02-23-2023 07:52 AM - edited 02-23-2023 07:53 AM
I just tried to get into my eBay account, only to be told that my username didn't exist. I checked my email, and there was one from last September telling me I had 30 days to log in or my account would be deleted. I never saw that email. I had been without internet for some time, and hadn't been using my eBay account, but I never expected it to just be deleted. I had a near-perfect feedback rating, and the account had been active for more than 20 years. After some hard searching I finally found a phone number to call eBay, but without valid account information, I kept getting the run-around from the phone robot. I couldn't even get to this page without creating a new account.
Is there anything I can do to recover that old account, or is it gone forever? Also, when did eBay support become so useless?
02-23-2023 07:57 AM
eBay doesn't publish a support number (so if you found one, it may have led you to scammers pretending to be eBay), but at the link below, you can request a call back from eBay by clicking Have us call you on the left side of the page. If you don't see that option, click Chat with our automated assistant. Then type "agent" at the bottom in the chat box. You'll see an option to request a call back there.
https://www.ebay.com/help/contact_us?id=4002&st=10
After very long periods of inactivity, eBay does delete accounts. You can try asking eBay, but the account is likely gone for good.
02-23-2023 08:30 AM
@kissmyoda wrote:I just tried to get into my eBay account, only to be told that my username didn't exist. I checked my email, and there was one from last September telling me I had 30 days to log in or my account would be deleted.
Is there anything I can do to recover that old account, or is it gone forever?
Sorry to tell you, but it's gone forever.
02-23-2023 08:32 AM
I needed to create a new account to even reach that page. So I started one and tried the automated chat, and it was confirmed that the information was gone for good. That's just swell. I now have to start all over again, and I know how I personally feel about sellers with brand-new accounts and zero feedback, so I'm not super hopeful...
02-23-2023 09:04 AM
And now with a new account, I find that I can no longer link a PayPal account. Welp, I guess that's it for me and eBay. It was fun while it lasted but that's the last straw.
02-23-2023 09:08 AM
@kissmyoda wrote:And now with a new account, I find that I can no longer link a PayPal account.
If this was in regards to selling here, boy do you have some catching up to do...
eBay has done away with Paypal as a way to be paid; I suggest you spend some time here reading about Managed Payments.
02-23-2023 09:28 AM
It’s not worth the effort. I quit selling 2 years ago while keeping my account, thinking I might still use it to sell sometime. We too had an account for close to 20 years.
ebay was making more than I was. The increased postage & taxes, plus eBay’s fee on that was a breaking point.
The last time I looked, I couldn’t begin to sell again. It’s changed so much.
I'm functionally literate on a computer, this was too hard to try given the amount I was making.
Recently I bought something. I probably bought way more than I ever sold. It was an ordeal. The specifics kept erasing, I had to wade through pages of sponsored items, I couldn’t keep the viewing format I preferred. It took 3 times longer than buying ever had.
Oh well, if I can’t sell & I can’t buy, it was fun while it lasted.
02-23-2023 09:52 AM
@kissmyoda wrote:And now with a new account, I find that I can no longer link a PayPal account. Welp, I guess that's it for me and eBay. It was fun while it lasted but that's the last straw.
Even with your old account, you wouldn't be able to use Pay Pal to receive payments anymore.