I lost my Ebay account for selling "hateful" books that I got no warning about whatsoever

[themeissnerlibrary]

Hello everyone, 

I really appreciate everyone hearing me out. We are absolutely devastated today. We are going to lose our account, and if you listen to me you'll realize that there's truly nothing we can do about it. 

So we are a book seller. We own about 50,000 different books in our book warehouse. We are just a bookseller, that's it, no other items. We have been completely safe and fine on Ebay for 6 years without any issues selling large amounts of books. 

We were doing fine, until about 3 months ago. About 3 months ago, we started getting notifications from Ebay that we are selling "hateful" books that need to be removed. Absolutely no issue with that. I totally understand, and we will remove any banned books. But here's the thing: They're suspending our account every single time a single "banned book" gets listed and THERES NO LIST FOR US TO REFERENCE TO KNOW WHAT'S BANNED. 

And so, as a seller of 50 + thousand titles at any given moment, we cannot avoid listing things that are banned. 

In 3 months, I've had my account restricted with a suspension 7 times now for listings "hateful" items, and we cannot get a list of items to not list from Ebay. I cannot find anybody at Ebay that can give me a list of things that I can't list. 

And so today, I received a notification that I am suspended for 10 days for having a book about O.J. Simpson listed. I had this book listed for a long time without issues. No warnings from Ebay whatsoever. They didn't ask me to remove it, they just suspended my account for 10 days. 

I am flabbergasted as a person and as a seller. I feel like my entire account is gone now, because at any moment I'm going to be told I'm listing a "hateful" book that I have no idea about. There's no list, there's no warning. You're just suspended and there's nothing you can do. 

I messaged and called Ebay and there's nothing I can do. I am lost and feel absolutely thrown away. 

I am just an honest person trying to sell books, and the bookselling model for bulk booksellers is completely threatened by the method by which they're removing books like this. 

I really hope someone see's what I'm talking about. I don't know what to do. I can't do anything. The next time I get a warning about these Ebay has told me that my account will be suspended for a month. 

I'm lost guys, and my business is over until I can figure this out. 

Thanks - Chase, the Meissner Team

[fashunu4eeuh]

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@themeissnerlibrary wrote:

Hello, 

I don't believe we've cancelled too many transactions. We've cancelled 31 out of my last 2736 orders. I never received anything about cancelling transactions from Ebay. 

Thanks for hearing me out - Chase 

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In eBay World, a seller-initiated cancellation is anathema, and can get you sanctioned by a defect for each instance. It is the cardinal sin of the platform, discussed as part of a seller’s performance metrics in its policies.

[usblijeolifantje]

The question everyone should question... is there's something wrong with this matrix for the to ban things. If someone is shutting you up or limiting you then maybe it is time to rethink what this is all about.

Your consciousness are being pushed to the limit to think outside of the box and not being trapped. Maneuver til things get better. Do not be in fear. These aspects of banning and shutting down any type of info dictating to us what to believe and using fear to do will go away and fade.

Look at all this action as an opportunity to reinvent yourself. It is mostly done by your higher self to get you on a path to help you grow.

[nocoolnamejane]

eBay doesn’t want old timey racism on their platform, so what?

Nothing has been banned, nothing has been outlawed. Their house their rules. 

Plenty of online and b&m sources have that stuff for sale.

[mam98031]

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@themeissnerlibrary wrote:

Hello, 

I don't believe we've cancelled too many transactions. We've cancelled 31 out of my last 2736 orders. I never received anything about cancelling transactions from Ebay. 

Thanks for hearing me out - Chase 

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It isn't over the limit yet, but it is way too many.  Far more than is normal for sellers I should say.  Be careful so you don't get yourself in trouble with this one.  Ebay really doesn't like sellers doing this.  You may need better controls on your inventory.

[mam98031]

How can a seller know what Ebay considers a Banned Book before they post it?

elizabeth@ebay 

devon@ebay 

kyle@ebay 

[devon@ebay]

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@mam98031 wrote:

How can a seller know what Ebay considers a Banned Book before they post it?

elizabeth@ebay 

devon@ebay 

kyle@ebay 

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Hey @mam98031! We encourage all of our sellers to look through our help pages for prohibited items as well as to do their own research before listing. In this case I would encourage OP to reach out to customer support to get more account specific details for these restrictions. 

[usblijeolifantje]

No kiddin.. Everyone's view is different. Just like you picking and choosing friends or products etc.... When they are not on same frequency and feel they can shut you up then it is time to move on. You do not like what I said and it is your opinion and you are free to state it. Old timey racism... It is simply history. The only thing that can get to a person is when they choose to let it. It is up to the person and if people cannot understand that then they do not understand how the universe works. It comes fr inside to outside not the other way around. You manifest what you want.

Me personally I think it is okay to let people be. You will find out soon enough though. Everyone is being tested right now. Karma is when you infringe your thoughts and belief on others interfering with their path. Things are changing for the better and like it those who like to dictate their will on others will fade away.  It will get much more difficult then this.

[usblijeolifantje]

I think if everyone reads a little Voltaire then they would do very well in this time and evolve

-Prejudices are what fools use for reasoning- Voltaire

-Tyrants have always some slight shade of virtue; they support the laws before destroying them-Voltaire

-The safest course is to do nothing against one's conscience. With this secret, we can enjoy life and have no fear from death.- Voltaire-

-I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. -Voltaire

[stephenmorgan]

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@kensgiftshop wrote:

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It isn't just books, it's pretty much anything that might offend one person.

Look at all the item names they are having to change, because the names offend some people.

Look at how many sports teams are changing their names, because some are offended.

Here in Oklahoma, they are changing names of state parks, because some are offended by the names.

Before long, we won't be able to look at other people because someome might get offended.

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The place I was born at has been directed to change it's name.  When this happens I will no longer have a place of birth.  When I need to put Place of Birth, what do I put?  The original name that is on the original documents on the new name that did not exist at birth and is not on the documents?  What if I need a copy of my Birth Certificate, what will it say, old name or new name?

[mam98031]

devon@ebay 

Thank you, however on the policy for banned items there is nothing about books which is why the OP and others are playing a game of chance when they post a book sometimes.  

This isn't necessarily an account specific problem unless you are saying that certain books are only banned for certain sellers, which I don't think you are saying that.  

So the question is how is a seller to know a book is on the Ebay banned list BEFORE they list the item?

[gurlcat]

Not to hijack the thread, but you mentioned the popup notification about Native American items, and coincidentally I just listed something with that in the title (because I know it is N.A. as it is signed by a known artist), but I DID NOT get the warning popup.  I think this might be the first N.A. item I have listed since I was forced over to the new listing tool, so I wonder if that has something to do with it. 

[joels-retrocade]

Bad situation to be in lol I don't agree with banning books of that sort.  Honestly just a terrible business decision by eBay.  Just a massive broad no offensive material line in the prohibited section lol.

[varebelrose]

"Even Amazon. com was a retailer and a distributor for this book up until a month ago."

It is still available on Amazon. I cannot for the life of me figure out how that book could be considered offensive; heck, the royalties from it even go to the family of one of the victims.

[devon@ebay]

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@mam98031 wrote:

devon@ebay 

Thank you, however on the policy for banned items there is nothing about books which is why the OP and others are playing a game of chance when they post a book sometimes.  

This isn't necessarily an account specific problem unless you are saying that certain books are only banned for certain sellers, which I don't think you are saying that.  

So the question is how is a seller to know a book is on the Ebay banned list BEFORE they list the item?

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@mam98031 This is a suggestion I can have passed along to our Trust and Safety Team in regards to having a list of banned books on our help pages. For now we encourage sellers to reach out to customer support if they have questions about what can or cannot be listed as well as do their own research.

[mam98031]

This puts sellers in a terribly risky position.  Some can significantly damage the health of their selling accounts as is happening to the OP of this thread.