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

[orangehound]

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@brixmart wrote:

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?

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Your listings need to look like a USA-based small business, rather than a Chinese seller ...

1. You need to take your own photographs.
2. Do not put logos on your main picture that suggest you are trying to overcome deceptive selling practices ... like the American flag, domestic shipping, "quality product" (a "Made in the USA" logo is OK, if it is genuinely made in the USA).  I saw a couple of small logos on your listings that I couldn't read, but these always say to me the same thing:  this seller is compensating for something bad.
3. Your listings need to not look like the listings that were removed .... title, item number, photographs.  
4. As you already realize, be careful with trademarks.  Do not have an apple phone pictured anywhere.
5. Have good titles ... the only title I still see remaining (because you have a sold) is this spam-soup:
   
   Luxury Gold Marble Blu-Ray Cute Square Shockproof Case Cover iPhone X XR XS Max
   
   Specifically, split that single listing into 6 listings so that you can use some clear English in your title ... for example, you want to have a listing for a customer searching for a Gold case:
   
   Smartphone Case Cover, Gold with Glitter Finish (fits iPhone X XR XS Max)
6. Is it really shockproof?  Really?   I can drop it from a 10 story building and my phone will survive the fall?  Some of these phone covers are nothing more than a scratch cover, and they won't protect a phone from a 2 foot drop.  If it isn't something, then don't put that in the title or description.  China sellers frequently over-promise the features of the junk they are selling ... don't play that game ... sell with integrity.
7. Use promoted listings to get that item on the front page of search ... people hate paying more fees, but since you are listing in a viciously competitive niche, then you need to get your item on the front page for a sale.  Thus, when someone searches for that Gold case, they will sometimes see your listing ... without promoted listings, they will rarely see it.
8. The eBay search algorithm works with both titles and structured data ... make sure you have your keywords in the structured data in places like color, style, etc.
9. Finally, find something better to sell.  Selling cheap Chinese junk on eBay is a great business model if you are in China (low shipping, low labor) or working flea markets, but it is terrible eBay business model if you are based in the USA.

[brixmart]

@albertabrightalberta,

For sure, I definitely won't. I didn't mean to type "relist," I meant to say when I attempt to start over and list new items in a completely different niche.

[brixmart]

@orangehound,

Thank you for all these great tips.

Key Takeaways:

• Take my own photographs, and post those instead of stock photos.
• Avoid using logos of any kind.
• Double check the quality of the items. (I did this part. I didn't drop anything from 10 stories high, but I did perform drop tests on everything that I purchased using my own electronics. I even returned items that I felt were of low quality.
• I will definitely structure my titles with better English. I wrote my titles that way because everyone else was doing it that way. Even people based in the USA. I suppose I was trying to blend in.
• Finding something better to sell. This part is seemingly hard. I spent hours researching and trying to find a niche that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg to build inventory. I decided on iPhone accessories because it performs so well on eBay. Another problem is when I search for suppliers on Google, Chinese suppliers dominate the search results and since literally everyone else sells similar items and receive positive feedback, I assumed it was okay. Or at least a good place to start.

I tried finding USA-based suppliers but they don't offer much of anything in that particular niche and they also charge a lot more. The pricing is not that big of a deal, but the options were very scarce.

[treasure.hunter.d]

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@brixmart wrote:
Hi LuckytheWinner,

I took extra precautions to ensure that the items I'm selling are of high quality. I inspect all of my products before shipping them out to customers. The quality is definitely not an issue. They're assuming because other sellers send out faulty items that I'll do the same, which isn't the case. I definitely care about my feedback customer satisfaction, especially because I'm new.

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In your ebay "My World" info the way you have worded it could easily be misunderstood, or read by an algo, to be saying you are selling iPhones, Airpods, iPads instead of just cases for them.

You also changed your username 3 times in 1 day, that could have triggered something as well.

You have nothing but old feedback and of that, of the 2 for being a seller, 1 of them is a neg.

Any single one of these may not have been enough to trigger action on ebay's part but all 3 together, it's not any surprise IMHO.

[brixmart]

@treasure.hunter.d,

I understand what you're saying. I don't know why my profile says I changed my username 3 times, I only changed it from once briegandy >> brixmart. My account is an old one, I was only using it to purchase items back in the day. I only just recently decided to start selling, which is why all the feedback is so old. I recently sent out some items, so I should be getting some positive feedback shortly.

In regards to that negative feedback, I allowed my brother use my account when I younger and he ripped someone off behind my back, I didn't know what he was doing, I was really young. So that's something I have to deal with.

[mam98031]

You have gotten some GREAT advice on this thread from other members.  But you still need to contact Ebay and MAKE SURE you are covering anything and everything that Ebay deems was incorrect about your original listings.  Do NOT ASSUME that from this great advice that you have everything covered until you contact Ebay and find out everything they want corrected.

To not do that risks you missing something and getting your listings removed again.  And that will potentially risk sanctions against your selling account.

[flipper2flipper]

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@brixmart wrote:

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

---

Did the e-mail that you got from Ebay not inform you of how long your account was being suspended for ?

From what I have read in thee message threads over the years, I was under the impressing that the length of the suspension was always indicated in the suspension notice.

[mam98031]

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@flipper2flipper wrote:

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@brixmart wrote:

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

---

Did the e-mail that you got from Ebay not inform you of how long your account was being suspended for ?

From what I have read in thee message threads over the years, I was under the impressing that the length of the suspension was always indicated in the suspension notice.

---

Did they say they were suspended at all?  If the OP said that, I apologize, I missed it.  But you don't usually get automatically sanctioned that severely unless you are a repeat offender.

[kensgiftshop]

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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?

---

Since they have already pulled the listings once, I wouldn't try listing them again.

[flipper2flipper]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@flipper2flipper wrote:

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@brixmart wrote:

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

---

Did the e-mail that you got from Ebay not inform you of how long your account was being suspended for ?

From what I have read in thee message threads over the years, I was under the impressing that the length of the suspension was always indicated in the suspension notice.

---

Did they say they were suspended at all?  If the OP said that, I apologize, I missed it.  But you don't usually get automatically sanctioned that severely unless you are a repeat offender.

---

@mam98031 

Sorry, my mistake ..... I was confusing this message thread with the Account Revoked message thread.

Bad eyesight and poor memory on my part.

[flipper2flipper]

@mam98031 

Sorry, my mistake ..... I was confusing this message thread with the Account Revoked Account Restricted message thread.

Bad eyesight and poor memory on my part.

[tess707070]

I’m curious about your Apple AirPods Cute Cartoon Cover item. Are these legitimate Disney authorized items? They are obviously Disney characters but your title doesn’t mention Disney or any character names. That certainly makes it look like you are trying to avoid getting caught selling unauthorized Disney China produced junk items. 

I don’t know your source but based on the price, listing and some searching my first guess would be these are not legitimate items. IF they allow you to list again I’d certainly avoid listing these unless you’re 100% sure they’re legit. 

[mam98031]

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@flipper2flipper wrote:

@mam98031 

Sorry, my mistake ..... I was confusing this message thread with the Account Revoked Account Restricted message thread.

Bad eyesight and poor memory on my part.

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I get it.  I've had it happen on other threads myself.  Too early for wine, so have another cup of coffee.  LOL

[brixmart]

@mam98031,

I've contacted eBay several times in the last couple of days to ask them specifically where I went wrong and how I can correct my mistakes moving forward. Every single representative was Chinese, no offense, and when I tried to ask them to tell me exactly why my listings were removed they couldn't provide me any useful feedback whatsoever. They'd pretty much say the same rehearsed lines, "I want to be straightforward and honest with you, we can't say exactly why your listings were removed because it was removed by our internal team. We can not contact them." Something along those lines and I've spoken to about 7 people so far.

They'd put me on hold for 10-20 minutes and return with a "manager" who would say the exact same things and literally talk me into a circle. Honestly, I don't even feel comfortable listings anymore because eBay hasn't told me specifically what I did wrong. I'm afraid to spend my time listing products only to have them wiped away again.

[brixmart]

@flipper2flipper,

My account wasn't suspended or restricted at all, I can still list products. They simply wiped all of my listings and gave me a vague explanation as to why. I called eBay to inquire further but every representative that I spoke to couldn't give me a reason or list of reasons.

I don't even know how to continue.