How to become Ebay approved seller with digital goods?
Summary: The discussion focused on how to become an approved seller for digital goods on an online marketplace. Several participants, including ttt026, bonjourami, and others, shared insights. rameyratdesigns interacted with ckimodog and robbie31415 regarding specific steps or experiences related to the approval process. Although there were multiple contributions, no detailed responses or specific advice were present in the conversation.
hello everybody.
I sell windows and office digital keys on ebay.de,for about 2 moths everything was ok,a lot of good feedbacks. Today everything was finished of the reason
Your listing didn't follow our Electronically delivered items policy. Electronically delivered goods can only be listed by eBay approved sellers and must follow our policy.
Ok,how to become Ebay approved seller? there are some sellers who works for years...
16 comments
whattheactualfox
·1 week agoTo better explain it from my (and perhaps other's POV's)
I run an IT business and some software I need OEM keys for (No sailing the 7 seas x( lol) and I like the cheapest price, but if I choose to buy from someone who isn't an authorized reseller, there's a risk I could get an invalidated key or a fake key
For Microsoft, you need to be a huge company selling keys
onefootflipper
·1 year agoHere, I will make it simple for you.
You are not ever going to get approved to sell Microsoft product keys intended for one region in another region. Microsoft won't approve it, ebay won't approve it. Any keys you find on ebay like that are just sellers who haven't been caught yet.
Easy way to tell that is that there isn't a single "Authorized Seller" of Microsoft Windows 11 Pro Keys on ebay and every single listing for them is a trying to redirect you to a third party website, and almost all the listings showing up in search are already removed by the time you click on them.
retro_entertainment_collectibles
·1 year agoThat's correct. One has to be approved contractually to be an "Authorized Reseller." Back in the early 2000's my biz back then was an authorized Microsoft, Corel, Lotus (IBM), The Learning Company, Atari, EA on and on resale operation. The problem was always piracy making it unviable to even consider selling the real McCoy online. The Software Publishers Association and Business Software Alliance along with the Entertainment Software Association for ages tried curbing such matters. Heck here where I live our county water authority was sued by the "BSA" for pirated copies of Microsoft Office.
Most sellers, Third Party Sellers by proper definition don't understand anything supply chain dynamics. In part due to that the increase of mass of 3P sellers and lack of responsible vending and sourcing now the powers that be in Government(s) and supply chain have been mounting a literal full court press against the open marketplaces. eBay is basically atop that list because all the afore mentioned entities know that if they can impact eBay hard enough to cause a eventual cascade of site sales failure all the rest will tumble with it. eBay has been and continues to be "THE ENTITY" that seeks to protect Third Party Sellers against "The Horde" that would like to see those sellers unable to sell online. Yes it is also in eBay's selft-interest but sellers need to realize that and instead of "Beating up on eBay" and abusing the service work to try provide the best buying experience for the site consumer(s). Anything other than that is like taking little "chips" off the place that add up to piles by sheer mass.
The very real question now is like global warming have things tipped so far in "The Hordes" favor that there is no way back. Aka: The cascade has begun and cannot be undone. Personally I don't think so in the case of eBay but in order to keep the wolves (Government) from legislating regulatory measures and for supply chain to have very reduced concerns about open marketplaces much need change here and that boils down to sellers more so than any other aspect.
The folks that say everything is economy and poor versus middle class versus wealthy are incorrect and both Walmart and Amazon's open marketplace revenues clearly display that. They are both posting very significant upticks in third party sales be they authorized or unauthorized sellers and due to Walmart's model(s) other big retailers and supply chain have taken notice. Traditionally delisted or surplus products have ended up in the hands of authorized resellers, eventually wholesaled whatever inventories remain or its destroyed towards reclamation. The top third party sellers at open marketplaces have always been the delisted merch vendors. Delisted merch is the stuff who's shelf lifetime has or is coming to an end whether said merch is being discontinued or newer product coming to take its place. Every single item in retail gets delisted eventually and those sellers who buy that stuff make up 25-35% of an Amazon or an eBay top sellers and revenues.
Now that's changing thanks to Walmart basically. Now the traditional brick and mortar chains are using their online presence to move that product at huge discounts. For example back in the day I'd pay $2.50-$3.50 a unit, brand new by the master case for merch that was MSRP of $60-$80 a unit, software, computer mainboards, memory on and on. So even I sold the stuff at $15-$25 a unit margins good with volume and I peddled the stuff at Business to Consumer venues such as the iDeal Networks, Overstock.com, uBid, Onsale's Super Sites, Surplus Direct etc. Those venues limited the numbers of vendors within categories so I'd have like 80% of the buyer traffic in my main categories.
Now however that delisted and surplus merch is being blown out through online big retailers and most of them are not even doing the fulfillment. It's subcontract affording them the financial benefits there-of, a revenue share and the gargantuan traffic into their venues. According to some retail associations traffic to online retailers has increased a whopping 40% since the alleged end of the pandemic and consumer spending in that delisted/surplus merch is up a whopping 30% over same time frame. This is where the lions share of buyer traffic is going as the deals are incredible and just keep coming as there is always supply chain merch available. Always. Atop all that those retailers have the capability to evolve their models where as say eBay has big problems trying to evolve the models due to millions of sellers, the diversity and international scope.
Mobile Apps, strategic partnerships with mobile providers such as T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon with others such as Spectrum, Dish... Networks such as Hulu, Netflix etc or even the likes of say Sony, X-Box Live, Nintendo or The Washington Post, NY Times afford "Supply Chain" all forms in partnership with retail online of opportunity. Expansion opportunity to target consumers with high resolution confidence of conversion these fantastic deals. The open marketplaces cannot do that, its just not possible.
eBay could target whomever consumer for clothes, stereos, games, this and that just like we all see ONSITE but doing that offsite is just not possible as the third party sellers just don't have the quantities of the merch. Kohls has say access to 90,000 of this and 150,000 of that and here we see "One offs" or some vendor with 10 units or even 50 and the seller is near MSRP when Kohls is 70% off offering Kohls cash and more value added.
The online retailers and supply chain have all forms of evolution in they're midst and thus the question becomes one of how does an eBay or for that matter other open marketplaces even try compete against that?
The good news is there are ways but it requires significant changes. In fact so significant they are in fact larger than any changes ever made at say eBay combined. Currently succeeding sellers will not embrace such changes, they will rebel as they are living the now and not seeing the likely fact they've no future unless those changes come to bare. Those changes can't be changes that happen over say a ten year span as by then supply chain will have sequestered so many consumers the platforms are unviable.
I'd wager if we could see actual traffic, buying traffic, conversion traffic across the spectrum we'd see a DIRECT correlation between the huge uptick in online retailers and the loss of buying traffic here. Its not consumers are not spending, they are and spending in buckets but they are not spending here or at Mercari, Posh etc. They are doing what consumers have always done, looking for the deals.
rameyratdesigns
·1 year agoSo if you're trying to sell something you do absolutely own the rights to, like word search puzzles I make myself, without any automated software or A.I. (just me, my imagination, and Excel), how does one go about obtaining that approval? I've been searching and all I keep getting is the policy telling me I need approval to do it outside of the Classified Ads format? Do I simply have to message them and ask??
ckimodog
·1 year ago@rameyratdesigns
It has to be a tangible item. No digital downloads on eBay no matter if you own the rights or not. You do know there are other sales venues here on the internet that you can sell those puzzles? Try the site that starts with an "E" and ends with a "Y."
rameyratdesigns
·1 year agoOf course! I already sell over there. But I see plenty of people selling printable items here like mine. They state right in their listings that no physical item will be shipped and the buyers get a link to download and print out at home. The policy says items like that can only be sold using the Classified Ad option unless you get approval to sell digital downloads. Then you can sell using the Buy it Now option, which is what I see many people doing and what I would prefer to do as well.
robbie31415
·1 year agoI'm sorry but that isn't accurate. The strict policies are for people selling bootlegs, but you can get the green light to sell software you own the rights to by digital delivery.
Not easy but possible.
Also your last part. You know eBay starts with an E and ends with a Y. But I'm guessing you mean Etsy with the capital E.
luckythewinner
·1 year agoIMHO would have to be a large recognized corporation (think Apple, Microsoft, Netflix, etc.) with a marketing department that knew how to set up meetings with large corporate clients.
I doubt that eBay is going to authorize a seller of digital items without due diligence to make sure the seller has the legal right to sell that intellectual property. It is just not worth it for eBay to expose themselves to legal liability.
And I doubt a seller could even get an audience at eBay without demonstrating that they will generate sufficient volume to justify the cost of getting eBay's legal team involved. And sellers that big have a marketing division that knows how to set up meetings with corporations like eBay.
ttt026
OP2 years agoThank you very much for your answers!
ckimodog
·2 years ago@ttt026
Most are not approved, especially for something like keys and codes. You do not own the rights to those items and those companies are known to file lawsuits. They can also order your assets frozen & can request your account to be restricted. They don't mess around. Re consider selling something else because if you relist, you will find your self possibly suspended....permanently.
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/prohibited-restricted-items/electronically-delivered-items-policy?id=4289
Happy Selling
ttt026
OP2 years agoI mean I bought these keys not in EU,that's why I'm not sure,that it has the same license in EU.
authorized.by - should I contact them? or Ebay approve by itself?
gone.c-33
·1 year agoMicrosoft and other software editors price their licenses differently for different regions so their software is affordable worldwide despite the differences in costs of living.
If MS finds out you sell licenses priced at a lower price point for a certain region but sell them in the EU or NA, they will suspend them and you will end up with a lot of unhappy buyers.
toysaver
·2 years agoYou have to be authorized to sell the keys from the manufacturer (Microsoft) first and then eBay can authorize you if they see fit.
The reality is if you have to ask you likely don't qualify. Did you buy the keys from Microsoft?
ttt026
OP2 years agoYes,but it was in another country.
toysaver
·2 years agoThat sounds like a sketchy answer... Microsoft is an International Business. There is only one Microsoft but plenty of counterfeiters.
bonjourami
·2 years agoSizable digital goods retailers that already have a thriving business outside of eBay can apply for an exception to the rule for how digital goods must be listed. Sellers must apply for this status, and comply with eBay's requests for additional information and documentation if needed.
But be warned: Unless you already do significant volume on your web store in digital goods, there is little hope of you being granted an exception.
you would need to contact Ebay offices, and ask to speak to that digital rep.