Account restricted

[husirt-0]

Hello eBay Community,

I hope you're all doing well. I wanted to share a recent experience I had on eBay to help others avoid a similar situation.

I recently had a buyer who ordered three items from me. Two of the items were delivered successfully, but due to an issue, the third item was delayed. To resolve this, I resent the third item and provided the tracking number to the buyer via eBay messages so they could track their package.

Unfortunately, this led to my account being restricted and my payments being held. It appears that sharing tracking information directly in messages can be interpreted as an attempt to conduct transactions outside of eBay, which is against eBay’s policies.

To avoid similar issues, I recommend being careful about what information you share in messages with buyers. Always follow eBay's policies to ensure smooth and uninterrupted selling.

Stay safe and happy selling!

Best regards,
Hussain

[kenneth686321]

It seems very unlikely that sharing tracking numbers lead to your account being restricted. can you show us the email from Ebay that states your account was restricted because you shared a tracking number? 

Most common reasons to have your account restricted is because your account is below standard ( high transaction defect rate, cases closed without seller resolution), high INAD/INR cases opened, you owe Ebay money. 

[powell-memorabilia]

A more likely explanation is that your account is restricted because you were drop shipping.

[ckimodog]

@husirt-0 

Sorry for your situation.  Looks like you were drop shipping, possibly from a retailer which is a huge violation on eBay and most retail sites.  You had several unhappy customers who claim they didn't receive their items.  Not good.  It appears more and more sellers from your community are being restricted due to this type of bad seller behavior.  eBay doesn't like it when customers are disappointed.  Looks like your selling days here are finished.

Good luck in the future

[zakstreasuretrove]

I didn't know that drop shipping was against the ebay terms.  I cannot stand when I buy something and it was dropshipped.  It is dishonest of the seller not to disclose this.  I buy on ebay because I don't want to shop on Amazon or Walmart or whatever else and I want to support people like me not, low effort hit and run sellers. 

[ckimodog]

@zakstreasuretrove 

Drop shipping is not against eBay terms if it is implemented correctly, however drop shipping from a retailer, which means they sell the item here on eBay for at a higher price only to turn around and purchase it from another retailer for a lower price & ship it, IS against eBay policy and most retail sites.  Most of these types of drop shippers are overseas.  They get conned in by these snakes with their "get rich quick" sites only to be suspended due to the violation of retail arbitrage.  I'm glad eBay is finally getting a handle on this type of selling.  We have far too many disappointed customers due to this type of selling and most won't & don't  come back to eBay because of it. 

Happy Selling

[toysaver]

Retail arbitrage and or drop shipping are the more likely reason you are restricted.  Tracking numbers from some of those transactions are invalid and providing them through email instead of the transaction does not alter the consequences.  

[jerseyboymusic]

ALL dropshippers should be banned! I'm glad Ebay is doing their job

[ckimodog]

@jerseyboymusic 

I think eBay should make them identify themselves as drop shippers or I believe the term is "Forward dispatchers?" maybe I'm wrong.  But I doubt that would happen as eBay would probably lose money.  Sadly eBay is losing more money due to bad buyers experiences.  JMO. 

Happy Selling

[zakstreasuretrove]

The types of sellers you are talking about are all over the place too.  Fortunately, i feel they are easy to spot.  If you search an item and see the same stock photo all the time with a very similar price, but all are 'unique' sellers with gibberish usernames such as tinghskhy4564 or something like that. 

When you click on all of the different listing you see that they all ship from the same city.  I assume its the same seller using multiple accounts to list the same item at slightly different prices.  They win no matter what, plus it obfuscates the supply pool by making something look like it's available from many different sellers when in reality it isn't.  Before I started realizing this 'coincidence' i noted that these were always drop shippers.

Now when I see those types of listings with others from the same city and low effort stock photos, I know to avoid like the plague. 

For curiosity, check out feedback reviews on those sellers.  If I had a dollar for every time I saw 'drop shipper' in the reviews....

[dbfolks166mt]

Retail arbitrage and or drop shipping are the more likely reason you are restricted.  Tracking numbers from some of those transactions are invalid and providing them through email instead of the transaction does not alter the consequences.  

     I would tend to agree. This one is blatantly obvious. If you look at some of the OP's sold items there is no way they are selling the items for that price with free shipping out of Pakistan. 

[zakstreasuretrove]

@ckimodog 

Here's the pertinent info I found on the ebay drop shipping policy and I think it correlates with what you said:

"However, listing an item on eBay and then purchasing the item from another retailer or marketplace that ships directly to your customer is not allowed on eBay."

Every time I get a drop shipped item it violates this part of the policy.  It's always delivered by an Amazon truck with a gift receipt inside.  It's a clear violation.  I've reported this only to have it completely ignored AND have had neutral feedback that I left removed.  The feedback removal doesn't always happen, but it does happen. 

I shop on ebay because I sell on ebay.  I want to support my peers that do what I do, not Amazon.  The worst part is the bad customer experience it renders.  If those types of sellers go unabated, buyers will just leave and now no one makes sales or money.

Ebay needs to separate itself from Amazon/Temu/Wish etc... not become more like them.  I associate those retailers as being a cesspool of cheaply manufactured garbage and endless counterfeit products (computer components and flash memory I'm looking at you).  I want ebay to be it's original vision.  A place to buy unique items that are impossible or extremely difficult to get any other way and a place to get good deals on second hand items or hard to find items due to geographic location.  It still is all of these things, but it's being obfuscated by scammers and those abusing the drop ship policies. 

[ckimodog]

@zakstreasuretrove 

Thanks for your reply.  I believe eBay is starting to get a handle on it and getting rid of these sellers from our platform.  It appears to be a trend in the middle east with lots of false claims and promises of big money to be made. Most are clueless &  most have little or NO selling experience in any venue.  I do know that several countries have been blocked from selling to the US and Canada due to the BBE.  Bad buyer experience, so it reads to me that eBay is acting on it accordingly and it's about time.  There are lots of them out there, so it may take some time to catch all the violators.  

Here's a link concerning if you're interested:

https://export.ebay.com/en/regulations/ebay-policies/bber/

Happy Selling Friend! 

[zakstreasuretrove]

I found this part to be particularly informative:

As a seller, you should always strive to provide your buyers with items that match up to their expectations. Most of the time when something goes wrong, it could be due to mismatched expectations or lack of visibility related to the details or specifics of the item. You’re expected to follow these best practices:

• Be accurate and detailed
• Use images that are clear and sharp
• List down all the product specifications clearly
• Include size and measurements to prevent any misconception
• Add in the usage guidelines
• Be honest with the condition of your item — state all the flaws and imperfections like scratches, discoloration and dents (if any) for used items
• Manage inventory and end out of stock listings in time
• Ship items within your specified handling time

I already do those things on my own.  A lot of videos I see about people complaining about ebay in one way or another could have been avoided by always following those principles. 

[dbfolks166mt]

@zakstreasuretrove 

Thanks for your reply.  I believe eBay is starting to get a handle on it and getting rid of these sellers from our platform.  It appears to be a trend in the middle east with lots of false claims and promises of big money to be made. Most are clueless &  most have little or NO selling experience in any venue.  I do know that several countries have been blocked from selling to the US and Canada due to the BBE.  Bad buyer experience, so it reads to me that eBay is acting on it accordingly and it's about time.  There are lots of them out there, so it may take some time to catch all the violators.  

Here's a link concerning if you're interested:

https://export.ebay.com/en/regulations/ebay-policies/bber/

     I agree in most respects and it's probably an 80/20 divide with 80% of the drop shipping sellers being pretty easy to identify. For the other 20%, and that figure will probably grow, the rapid emergency of Amazon and other FBA type of arrangements adds some complexity to the mix. 

     Up front there is really no way for eBay to determine if the seller is truly drop shipping or if they are in a FBA agreement with Amazon, Wal-Mart........ or whether they are actually selling an item then purchasing it and having it shipped from their source. The FBA arrangements do not violate any eBay policies even though the buyer gets their shipment from Amazon. This is probably going to grow I believe about 30% of Amazons filled orders come from the FBA's. 

     The later example is a clear violation of eBay policy but those sellers do not tend to last all that long since most hit issue with their sources when items are out of stock, Items are never received/shipped, the buyer wants to return an item or they open a chargeback with their CC company. My guess is one of these types of issues is what resulted in the OP's account being restricted.