Ebay Removed All of My Listings | Please Help

[brixmart]

I'll preface this by saying I'm a new seller. I've only been selling for about 2 weeks. I was in the process of adding new listings and I received an email from eBay. In short, the email said, "After reviewing your account, we've had to take action. Some or all of your listings may have been removed. The listings removed from your account showed similarities to listings that have resulted in bad buying experiences." They removed everything without much of an explanation.

I don't quite understand this because I was extremely meticulous about what listed. I only listed unbranded items that were reviewed very highly everywhere on the web. I only had about 15 listings and some of them were starting to heat up pretty well. By the way, I was selling iPhone and AirPods cases. Just the cases and not the electronics.

Steps I took:
• I verified my account/identity
• I got my new seller limits increased
• I manually listed the items without a third-party software
• I offered competitive pricing
• All of my listings were $13 or less
• I personally shipped items from the city that is registered on my account
• I only sold generic unbranded items

I called eBay several times to get some kind of an explanation and each representative kept saying that my items were counterfeit items. How is a clear unbranded iPhone case counterfeit? It's a clear generic case. Anyway, if anyone has any feedback or helpful advice, I'd greatly appreciate it. I feel so lost. Thanks in advance.

Kind Regards,
Brieanna

[lacemaker3]

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@brixmart wrote:
Hi Lacemaker3,
Thank you for this information. I mean could it really be that simple? I didn’t purposefully omit putting “for” or “fits” I just didn’t realize that was required.

Why wouldn’t they allow me to make that quick fix instead of literally wiping everything?

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Yes, it could be that simple ... but no guarantees.

Unfortunately, your account has now been flagged for selling counterfeits, and items that have been identified as resulting in dis-satisifed customers. That will stay on your account, there's no way to get it removed. As I said, I don't know if you can just add the word  to your titles and relist them at this point.

You  might not be able to sell in this category any more ... I don't know any way to find out except listing some more of them, but at this point, that could get you a permanent ban from selling anything, ever, on any account.

So I don't recommend that you try to relist these generic cases (or anything like them, that is "for" a trademarked item).

[brixmart]

Hi Lacemaker3,
Thank you for this information. I mean could it really be that simple? I didn’t purposefully omit putting “for” or “fits” I just didn’t realize that was required.

Why wouldn’t they allow me to make that quick fix instead of literally wiping everything?

[brixmart]

Lacemaker3,
Thank you so much for taking the time to help me, I really appreciate your feedback and advice. This is so frustrating because I may have to start over completely and all my time and money will be lost.

Thanks again though, you've been so helpful.

Kind Regards,

Brieanna

[tamaralea]

Oh, sorry.  I meant repost this thread, not repost the items.  It looks like the OP is getting some good advice, so it's not needed.

[lacemaker3]

Why wouldn't they let you fix them?

Well, trademark infringement (what you did) is against the law, and eBay has gotten into big, very expensive trouble because of this in the past. eBay lost some very expensive lawsuits. So they  have to be proactive to protect themselves. It's not just an arbitrary eBay policy.

It might be a "simple" problem, but it isn't trivial and it's not a small problem. And sellers are completely responsible for their listings. You are supposed to know the policy that covers your items, and eBay isn't a teacher that is supposed to show you how to do your job. You're supposed to know how.

I don't want to be mean, and I don't want to sound condescending so please don't take this wrong. You just need to be a professional and take responsibility for your actions. If you make a mistake, pick yourself up and go on, you just have to deal with the consequences.

[orangehound]

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@brixmart wrote:

Anyway, if anyone has any feedback or helpful advice, I'd greatly appreciate it. I feel so lost. Thanks in advance.

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Here is what I see ...

• An account that's been inactive for a long time
• The account name changes on 5/31 to something that seems like a business.
• The account starts selling a bunch of merchandise that looks like it is China junk ... over 100 items.

On the whole, this looks highly suspicious to me ... or, put another way, a higher than normal probability that this is a hijacked account acting as a duplicate account for one of the sub-par Chinese dealers.

What you are doing is not how individuals or small businesses typically start selling on eBay.  If it raises red flags with me, it probably did with eBay as well.

[brixmart]

Lacemaker3,

I'm not sure why they wouldn't let me fix them. What's weird is they removed the listings without warning.

I completely understand what you're saying, I definitely should've taken more time to read the policy more thoroughly. I'm now noticing that most sellers do have "for" or "fits" in their titles. I wish I had known beforehand.

At this point, I still have cases to sell, if I ask them to relist, do you think they'll allow it?

[brixmart]

Orangehound,

Wow, what a wild accusation. You're definitely right about my account being inactive for a while, switching to a business, and then listings several items. That is all true, but I did state before that I verified my identity. A customer service representative asked me several personal questions related to my identity that only I could answer. The questions were IRS level questions, so as much as one might think the account was hijacked, it wasn't and that could easily be sorted out with a simple phone call.

Thanks for your opinion though.

[orangehound]

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@brixmart wrote:

Orangehound,

Wow, what a wild accusation. You're definitely right about my account being inactive for a while, switching to a business, and then listings several items. That is all true, but I did state before that I verified my identity. A customer service representative asked me several personal questions related to my identity that only I could answer. The questions were IRS level questions, so as much as one might think the account was hijacked, it wasn't and that could easily be sorted out with a simple phone call.

Thanks for your opinion though.

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@brixmart 

I didn't mean for that to come across as an accusation - I don't think a hijacker would come on these boards to get help with their hijacking.  🙂    It was simply an observation to try to help you understand why eBay is being harsh with you.  Sorry if it came across wrong.

So, yeah, with customer service probing you for identity information, it looks like your account has been flagged as suspicious and your listings are going to get a lot more scrutiny than normal.

[lacemaker3]

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@brixmart wrote:

Lacemaker3,

I'm not sure why they wouldn't let me fix them. What's weird is they removed the listings without warning.

I completely understand what you're saying, I definitely should've taken more time to read the policy more thoroughly. I'm now noticing that most sellers do have "for" or "fits" in their titles. I wish I had known beforehand.

At this point, I still have cases to sell, if I ask them to relist, do you think they'll allow it?

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I don't recommend it ... I'm sorry, but I think you missed the main point of what I said. I would recommend that you read my Message 20  again, until you understand why I don't recommend that you relist.

I'm afraid I have to agree with @orangehound. I didn't look into your account in detail, but it sounds like you inadvertently had a lot of scam-warnings in your account as well as your listings. You got good advice there. They were being helpful not mean. And not accusing you of anything, just explaining how bad it looked to eBay reviewing your listings.

It's not weird -- eBay doesn't give "warnings". If you violate policy, then the listings are removed. If it's a minor violation, that can be fixed, then they leave the listings in your Unsold section so you can edit them and relist them. 

This was not a minor violation. I'm surprised you weren't restricted from selling, actually. They usually do a 3 or 7 day restriction the first time, then 30 days the next time they have to take action like this. After that, it's a permanent selling ban.

I'm sorry, again I'm not trying to be mean, but eBay is not your teacher, it's their job to make sure the policies (and laws in this case) are followed, not to teach you how to sell.

Part of being professional and taking responsibility  for your actions, your account and your business, is to realize that if you make a mistake, there will be consequences. You don't complain about the consequences, you accept them and find a way to move on.

[parkersparrow]

Pretty sure your titles and stock photos are the issue. 

[brixmart]

Orangehound,

My apologies, I definitely took what you said the wrong way. I do understand everything you're saying and why my account came across as suspicious. When I attempt to relist my products, do you have any recommendations on how I can avoid looking suspicious?

[brixmart]

@lacemaker3,

Thanks for clearing everything up for me. Everyone gave me a lot of much-needed support. I'm definitely going to print and read the eBay policies so I can avoid problems like this in the future.

I didn't take any offense to anything you said by the way, I know you're just giving solid advice. I appreciate you taking the time to help me, you've been very helpful.

I definitely will start anew and try my best to be more compliant.

Thanks!

[lacemaker3]

@brixmart, thanks for reading everything and understanding it, and letting us know that you understand it. (Sometimes it can be discouraging to try to help, and never get any confirmation that the help actually worked and was accepted and effective.)

I understand that you have capital invested in your stock of  iphone and airpod cases ... the problem is that the indications are that eBay may have flagged  your account as listing counterfeit items in this category ... because inadvertently, you gave them a lot of red flags suggesting that your items were counterfeit.

Because of that, it is somewhat risky to try to relist your iphone and airpod case items, because they have been flagged as counterfeit, which is not allowed and is against the law. 

In all honesty, it would be safer to find another category of items to sell. I'm just saying ... safer ...

... nobody here works for eBay and we can't say exactly what eBay will or will not do, we can just make suggestions based on what eBay has done in the past.

[albertabrightalberta]

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@brixmart wrote:

When I attempt to relist my products, do you have any recommendations on how I can avoid looking suspicious?

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Don't relist unless and until you get permission from ebay that you are allowed to relist the items. 

I have a suggestion that would add credibility to your listings. 

Instead of stock pictures that are found on other websites (including Chinese sites), take your own pictures of the items. That adds credibility to your listings in proving that you have them in your possession. Actual pictures show buyers the quality of the actual item they'll receive. 

And an added bonus is that you won't risk more listing removals for unauthorized use of copyrighted images. 

I can't see the descriptions but if you copied and pasted descriptions from the same place you got the images, don't do that again. 

Write your own descriptions in your own words. If measurements are involved, used your own tape measure to get accurate measurements.