How can I find out why an account was suspended?

[rice.pudding812]

My nephew recently listed 3 items for sale, and ebay immediately removed them. He received a message that his account was suspended with no explanation why. The message did list 4 or 5 possible reasons why the action was taken, but none of them applied to him. He has done nothing wrong and his account shows a zero balance. We have tried numerous ways to reach someone to find out exactly why this was done, but hit a dead end every time. It isn't fair to suspend an account without at least letting a seller know exactly what happened to cause this action. Seems like a poor way to do business when a company this size has an unreachable Customer Service Department. Does anyone know how to reach an actual human being so this matter can be resolved?

[popblox]

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@rice.pudding812 wrote:

I'm sure he is giving me the entire story. He is a Christian and has no reason to lie or omit information. It was a new account and he did everything ebay instructed him to do. On January 12th, he received a message from ebay that he was all set and to start selling. His father (my brother) died a few months ago and was a collector of men's high end fragrances.  He wanted to sell the cologne and give the proceeds to his church, so he listed 3 brands of cologne as soon as he got the okay to do so.

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Hi, used/opened/handmade fragrances aren't allowed to be sold on eBay and attempting to do so would be considered a policy violation. Attempting to sell 3 restricted items as a brand new seller is most likely why your nephew's account got shut down.

[magicjohnsonsvariety]

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@luckythewinner wrote:

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@rice.pudding812 wrote:

What does "a risk to the ebay community" even mean?

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It means that eBay has analyzed millions of sellers and billions of transactions and come up with a list of characteristics that statistically correlate with returns, refunds, cancellations, disputes, and fraud.

Then eBay applied all that analysis and all those statistics to your account, and decided that your account is statistically likely to have issues. 

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Wow, ebay is so amazing that they can see into the future on an account that is 30 minutes old...What powers they possess!...possibly a crystal ball perhaps?

What characteristics could ebay have come up with in such a short time period?

My main account doesn't have issues, so what would make them think a new one would?   

[magicjohnsonsvariety]

We can't jump to conclusions because I don't believe the OP ever mentioned if they were used or new...

ebay would have at the most just taken them down, unless the Nephew attempted to relist them after being warned not to, then that would be another story.

[rice.pudding812]

Thank you for your reply. These are the possible reasons they gave for suspending his account:

• You have eBay selling costs to pay
• You need to reimburse eBay for a refund or a claim paid to your buyer
• You have violated one of our rules or policies
• We couldn't verify your account information

My nephew is in his late 30's and a Methodist pastor. He's trustworthy, honest, and a dedicated Christian, so I have no reason to doubt what he says.  He did everything he was instructed to do from ebay and on 1-12-22, he received a message saying he was all set  and he could begin selling.  He posted 3 items but they immediately removed them and sent another message that same day that his account had been suspended. It's been downhill since then.

[rice.pudding812]

That's so sad because they have no regard for honest people just trying to earn a little extra income.

[rice.pudding812]

All the more reason to provide a way to contact a human to reevaluate the issue. rather than shutting them down without a chance to resolve the issue, or even know what the issue is.

[fab_finds4u]

New unopened fragrances are allowed. Used fragrances are not.

Fragrances can't be sent in the International mail  so offering International shipping is violating air transportation  shipping rules.

Fragrances need to be shipped in the domestic mail by surface mail only because it's a class 3 flammable item.

Maybe that's enough info to figure out where he made a mistake. I know his intentions were good and I'm sorry this happened. 

[coolections]

There are several reasons why his account was suspended. Yopu say he listed 3 items and they were removed. Did he try to relist them? I assume you also sell on Ebay. Did he ever use your account to buy or bid on anything? If there are two accounts from separate people and you use the same computer that could be a big problem. Has he ever logged into your account ? If your account owes money or has problems his account will also be in jeopardy. You would have to provide a lot more info to get to the bottom of this.

[rice.pudding812]

Thank you for your message. In order to determine a fair price, he referred to several other current listings of the same brand and found that many of the items were shown as "USED."  If that is the policy, it should apply to everyone and not single out a few accounts to suspend.

[rice.pudding812]

I  agree 100%!!!

[rice.pudding812]

They were used , and many of the similar listings are also used. He did not try to relist because he was not even able to log in to his account.

Thank you for taking the time to respond. We appreciate it.

[fab_finds4u]

Oh dear,,  not a good idea to determine used fragrances are ok because you see others listing them. Those other listings are against policy and will be removed if they're reported.  Or maybe not because catching violators is like the police catching all the speeders. They can't catch everyone speeding.  He was pulled over and the others are getting away!

[slati_2013]

These items were listed for several thousand dollars each? Well, there you go. A new seller listing fragrances for several thousand dollars is going to be immediately flagged by eBay. Simply too risky. It is also a high scam item with buyers filing claims of what they received. 

[magicjohnsonsvariety]

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@rice.pudding812 wrote:

They were used , and many of the similar listings are also used. He did not try to relist because he was not even able to log in to his account.

Thank you for taking the time to respond. We appreciate it.

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The selling of used fragrances could not have resulted in suspension. Ebay just takes them down the first time and understands that no one can know all the policies regarding restricted items. 

Ebay has removed a few of my items, it's happened to all sellers at one time or another.

Must be something else...or possibly they suspended him for no reason at all...like what happened to me. Only difference, I was trying to open a 2nd and already had an established account to fall back on.

[popblox]

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@magicjohnsonsvariety wrote:

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@rice.pudding812 wrote:

They were used , and many of the similar listings are also used. He did not try to relist because he was not even able to log in to his account.

Thank you for taking the time to respond. We appreciate it.

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The selling of used fragrances could not have resulted in suspension. Ebay just takes them down the first time and understands that no one can know all the policies regarding restricted items. 

Ebay has removed a few of my items, it's happened to all sellers at one time or another.

Must be something else...or possibly they suspended him for no reason at all...like what happened to me. Only difference, I was trying to open a 2nd and already had an established account to fall back on.

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I understand where you're coming from, but you're an established seller and the issue presented far exceeds a simple "eBay just takes down the listing". There are so many red flags:

1. Brand new seller, less than 30 days old

2. No prior purchases

3. No prior sales

4. Zero feedback

5. First item for sale is a restricted item

6. Second item for sale is a restricted item

7. Third item for sale is a restricted item

8. First item for sale is an extremely high-value item

9. Second item for sale is an extremely high-value item

10. Third item for sale is an extremely high-value item

I can't even begin to count the number of times I've seen sellers suspended/banned for far less. While one or the other might not seem that big of a deal, I think it's safe to say that the combination of those things could very easily get a seller kicked off eBay so fast their head would spin.