Permanent Selling Restriction on Top Rated Account
Little background information.
I am a cell phone refurbishing business that purchases devices from eBay, fixes them, and sells them. I have been constantly reinvesting the funds to purchase more/larger lots. Near the end of this restriction, I had reached $10k in sales in 90 days with months before of $1-3k. This growth was fairly consistent over time.
Anyways.
May 23, 2023:
A selling/Payout restriction was put onto the account, they wanted proof of purchase of the devices I was selling/recently sold. I provided this information easily as I had purchased 95% of the devices through eBay. This restriction was then closed and all was clear.
Jul 31, 2023
Another restriction was placed on my account. This was for identity verification. Driver's license, utility bill, etc. This information was provided and they removed the restriction.
Aug 6th, 2023
The account was restricted for recent credit card statements and proof of purchase of my devices. Again, the devices I was selling were bought from eBay.
Aug 7th, 2023
They denied the appeal because they could not validate where I purchased the devices. Even though I sent eBay transactions with transaction numbers, they could not validate them.
I called on August 7th, and they told me that they were going to redo their inspection and it should be closed.
Later that day, they responded with an email stating that once my recent sales were delivered they would continue with the appeal. This appeal was closed but right on Aug 24th, they put another restriction on it.
Aug 24, 2023
Another restriction was placed asking for the government ID and utility bill. These were provided and denied. The same exact ID (with a recent utility bill) was sent in and they denied it.
Aug 27th, 2023
They said I needed to close one open return so they could continue with the appeal. I rushed to the mail on a Sunday night so I could finally be done with this. After closing it and sending a follow-up email, they responded in 20 minutes by permanently restricting me from selling.
Aug 28th, 2023
Called asking what happened. They told me that I was putting the eBay community at risk and that their risk assessment team deemed that my account should be closed without appeal. They did not give a reason for this as "It may put [eBay] at risk."
TLDR: Really confusing restrictions. At the end of all this, I have a permanently restricted top-rated seller account.
The only negative aspect of my account was a batch of phones that had poor inspection practices. My return rate is at 14% where 8% is industry standard. I've worked on my practices to have much better processes in place. Aside from this issue, my account has 250+ transactions with 95% feedback. I know this is relatively low but I have had one run-in with feedback extortion and one negative feedback that will be falling off here soon as they did not ship their return.
Fairly confident my future with eBay is over as, from what I hear, they do not reinstate this. Really wish this would have turned out better as I have been trying to make some honest money.
Hope this helps someone out there.
maxine*j
·2 years agoWere you actually a part of the eBay Refurbished Program? If you were not, did you use wording in your listings that could have made buyers think you are a certified refurbisher in that program? If so, perhaps that was an issue for eBay. Don't know. Just thinking out loud.
https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/ebay-for-business/ebay-refurbished-program
and
https://www.ebay.com/b/eBay-Refurbished/bn_7040708936
cheapphonesusa
OP2 years agoI was not part of the program but I didn’t make any attempt to say I was.
albertabrightalberta
·2 years ago@cheapphonesusa
You bought 21 iPhone 6+ on ebay?
And there were another 6 iPhone 6-plus, 4 of which were sold and 2 were still available.
And 8 more of the same 6-plus phone were sold.
There were also multiple 8-plus and 11 iPhones.
I see why ebay had concerns!
cheapphonesusa
OP2 years agoHi! I understand your concern but all these devices have a clear 1 purchase and 1 sale on eBay.
rugerskick
·2 years agoThe only thing I could think of is that your return rate is almost double than the industry standard. Even though most of your items are purchased on ebay. Perhaps most of the problem items were largely from the 5% you acquired outside of ebay purchases?
Either way, sorry to hear this. Maybe you can keep trying to contact a US-based ebay fraud/safety rep and ask if theres anything you can do or provide, to appeal or reverse the ban.
robbie31415
·2 years agoYour last 12 feedback 3 negative and 1 neutral.
That's not good.
Your last feedback response was a little confrontational, with all the negative feedback you received you should have been very apologetic and probably just issued refund.
You do multiple quantity listings on items that have differences and use words like you may get this, it may have that. That just creates a bad buying experience.
Cell phones are a very common stolen item and will draw a lot of heat on you as it is. FBMP and OU crowded with stolen phones for a quick buck.
All these things and you aren't a certified refurbished. Doesn't appear any contracts with the company's. Nothing to really show eBay you are legitimate based on your listing presentation.
Wish I could tell you positive things, but I don't really see a bright side out of this. I'm sorry, and if you are a legitimate small business owner I hope you can figure out how to make it work in other marketplaces.
cheapphonesusa
OP2 years agoThanks for the reply. I really wish the positive feedback rate was higher on transactions.
As for the negative feedback, I had some run ins with some buyers that wanted a full refund + no return. I do admit I have had some issues but nothing for a response this serious.
cheapphonesusa
OP2 years agoI admit I was frustrated with that customer. They requested to cancel after we shipped and instantly left negative feedback upon receipt. They never even replied to me through messages.
Thanks for you reply.
reallynicestamps
·2 years agoAlthough eBay says they do not use feedback to assess member accounts, it's always possible that negs are left because the buyer is unable to work out how to open a Not As Described claim.
Win or lose, with a closed Claim no one can leave feedback.
So in addition to the negs/neutral, you will know if there have also been Claims.
And eBay counts Claims against the seller, even if they win, even if they satisfy the customer, even if the buyer is obviously lying through their dentures.
Which is not reasonable in my opinion.
Closed Claims are not made public, so only you can know about any of those.
robbie31415
·2 years agoThat's one of my biggest issues with eBay.
How they have a separate metric simply for INAD and INR being opened.
That metric completely ignores when you win and eBay sides with seller. Or that you provide good customer service.
Like I sold a used DVD for 1 dollar plus 3.93 shipping. I tested it, and worked on my DVD player. I took pictures of some scratches on it, and I offer free 60 days returns.
I made sure to mention everything and stated some DVD players are more sensitive than others.
I even set up automatic instant refunds for anything that cheap.
But I got a ding to because someone opened a not working. Simply because it was opened.
I just find that unfair. Sorry for my rant.
cheapphonesusa
OP2 years agoRelatable. Thanks for your reply.
cheapphonesusa
OP2 years agoI agree. A majority of my returns are never even shipped and I have to wait for feedback/payout to end.
ten_o_nine
·2 years agoSee, the problem is "my account has 250+ transactions with 95% feedback"
That's not good, and actually it's bad, means 5 out of 100 buyers have had a bad experience with their purchase, I have 100% feedback and 13K+ items sold, and they could dump me at any moment.
cheapphonesusa
OP2 years agoThanks for your reply.
oldwestcoins
·2 years agoI believe you are in a tough-selling category that has a lot of scammers and dishonest people. I am not stating you, but rather the buyers. I am positive you realize that. By your lengthy post, and if all is true, I can understand your extreme frustrations. I don't have any real suggestions to offer, just my sympathy for what you have been through. Learn from it and move on is all you can do. You sound like a person with a "good" head on their shoulders. Don't let this one negative incident hold you down. I wish you nothing but better luck in your next venture!
cheapphonesusa
OP2 years agoThanks! You too.