Adult only - Requires verification

[xxthebeastxx]

It's been more than a year since the ADULT ONLY section was supposedly eliminated.  However, items continue to be tagged as "Adult only - Requires verification"?!  While I personally have never sold anything on eBay, according to sellers who I have known for more than 15-years, eBay is adding the tag.  And this is true for items that are fully compliant with eBay policy.  As an example, please see the attached listings recently posted under "Collectible Vintage Pinups (Pre-1970)".

It's also important to note you must click on the 'verification' link in order to view the item which is an extra step that slows down the review of multiple items and should not be required. 

Thoughts and comments are very much appreciated.

THANKS and TAKE CARE!

Sample ~ Adult only item - Requires verification

[mudshark61369]

@xxthebeastxx,

I tried several searches for vintage pinup art, pinup photos, vintage nude photos/art etc., and did not get an "Adult only item, Requires verification notice" box on my results pages. 

Maybe you are getting the notice if you log in from various devices and/or from different locations.  If I remember correctly, once you performed the verification, the notice disappeared on the results page if you refreshed it. 

[francislight2]

I went to ebay.com and in the search box I typed in without quotations “Collectible Vintage Pinups (Pre-1970)” to see if I would see what you were looking at and I didn’t see anything what you were showing in the picture above however some of the photos that the sellers are using I do think should be hidden behind by default behind some type of screen or filter unless the user chooses to show these photos anyway.

I do think by default this should be hidden if it is showing pictures that I would certainly classify as being X-rated however I do think for those who don’t mind should be able to change a setting to include X-rated photos without filters that way people have a choice to either not see it or to see it, but I do understand your point having to click on each and every single one to verify can be quite annoying and very time consuming.

[gosimus]

@xxthebeastxx 

< you must click on the 'verification' link in order to view the item >    

I was able to magnify your screenshot and see that the seller's username is datzland so I searched by seller.  I got 399 hits, and none of them required verification.  Maybe eBay remembers my verification from the distant past when I did peruse similar entertainment.  The vast majority of the thumbnails shown on my search results page are of the scanty lingerie type, with a handful of topless, and no full frontals at all. 

[kathiec]

---

@gosimus wrote:

@xxthebeastxx 

< you must click on the 'verification' link in order to view the item >    

I was able to magnify your screenshot and see that the seller's username is datzland so I searched by seller.  I got 399 hits, and none of them required verification.  Maybe eBay remembers my verification from the distant past when I did peruse similar entertainment.  The vast majority of the thumbnails shown on my search results page are of the scanty lingerie type, with a handful of topless, and no full frontals at all. 

---

Since I don't think I've ever been verified, I looked at the seller's listing and also didn't get any Verification Required notices. But I did follow one of the links on their listings to a listing that had Nude in the title and was a bit more hardcore. Then when I clicked on See other items for that seller some, but not all, of the listings did have Adult Verification Required. So there seems to be no rhyme nor reason for the notification popping up.

[xxthebeastxx]

Hello Gosimus -

Thanks for responding.  The seller has no explanation as to why eBay is still tagging the items as "Adult Only" especially when you consider that section supposedly went the way of the dinosaurs more than a year ago!  But it could be a dinosaur of the purple variety! 😂  But it's not just a single seller.  This is rampant throughout the “Collectible Vintage Pinups (Pre-1970)” category.  And contrary to what others have said, the samples I provided for a single seller are in compliance with the eBay policy below with the exception they do not reference reference "Nudes" in the Subject.  But it still does not explain why eBay would tag the items as "Adult Only" when that category no longer exists?  Instead, if the listing is in violation of policy should eBay not remove the listing and instruct the seller to relist?  Even the seller says there is no rhyme or reason and they certainly are not adding a non-existent tag.  And this is a seller with more than 30K feedbacks and all are positive (100%).

I also reached out to couple of moderators but have not received a response.

Again, additional thoughts and comments are very much appreciated.

THANKS and TAKE CARE!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

eBay Policy...

Nude art listings that do NOT contain sexually suggestive poses or sexual acts are allowed, but they must include the item specific attribute Subject: Nudes.  They can be listed only in the following categories:

• Art categories
• Collectibles > Paper > Pin Up > Vintage (Pre-1970)
• Collectibles > Postcards > Non-Topographical Postcards
• Collectibles > Photographic Images > Photographs

[xxthebeastxx]

Hello mudshark -

I appreciate your feedback.  However, it doesn't matter what browser I use.  And the results are the same on different computers (even after clearing the cache and restarting).  If you take a close look at the listings for seller datzland and ericdatz you will find many are tagged "Adult Only".  And I have known this seller for more than 15-years and he gave up long ago trying to argue the point with eBay. 

But the $25K question remains... WHY is eBay tagging items with a category that no longer exists?  And WHY are they doing it carte blanche without reaching out to the seller with an explanation or guidance on the corrective action they need to take?

On the other hand, the following two sellers never get tagged with Adult Only.  But they both have one thing in common that insures compliance with eBay policy... they both reference NUDES in the subject listing. And they both list items in the same category "Collectible Vintage Pinups (Pre-1970)".

Seller: imagesinhistory
Item #201169372295
Item #191606944376

Seller: venice_collectibles
Item #403877842913
Item #195334953149

THANKS AGAIN and TAKE CARE!

[xxthebeastxx]

Hello -

I appreciate your comments, but I'm not sure what you define as "X-rated"?  The negatives and photos are definitely 'risque' with many topless which was true of nude pinup models prior to the 1970s.  However, the listings  do NOT contain sexually suggestive poses or sexual acts. And if that was the case, eBay would take down the listing, issue a warning and in some cases suspend the seller.

On the other hand, the following two sellers NEVER get tagged with "Adult Only".  But they both have one thing in common that insures compliance with eBay policy... they both reference NUDES in the subject listing. And they both list items in the same category "Collectible Vintage Pinups (Pre-1970)".

Seller: imagesinhistory
Item #201169372295
Item #191606944376

Seller: venice_collectibles
Item #403877842913

Item #195334953149

So the $25K question remains... WHY is eBay randomly tagging items with a category that no longer exists?  And WHY are they doing it carte blanche without reaching out to sellers with an explanation or guidance on the corrective action they need to take?

THANKS and TAKE CARE!

[rarad_4653]

Who cares.  If someone is interested, they are going to verify regardless of your personal interpretation on what should be considered porno. But then again if your underage I can see how that can become a nuisance.  Just how old are you anyway Beastie?  Ohh ohh, I think someones in trouble!

[xxthebeastxx]

LOL!  I've only been on eBay for 22+ years!  So that should give you a hint as to whether or not I am an adult.  But then again... the ADULT ONLY category has been gone for the better part of 2 years. But, thanks for your 2 cents. 🙂

[lindsey777]

 Maybe someone who doesn't want to click on dozens of titles just to see the art?? I have a seller I favorite that constantly does this with.  Dozens of their pages of art and 80% has these verification links, and it makes it difficult to browse.

[simba6]

Adult only items gone ?  Yea, just search Doc Johnson.   That will put that idea to rest.

[lowmojojodoowadoowa]

This is a guess based on observation over a few years... The "adult only verification" auctions are relisted from buy it nows that have been on ebay since before the end of the adult only category.  There used to be a link that would set a "verified" property.  In the past if I clicked the link and got verified the images would be displayed.  After the end of the adults only category the verification link existed, but was dead. If you clicked it nothing would happen.  I think the image server is still using the "verified" property for images that were added before the end of the "adult only" category.  Since ericDatz images have been on the server for years, but vince collectables have not, The ericDatz images may be subject to the verification property.  

Again, all of this is an educated guess.  If I'm right no new images posted to ebay will get "Authorization required". If I'm wrong, well then you and I just wasted a few minutes thinking about a problem we have no solution to.

[lessthanthreerecords]

I just noticed this problem on my listings last night, but by the look of these posts, it seems to have been going on for some time.  The eBay rep I spoke to yesterday gave me the idea that this was a new problem, but I guess that's not the case.  I was able to get them to agree to a credit of $21.95 - one month of store fees - to compensate for the issue, but that was before I knew it had been going on for months.  As others here have said, my items are in compliance with eBay policies, as they are in the Art category and do have "nudes" specified as the subject.  My main concern is that these listings are entirely blocked from a normal eBay search.  I can access them through my store directly (with the warning, as described above), but I don't imagine most buyers are finding items that way.  To make matters even more frustrating, I noticed other sellers with the exact same art prints, and their items ARE showing in search.  The difference?  They do NOT list "nudes" as the subject.  So, I am penalized for following policy, while other sellers are rewarded for violating policy.

Can anyone from eBay followup on here?

[brcomforti]

I had to completely delist all of my nude artworks not only because I could no longer track them in eBay search, but because I could no longer even see them in my traffic reports. I had no idea how well they were doing for impressions and such and I was too frustrated. An eBay representative even told me to remove the listings and relist them and it would fix the issue, which I did, and the "Adult Item - Requires Verification" was still there, along with the additional problem that now all of the watchers and views on those items were gone because I relisted them. This problem needs to be addressed and solved because I do not know what the next step is. At the moment the only way to get nude paintings onto eBay is to flagrantly disobey their policies which I refuse to do.