Are certain "Approved Sellers" able to sell masks, sanitizer, and wipes again?

[unrealdealz4u]

I'm super confused and shocked I can't find anyone else talking about this, so hopefully someone here knows more about it. Received this email last night stating that "approved sellers" can continue listing these items as long as they follow the guidelines. However, when i go to the approved categories, I'm not seeing anything really listed and seems all listings are still being pulled. I tried searching "lysol wipes" and got zilch...thought maybe they were being bought so fast that they just weren't showing, so checked under the sold items and still nada. 

So did anyone else receive the below email? Are these items able to be listed again if you're an "approved seller" (not even sure how one would become an approved seller lol). And if so, how come there's still no listings under these "approved categories"?  Thanks for any insight!

"We’d like to thank you for continuing to list important items during these unprecedented times.

We’re heavily restricting the sale of all Face Masks, Hand Sanitizers and Cleaning Wipes & Pads from the site in order to remove unreasonably priced listings, also known as price gouging.

Sellers who are not approved to sell items in these categories may have their listings blocked or removed from the site.

You have been approved to continue selling these items, but please be sure to abide by the following requirements:

• Must be listed at reasonable price - no price gouging

• Shipping only available within the US - no international shipping • Fixed Price only - no auctions

• Must be listed in the following categories:

○ Face Masks (disposable and non-disposable)*: Business, Office & Industrial > Healthcare, Lab & Dental > Medical, Lab & Dental Supplies > Disposable Face Masks (257818)

○ Hand Sanitizers: Health & Beauty > Health Care > Hand Sanitizers (177663)

○ Disinfecting Wipes & Pads: Business & Industrial > Cleaning & Janitorial Supplies > Cleaners & Disinfectants > Cleaning Wipes & Pads (183924)

• Do not use Coronavirus or COVID-19 in your listings. Buyers will be looking for these items for months and likely years to come. The best practice for listing these items is to list them for every-day life, not specific to coronavirus. Any mention of Coronavirus or COVID-19 may cause the listing to be removed.

We will be regularly monitoring the site for these types of items, and if these items are listed outside of the categories above they will be removed, even if the seller is approved."

[go-bad-chicken]

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@unrealdealz4u wrote:

I'm super confused and shocked I can't find anyone else talking about this, so hopefully someone here knows more about it. Received this email last night stating that "approved sellers" can continue listing these items as long as they follow the guidelines. However, when i go to the approved categories, I'm not seeing anything really listed and seems all listings are still being pulled. I tried searching "lysol wipes" and got zilch...thought maybe they were being bought so fast that they just weren't showing, so checked under the sold items and still nada. 

So did anyone else receive the below email? Are these items able to be listed again if you're an "approved seller" (not even sure how one would become an approved seller lol). And if so, how come there's still no listings under these "approved categories"?  Thanks for any insight!

"We’d like to thank you for continuing to list important items during these unprecedented times.

We’re heavily restricting the sale of all Face Masks, Hand Sanitizers and Cleaning Wipes & Pads from the site in order to remove unreasonably priced listings, also known as price gouging.

Sellers who are not approved to sell items in these categories may have their listings blocked or removed from the site.

You have been approved to continue selling these items, but please be sure to abide by the following requirements:

• Must be listed at reasonable price - no price gouging

• Shipping only available within the US - no international shipping • Fixed Price only - no auctions

• Must be listed in the following categories:

○ Face Masks (disposable and non-disposable)*: Business, Office & Industrial > Healthcare, Lab & Dental > Medical, Lab & Dental Supplies > Disposable Face Masks (257818)

○ Hand Sanitizers: Health & Beauty > Health Care > Hand Sanitizers (177663)

○ Disinfecting Wipes & Pads: Business & Industrial > Cleaning & Janitorial Supplies > Cleaners & Disinfectants > Cleaning Wipes & Pads (183924)

• Do not use Coronavirus or COVID-19 in your listings. Buyers will be looking for these items for months and likely years to come. The best practice for listing these items is to list them for every-day life, not specific to coronavirus. Any mention of Coronavirus or COVID-19 may cause the listing to be removed.

We will be regularly monitoring the site for these types of items, and if these items are listed outside of the categories above they will be removed, even if the seller is approved."

---

I assume that you have been approved since you received this email from eBay and it states

You have been approved to continue selling these items, but please be sure to abide by the following requirements:

I do not personally sell these types of products just because they do not fit into my wheelhouse but if I did and I had received the email from eBay that you did I would definitely start listing those items.

I did receive an email from eBay earlier today that stated

"Call Me phone support now available if you need to speak with us."

"Now that we have our team set up to work safely at home, we want to do more. Starting now, Call Me phone support will be available if you need to speak with us. Simply search our Help pages for the topic you need help with, scroll to the bottom of the page and select Call Me. We’ll call you back as soon as possible."

So you could give eBay a call and just double check that you are in fact authorized to sell those types of products if you are worried about it.

[dhbookds]

The email certainly  confirms that you are approved as a seller.......but you must follow the outlined rules.

[crafter_at_heart]

I just had a chat with customer service and according to them, there are no "approved sellers".  This is what she wrote:

8:10 AM Jennifer
Those who can sell were sellers who were already selling those products before this situation. There is no way at this time to apply to be allowed to sell them.

How is that fair?  I thought anyone could list an item on ebay.   And this discriminating against certain sellers is what is causing the price gouging.  These sellers need more competition and then they would have to list at lower prices.  Maybe eBay doesn't want more people because it would drive the selling prices down with all that competition.  

[exclusivetoolsgroup]

yes i got the same thing i called them and they actually told me that they would put in a request for me to get approved but i was rejected from the application

[techmakerr321]

How did you get approved to sell mask? Ive been trying for weeks. I have 2400 mask I need to sell and I have no way of doing so. Any help is much appreciated 

[soh.maryl]

From the very beginning, I had the impression that only those sellers who had been listing and selling these items prior to the pandemic would be allowed to list and sell them now and that no more sellers would be added to the list.

As for masks, eBay, in early May, approved the selling of homemade masks, but not the NP95 ones.

[luckythewinner]

I just had a chat with customer service and according to them, there are no "approved sellers". 

The response you posted does not say that there are "no approved sellers". It simply says that there is no application process to become one. 

How is that fair?  I thought anyone could list an item on ebay.

Just because you though something does not make it true. The eBay user agreement clearly states they can prevent anyone from selling any item at any time for any reason:  "we reserve the right to refuse, modify, or terminate all or part of our Services to anyone for any reason at our discretion"

[vkjfau-0]

Ok here it is really short version:

Don't do it, do NOT trust ebay on this. 

[prettywoman-2012]

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@unrealdealz4u wrote:

I'm super confused and shocked I can't find anyone else talking about this, so hopefully someone here knows more about it. Received this email last night stating that "approved sellers" can continue listing these items as long as they follow the guidelines. However, when i go to the approved categories, I'm not seeing anything really listed and seems all listings are still being pulled. I tried searching "lysol wipes" and got zilch...thought maybe they were being bought so fast that they just weren't showing, so checked under the sold items and still nada. 

So did anyone else receive the below email? Are these items able to be listed again if you're an "approved seller" (not even sure how one would become an approved seller lol). And if so, how come there's still no listings under these "approved categories"?  Thanks for any insight!

"We’d like to thank you for continuing to list important items during these unprecedented times.

We’re heavily restricting the sale of all Face Masks, Hand Sanitizers and Cleaning Wipes & Pads from the site in order to remove unreasonably priced listings, also known as price gouging.

Sellers who are not approved to sell items in these categories may have their listings blocked or removed from the site.

You have been approved to continue selling these items, but please be sure to abide by the following requirements:

• Must be listed at reasonable price - no price gouging

• Shipping only available within the US - no international shipping • Fixed Price only - no auctions

• Must be listed in the following categories:

○ Face Masks (disposable and non-disposable)*: Business, Office & Industrial > Healthcare, Lab & Dental > Medical, Lab & Dental Supplies > Disposable Face Masks (257818)

○ Hand Sanitizers: Health & Beauty > Health Care > Hand Sanitizers (177663)

○ Disinfecting Wipes & Pads: Business & Industrial > Cleaning & Janitorial Supplies > Cleaners & Disinfectants > Cleaning Wipes & Pads (183924)

• Do not use Coronavirus or COVID-19 in your listings. Buyers will be looking for these items for months and likely years to come. The best practice for listing these items is to list them for every-day life, not specific to coronavirus. Any mention of Coronavirus or COVID-19 may cause the listing to be removed.

We will be regularly monitoring the site for these types of items, and if these items are listed outside of the categories above they will be removed, even if the seller is approved."

---

While I don't know the answer to your questions, I just saw this:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/finance/companies/epa-orders-amazon-ebay-to-stop-shipping-unproven-covid-1...

PW🐿

[prettywoman-2012]

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@crafter_at_heart wrote:

I just had a chat with customer service and according to them, there are no "approved sellers".  This is what she wrote:

8:10 AM Jennifer
Those who can sell were sellers who were already selling those products before this situation. There is no way at this time to apply to be allowed to sell them.

How is that fair?  I thought anyone could list an item on ebay.   And this discriminating against certain sellers is what is causing the price gouging.  These sellers need more competition and then they would have to list at lower prices.  Maybe eBay doesn't want more people because it would drive the selling prices down with all that competition.  

---

Looks pretty arbitrary, to me. Looks like eBay has a chosen FEW who can do anything and everything they want to, while all the rest have to play by the rules. 

PW🐿

[rixstuff]

I always ask approved by WHO?  I know years back my mom was contacted by another seller who claimed to be "the only authorized seller of LLBean on all of Ebay" and that she must take down her listings immediately or be banned from Ebay forever.  No big surprise he was selling many of the same items she was but for absurdly high prices (its LLBean, not Armani!) She told him he was full of spit and kept selling for 15 more years after that. 

So to that end, are you SURE it is from Ebay? WHO is in charge of authorizing and what do they do to authorize? WHO put them in charge?  Is their "authority" real or are we supposed to believe them because they say so>

[soh.maryl]

Were you selling these items PRIOR to the virus? 

[hempcutie]

Well, looks like only big companies, or Sellers can sell these items now. How unfair to those people who want to make some money during Covid-19, being without a job.

[badass_dealz]

Choosing WHOMEVER they want and. Restricting everyone else! I was "price Gouging" at $12 for 10 disposable masks with 10 individual holders! And restricted for it! SMH