stephanie Popp and David Harville all who were the highest ranking Trust and Safety employees at E-bay