eBay

movieman630 · ‎10-17-2024

So yesterday I had a vintage USPS patch removed because someone reported it as a policy violation and someone at ebay concurred.

The Policy was the Government Items Policy. Specifically "delivery services". Despite their own policy indicating that if it was over 10 years old and no longer used on their uniforms it would be ok. Of course I protested and asked for a review and of course their decision was upheld despite the evidence that it truly was obsolete. Doesn't really matter to me, I've got thousands of items, I just didn't want a "ding" on my record and truly know it wasn't breaking their policy based on what it says.

Have any of you been "made aware" of a policy violation you never knew or thought existed with an item? Does this kind of restriction truly help anyone or anything? Thoughts?

I've long thought if it's legal, there should be no problem. Let's have a true free marketplace. Perhaps one day?

chevymontecarlo88 · ‎10-17-2024

It could be that it is being tied to the ability/opportunity for someone to impersonate a Postal employee which is illegal. It doesn't make sense but eBay does ban legal items all of the time.

I would think they would have more of a problem with law enforcement or military items than a postal patch.

Go figure.

- Roasting id

movieman630 · ‎10-17-2024

Yeah, they do clamp down on Police items. If it's "generic" it's ok. Or if it's obsolete. The USPS patch I had listed hasn't been used since the 1990s / Early 2000s. The company that made them has been out of business for over 20 years.

Like I said, it makes no difference to me but it's just inconsistent "ad-hoc" policy.

I'm just curious as to other sellers stories about this kind of thing.

movieman630 · ‎10-17-2024

Quick update: I just got notified that my appeal was approved and the item restored. I guess there is justice after all.

All is well that ends well. Thanks ebay.

mam98031 · ‎10-17-2024

Sellers have always been responsible to know the rules. Our agreement with the rules doesn't matter, but Ebay has always required us to know them.

It's is like signing a contract. Signers are held responsible to know what the contract contains. Not reading it is not a defense.

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

brightlightbookseller · ‎10-17-2024

I think this is the opposite situation. @movieman630 read the rules, then they weren't applied as they understood they would be.

@movieman630, glad it worked out, though hopefully they don't get pulled again, I would be wary!

richard1rst · ‎10-17-2024

@movieman630 wrote:
So yesterday I had a vintage USPS patch removed because someone reported it as a policy violation and someone at ebay concurred.

The Policy was the Government Items Policy. Specifically "delivery services". Despite their own policy indicating that if it was over 10 years old and no longer used on their uniforms it would be ok. Of course I protested and asked for a review and of course their decision was upheld despite the evidence that it truly was obsolete. Doesn't really matter to me, I've got thousands of items, I just didn't want a "ding" on my record and truly know it wasn't breaking their policy based on what it says.

Have any of you been "made aware" of a policy violation you never knew or thought existed with an item? Does this kind of restriction truly help anyone or anything? Thoughts?

I've long thought if it's legal, there should be no problem. Let's have a true free marketplace. Perhaps one day?

My understanding was that you could not sell a patch or (in my case a hat pin) that was issued solely to the workers of the organization. BUT if the patch/pin was routinely sold by them as a souvenir item it was OK.

BUT that didn't stop the bots from taking down my NY Subway pin. Their argument was that a nefarious person could use it to access a secure area. Without other identification?????? Oh well, it was a nickle and dime item amounting to no more than coffee money. So rather than getting all twisted I simply listed it on me personal web site. Problem solved. Aggravation avoided.

"Laissez-faire capitalism (AKA The Great Material Continuum) is the only social system based on the recognition of individual rights and, therefore, the only system that bans force from social relationships." ~ Ayn Rand

movieman630 · ‎10-17-2024

Yeah the policies are left intentionally vague so they can make up the rules as they go for specific items. We can never be 100% sure something is acceptable.

Here's one for you. Immediately after I got the notice that my appeal was accepted for that USPS patch (which I'm still not allowed to relist, just forgiven for). I got ANOTHER violation notice for "police-related items" on a badge wallet (brand new still in the package, no actual badge included, an empty wallet). It was listed under Police - ID Holders. I've been selling them for over a year (had several hundred different models). I even called ebay support before I listed them just to make sure they were an item that was allowed. I was told as long as they were empty brand new wallets they were perfectly acceptable to sell.

Well they bumped one off today. I called and was told that it was the use of the words "Police Badge Wallet" in the title that kicked it, and the use of a manufacturer stock photo which showed a badge in the wallet (to display the style of the badge it fit) oh yeah, and it also showed a 20 dollar bill in the photo to indicate it held money too. So because I showed a badge in the photo and used the words "police badge wallet" in the title it was flagged, and not forgiven despite the actual item being perfectly fine to sell and my saying multiple ways in the description that the badge in the photo was for reference and was a stock photo and the wallet is EMPTY!

I was told if I edit the listing to not use the word "police" and delete the stock photo it could be re-listed.

Well I'm not playing this game anymore. I took every single one of them down, deleted them and will take them to a flea market to liquidate them. I also deleted every single item from the police section. It's not worth it. That category is a mine field. Yes, they allow things... But what? It's anyone's guess if it's acceptable or not. What EXACTLY constitutes an "accessory?" That word can cover a lot of items. It's just not worth it.

In my opinion that category should just be scrapped all together. Save us all a lot of trouble. It's not worth the risk to my account.

Also... What's with 2 items flagged 2 days in a row? Anyone else get this?

movieman630 · ‎10-17-2024

@brightlightbookseller wrote:
I think this is the opposite situation. @movieman630 read the rules, then they weren't applied as they understood they would be.

@movieman630, glad it worked out, though hopefully they don't get pulled again, I would be wary!

They aren't getting re-listed. I was told the item was still not allowed but was forgiven. I was thinking it was because someone knows it was from the 1990s but they still just don't like it. I don't know.

I always like playing by the rules, I don't ever try to squeeze something by... It's not worth it to play that way. I want to abide their policies and always err on the side of caution but some categories are just too vague.

sin-n-dex · ‎10-17-2024

@movieman630 wrote:
So yesterday I had a vintage USPS patch removed because someone reported it as a policy violation and someone at ebay concurred.

The Policy was the Government Items Policy. Specifically "delivery services". Despite their own policy indicating that if it was over 10 years old and no longer used on their uniforms it would be ok. Of course I protested and asked for a review and of course their decision was upheld despite the evidence that it truly was obsolete. Doesn't really matter to me, I've got thousands of items, I just didn't want a "ding" on my record and truly know it wasn't breaking their policy based on what it says.

Have any of you been "made aware" of a policy violation you never knew or thought existed with an item? Does this kind of restriction truly help anyone or anything? Thoughts?

I've long thought if it's legal, there should be no problem. Let's have a true free marketplace. Perhaps one day?

I had a 1960 RCMP collar pin taken down as restricted (police items) a few years ago. eBay says the RCMP is very strict about parts of their uniform being sold on ebay, even if obsolete. When I ran it by the blues they said if the particular law enforcement agency is enforcing policy against listing their items, eBay has to comply. Perhaps USPS is one of those types of agencies.

C.

sin-n-dex · ‎10-17-2024

@movieman630 wrote:
Yeah the policies are left intentionally vague so they can make up the rules as they go for specific items. We can never be 100% sure something is acceptable.

Here's one for you. Immediately after I got the notice that my appeal was accepted for that USPS patch (which I'm still not allowed to relist, just forgiven for). I got ANOTHER violation notice for "police-related items" on a badge wallet (brand new still in the package, no actual badge included, an empty wallet). It was listed under Police - ID Holders. I've been selling them for over a year (had several hundred different models). I even called ebay support before I listed them just to make sure they were an item that was allowed. I was told as long as they were empty brand new wallets they were perfectly acceptable to sell.

Well they bumped one off today. I called and was told that it was the use of the words "Police Badge Wallet" in the title that kicked it, and the use of a manufacturer stock photo which showed a badge in the wallet (to display the style of the badge it fit) oh yeah, and it also showed a 20 dollar bill in the photo to indicate it held money too. So because I showed a badge in the photo and used the words "police badge wallet" in the title it was flagged, and not forgiven despite the actual item being perfectly fine to sell and my saying multiple ways in the description that the badge in the photo was for reference and was a stock photo and the wallet is EMPTY!

I was told if I edit the listing to not use the word "police" and delete the stock photo it could be re-listed.

Well I'm not playing this game anymore. I took every single one of them down, deleted them and will take them to a flea market to liquidate them. I also deleted every single item from the police section. It's not worth it. That category is a mine field. Yes, they allow things... But what? It's anyone's guess if it's acceptable or not. What EXACTLY constitutes an "accessory?" That word can cover a lot of items. It's just not worth it.

In my opinion that category should just be scrapped all together. Save us all a lot of trouble. It's not worth the risk to my account.

Also... What's with 2 items flagged 2 days in a row? Anyone else get this?

About policies being vague... That's been my beef with the coins and currency policy. The way some of it is written is open to interpretation and eBay enforcing it any way they see fit at the time. It's like the policy was written with language that was intentionally misleading.

About your items being taken down... not long after my 1960 RCMP pin was removed (with a policy violation, I did not bother to appeal it), I took down all my vintage police items. I had a lot of collar and cap pins from police constabularies in Great Britain. I avoided words like "badge" to not trigger the bots, but if something's reported and it's investigated, then there will be a manual take down. It's pretty risky. If you look at my sales, you'd see that a few days suspension is a huge punishment. It was better to return all the pins to the B&M store and let them deal with it. I didn't think it was worth the risk. I think you did the right thing by taking them down and not taking chances on any more policy violations.

C.

sin-n-dex · ‎10-17-2024

@movieman630 wrote:
@brightlightbookseller wrote:
I think this is the opposite situation. @movieman630 read the rules, then they weren't applied as they understood they would be.

@movieman630, glad it worked out, though hopefully they don't get pulled again, I would be wary!
They aren't getting re-listed. I was told the item was still not allowed but was forgiven. I was thinking it was because someone knows it was from the 1990s but they still just don't like it. I don't know.

I always like playing by the rules, I don't ever try to squeeze something by... It's not worth it to play that way. I want to abide their policies and always err on the side of caution but some categories are just too vague.

An account with 16K feedback is very valuable. I subscribe to the same policy, when it doubt, don't take chances.

C.

chapeau-noir · ‎10-17-2024

I think a lot of the rule making is administrative - with the vast amount of items of identification (pins, patches, uniforms, etc.) and the mess of rules regarding public use, there would be a massive amount of rules and exceptions, so it's just easier to put a ban on large groups of items. It appears also that eBay has opted for the 'report first, ask questions later' approach, leaving it up to the individual seller to appeal - though I would think that what exceptions they do have, they'd actually honour.

“The illegal we do immediately, the unconstitutional takes a little longer.” - Henry Kissinger

"Wherever law ends, tyranny begins" -John Locke

movieman630 · ‎10-17-2024

Yeah it's just not worth it. That category is just dangerous. The only thing I'll list there now are the defunct stuff like NY Transit Police etc. Those agencies were done in 1995 so that stuff is safe. It's a shame too because I have a lot of generic patches and tie tacs (which I was also told were ok) but I'm not taking any more chances. I can liquidate that stuff other ways.

I miss the good ol' days when if it was legal it was ok. Simpler times.