See that's the thing, I'm not as new to selling as my account shows. I'll copy and paste what was flagged as 'spam' before this.
I've been selling for around 6 mos and been a member of ebay for around 3 yrs. I sell mostly coins and pokemon cards, some graded, some not. There are multiple possibilities why this has happened, but I want to know if this has happened to anyone else, ever (I imagine it definitely has). My account seems to have some sort of shadow ban on it, or at least some mockery of one. I had a problem buyer around a month ago. He wanted to take the sale off ebay (but not telling me that). Basically, he bought my NGC graded gold coin for his offer price (which was the exact same as my Buy It Now... already odd). Everything this guy said raised red flags. He claimed he didn't know my email associated with Ebay, which is why he hadn't paid yet. Isn't that supposed to be automatic via ebay's automated system? I know that I've bought numerous things, mostly packaging for shipping things out, and I always receive the seller's info, at least their email. He then asked me at the email I sent him that he needed my username as well. That's was extremely odd to me, he definitely should have known that. I obliged/entertained this scammer, since MAYBE he would pay. He then proceeds to send me (amazing he thought I'd fall for this since it came like 5 mins after I gave him both my email associated with Ebay and my username) something of an email that looks exactly like something Ebay would send. This 'spoofed/scam' email stated that the username (me) has been paid by (him) and that I should proceed to ship the item out. Long story short, Ebay didn't list it as paid yet. I reported him immediately to Ebay, that is, after telling him to stop scamming people! in an email. Ebay doesn't allow sales off their site, and because of that alone, banned him.
I thought, great, that's awesome, except he wasted my time, as I needed that money badly. Scammers! Wow... so, I had to wait around 3-4 days before I could cancel the order due to no payment. Crazy. Anyways, I waited, cancelled it, and it automatically renewed. Good. But, here's what happened after I put the coin on auction, not the Fixed Buy It Now price I had it listed for. I put it on auction starting at a buck, as I trust Ebay to know prices, and was willing to take the chance. Turned out from my first coin I sold, a graded mexican Reales, that people sometimes bid over the amount. I got $85 for that coin, and expected to get no more than $70, so that was great. Shipped that out same day, and the guy was happy with the entire process, and left feedback reflecting his positive experience. That person paid immediately, as is usually the case. I left him positive feedback reflecting my appreciation for him being a great buyer, fast payment, etc.
Now, with this gold coin experience, the bids became frenzied, as I hoped. It was one of a kind. I had bought it from AMPEX just a week or so before off Ebay, and that purchase was reflected in my feedback as a positive, and I left them a positive review for how quickly they shipped it to me. Being as after I got that coin, and looking up to see if there were any comparables, there weren't. It became the only one on Ebay, a 2024 NGC PF70, Year of the Dragon, Perth Mint, $25 1/4 oz Gold coin. Figured since it's rarity now existent, should get more than I paid for it, and was looking forward to that! Here's what happened in the last 24 hours of bidding. I was keeping watch on the bids every day, several times a day. The last time I viewed it on my phone it was at $670, with just 1 d, 15 hrs left. Not worried in the least, because I knew ebay buyers, especially numismatists, know the value, especially on gold coins. Then, all of a sudden, I couldn't get into my account on the app. When I entered the password, it said, Account Does Not Exist. I was worried then, but not that worried, because I just figured I entered the wrong email or password maybe. Went to my laptop, because (like the phone app) was always logged in. I went to log into that, to no avail. I was logged out of that too. Now, I was really concerned! I looked up files where I keep my passwords. I was entering the correct password. Something was wrong, very wrong. I tried using the online help, which wasn't listing my problem. I didn't need help logging in, it was telling me my account doesn't even exist. Anyways, long story short, I got a hold of a representative on the phone. She told me that my account seems to have had an attempted access through a VPN or out of country. I said, well, that just isn't possible, as I don't use a VPN, and haven't been out of the country for years. She put me on hold a few dozen times, then finally, told me to reset my password, that that would help me get back in. I told her, I know that, but it lists my old number as the only contact, and that it should have my newer information, as I've been using my new number on there for months.
She said, it seems the automated system 'reverts' accounts back to a previous state to avoid any hackers from getting access. I thought that was pretty genius, but NOW, I see that's just a major problem. Truly, that can be, and is for me, super detrimental. Turned out, after I was finally able to reset my password, after she sent me a password reset text to my new phone, and was able to log back in, my entire account was reset to a state/time when I had almost no feedback, no listings, and another store name. I panicked, as anyone would. I had bids on my coin that were about to end! The bids, the coin, all were completely gone! She understood my concern (at least said that with a monotone voice) and told me that it might just take around 24 hrs to return to it's 'newer' state/old state. I hoped so! Ofc, then what happened to the auction that would have ended? The money ebay would have gotten and I WOULD gotten from the auction/final sale? The biggest question wasn't answered either, which was, WHAT HAPPENED in the first place. She had no precise answer, just that she 'thinks' the automated system reverts accounts to a previous state. Again, not very convincing, and sounds amazingly detrimental to multi-million dollar accounts, nevermind little guys like me.
Long story short, this has gone on now for over 72 hours. Still, my account is not back from it's 'reverted' state. I show no listings. No feedback from the dozens of sellers who left me 100% positive feedback. No feedback from the 4 sales I had that were 100% positive. I looked forward to seeing my ebay store having 100% positive feedback for my entire Ebay history, whether that would be a year or for the rest of my life. Anyways, this is horrible. I called again, got a different woman, and she said that it seemed the last rep reverted my page to a time that she probably shouldn't have. I was anxiety ridden upon hearing that, and asked her if she would be able to retrieve all my info, as that is paramount, and literally my salvation. I needed to hear her assurance. She provided me with more assurance than the other rep had, showing me that she had at least gotten my newer name back on my store. That was real progress. Still, none of my listings showed, nor the feedback. I questioned whether someone could have hacked my account and removed the feedback and all my listings? She said, that that was possible, but 'not likely'. I was worried, as a realist, any possibility of something negative, is worrisome.
By the end of the call, still nothing was showing, but she, like the other rep, told me maybe I'd need to wait 15 mins or so, for everything to return to their proper state. I was relieved hearing that. I went out to do some errands for about an hour or so to take my mind off of all this, and came back to check. To my dismay, but not surprisingly, it still wasn't how it should be at all. Tried getting a hold of a rep again, and it appears Ebay makes it harder and harder to do so. Literally told on the phone by the automated system that "that issue is best resolved by referring to our help page online at..." WOW. I'm just beside myself at this point, ready to toss in the towel.
Has this happened to anyone else? Anyone who lists thousands of items? Anyone who makes literally 10s of thousands of dollars a day? There are plenty out there, as I know if this happened to a store like AMPEX who I bought a coin from, they'd be losing 100's of thousands daily. They sell at least 1000 items daily at over $100 - $1000 a pop. They'd be suing Ebay if this happened to them.
My daughter mentioned to me something I forgot about. What if it was 'that guy' who tried scamming you? I was like... wow, maybe! I know Ebay has a system set up where you can literally report someone's items for fraud or a scam, and literally not have else to do but flag that item, or the store. What if that guy had like 3 or more 'burner accounts' and he was truly vengeful for me ruining his scam? He'd be the type to flag my items, and get me 'shadow banned', or worse. Is that possible? Has anyone else known someone that has had that happen to them, or does eBay even investigate such things? I need this problem solved asap, and have no idea what to do at this point.
Ebay Seller beside themselves with frustration
Comics-scifi_collectibles Volunteer Community Mentor
