I need help ASAP! eBay ended all my listings for bogus "No item listings policy"

[bangordiscount]

I need help ASAP.

I woke up this morning to find the following e-mail titled "Your account has been restricted: No item listings policy"

Hello bangordiscount,

Your account has been restricted because activity on it didn't follow our No item listings policy. Listings must offer an item for sale. Want ads, place holders or offers to trade are not allowed.

What activity didn't follow the policy

Selling empty boxes or photographs of high value electronics are not allowed. Buyers may be confused that you are selling actual game console.

What you need to do next

You can't relist items we've ended. Please ensure your current and future listings follow this policy.

What is the policy

- A listing must offer either a physical item, which includes digitally delivered goods, or a service for sale
- Want ads, place holders, or offers to trade are not allowed

How this affects your account

- All your listings have been ended.  
- All fees paid or payable for listings that are ended and/or hidden from search will not be refunded or otherwise credited to your account.
- A 30-day selling restriction has been placed on your account (starting on the date of this notice).
- During this restriction, you will only be able to send eBay member messages when you have a transaction with that member.
- Your Top-rated status has been removed for 1-cycle (if applicable).

Not following this policy in the future will result in additional account actions, which could include: restriction, suspension, hiding listings from search, ending listings, loss of seller rating, and forfeiture of fees.

Why we have this policy

This policy helps keep eBay a safe and enjoyable place to buy and sell, as listings that don’t offer an item or service for sale can be confusing for buyers.

More information and help

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-policies/item-location-misrepresentation-policy/no-item-l...

Listings not following policy

183160253920 - New! Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City [Special Edition] (PlayStation 3)
154081770252 - New! PlayStation PS Vita Starter Kit with 4GB Memory Card (Pouch, Case, etc.)
184505300031 - New! Reese Towpower 2" Interlock Starter Kit (Ball Mount, 2" Ball, Pin, Clip)
160981138826 - New! Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine [Collector's Edition] (Playstation 3, 2011)
184486687963 - New! HyperTOUGH 20V Max Cordless 1-Gallon Sprayer Kit [HT19-401-003-22]
164492621529 - New! Genuine Ryobi 12V Lithium-Ion Battery Charger (Model: C123L) [Open Box]
154142451821 - Genuine Craftsman C3 19.2V Portable Wet/Dry Canister Shop Vacuum (315.175980)
164096664948 - New! Lord of the Rings: War in the North [Collector's Edition] (PlayStation 3)
184259817142 - New! Dragon's Crown Collectible Artworks Art Book by Atlus - Ships Worldwide!
164260748326 - New! Space Jam (Featuring: Bugs Bunny & Michael Jordan) [Blu-ray Disc]
164271103929 - New! Craftsman 13-Inch Large Mouth Tool Bag for Small Handtools (937535)
184443271416 - New! Genuine Sony PlayStation Portable Go (PSP Go) Component AV Cable PSP-N180
152969864178 - New! inFamous: Second Son [Collector's Edition] (Sony PlayStation 4, 2014)
164399428345 - New! Genuine Milwaukee M12 12-Volt Red Lithium XC 4.0Ah Battery [Open Box]

[^ Shortened because the e-mail contains every item I have listed, over several hundred]

In short I am a regular Top-Rated Powerseller that hasn''t had any MCxxx policy violations related to this and my acount has been active since 1999! Who do I speak to to reverse this offensive error!

[bangordiscount]

I am going to call eBay CSR now.

I want to complete I am extremely upset about this. I have anywhere between 400-600 active listings all pulled, most with several thousand views that have all been ended for some made up reason.

I have been selling off and on as a full time job for more than a decade and in total for over 20 years. I had never been contacted about a policy violation regarding this. I am not in violation of what I'm being accused of.

How can this be allowed to happen?

[bangordiscount]

I am a little too emotional right now to write eloquently but I need to know what actions I can take to try and resolve this.

I tried to do live chat but the agent was not helpful; he just reviewed the information I provided him and responded that unfortunately I can't appeal. He could not state which listing(s) were in violation or why. He provided no information.

I want to provide some background information on myself. I have had this account since 1999. I have been selling as a fulltime seller for about a decade, maybe longer, with some breaks inbetween to focus on some real estate projects with my family but my account was always active and in good standing.

I have spent years as a Top Rated Seller and I'm not sure if they still track these types of things but at one point I was a Platinum Power-Seller.

I not certain of what I am being accused of but was told this:

...There is a high risk of fraud and misleading buyers with those items stated on the email. eBay has taken the stance to not permit the sale of these items as a result. As much as I love to, the restriction cannot be appeal.

AND

...Please note that eBay took time to review the listings before making an action to the account. Again the restriction is non appealable and we need to wait for 30days to pass.

I received no clarification and was told I could not speak with an agent via phone due to Covid. I want to stress ALL my listings were pulled. I sell tools and video games/electronics. Every single one of my 400+ listings were pulled and another maybe 100 active listings that were tagged as "0 inventory" while I was waiting to restock. I can't think of a single listing that is in violation and I asked for them to provide one as an example and the agent refused.

I sell anywhere from 5-15 items a day. This is the worst possible time for eBay to make this error on my account. I sell as my livelihood and I am completely blindsided by this.

[bangordiscount]

I tried to PM brian@eBay but was informed he didn't have PM's enabled.

Is their anyone else to reach out to?

This is the message I tried to send:

Hi Brian,

My name is Edward and I'm contacting you because you were the first eBay team member I came across in the selling threads.

In short I woke up this morning, Monday December 14th, 2020 to find that all my active listings (400+) had been pulled by eBay for the below reason:

Hello bangordiscount,

Your account has been restricted because activity on it didn't follow our No item listings policy. Listings must offer an item for sale. Want ads, place holders or offers to trade are not allowed.

I do not believe I am in violation of this. I can't think of a single listing that would be in violation. I contacted eBay customer support through the chat option (I was told phone is not an option due to Covid) and was not given a direct response to my questions of "Why/How" but was told this account suspension/sanction will stand. No discussion or elaboration on the matter.

I created the below thread in the seller forums requesting help:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/I-need-help-ASAP-eBay-ended-all-my-listings-for-bogus-quot-No/...

Could you or a team member please review this? I have received no prior warnings on this matter and in fact have had an eBay account in good standing since 1999. I have been selling mostly full time for the past decade and have spent years of that time as a top rated power seller.

I am just looking for some transparency and a resolution as to what I could have possibly done for eBay to pull my listing and suspend my account 11 days before Christmas.

[dhbookds]

I would call back and ask for Trust & Safety Dept..........  if you can't get that, you may have to go to Ebay for Business Facebook page.......and ask there.

I know you are upset........I would be also.....  But try to stay calm with them and state that you are not/never have sold empty boxes or photographs of anything......  State that you have all the products in hand. 

Looking at your listing titles in what you posted........  I'd "guess" the bots have a problem with the Play Station part of the title (if it was used as posted)

New! Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City [Special Edition] (PlayStation 3) 

You didn't identify the item as a game (I assume it is)........I'm just guessing and know nothing about the listing this kind of stuff.........

Can't explain the tool stuff......

[candd205]

Try reaching eBay at different times of day, maybe during regular business hours for California, to hopefully reach someone that will help you instead of just getting you off the phone. I'm sorry this is happening to you. Good luck getting it fixed.

[bangordiscount]

Thanks for the response. I have been sitting with my stomach in knots for over three hours as I'm sitting on so much inventory and all my listings (hundreds of hours of works) have been pulled.

No, that is how video games are generally listed, Game Name ---> Edition (Special, Collector's etc.) -----> Platform (PlayStation 3, 4, Xbox, etc.)

It has been that way since I started selling and I've sold several thousand games that way.

I'm not sure how to speak with anyone. In another thread I was skimming it mentioned reaching out via FaceBook or Twitter. I just don't' want to over extend this issue but I'm losing money every hour this goes on to mention the long term damage of my listings being pulled, views being reset, sales data being reset, watchers being reset, repeat customers coming to an empty store, etc.

I've seen threads about people upset because of phantom bans but I never imagined it would happen to me. I just can't believe this. I think without exaggeration I've paid well over $100,000 in eBay and PayPal fees and this is the treatment I get?

A quick e-mail search of "MC999" shows my last listing violation was in 2014 to which eBay was WRONG and a day later sent a follow up e-mail reinstating the listings, but that was for singled out listings, not a nuclear bomb to everything in which I'm receiving NO CLARIFICATION and NO TRANSPARENCY

[donsdetour]

good luck with this.

I suspect you had a lot of listing in the wrong location is why this went on.

A lot of fraud is happening in the game section.

[bangordiscount]

---

@donsdetour wrote:

good luck with this.

I suspect you had a lot of listing in the wrong location is why this went on.

A lot of fraud is happening in the game section.

---

I don't think so...

Several years ago I successfully fought a policy violation because I was being told many of my items weren't qualified to be in the "Video Game Merchandise" category when that's exactly what they were (game related items that did not fit in the "console" "games" "accessories" sub categories).

When I finally appealed to someone who understood the issue it was quickly reversed. But that didn't limit my account...

Whatever "this" is, it's given me a 30 day suspension! I'm a long time seller and I've sold heavily for over a decade; thousands upon thousands of games. I didn't touch any of these recent console releases (wasn't worth the headache of chasing inventory during a pandemic) and certainly haven't engaged in fraud. It is insulting to be lumped into this and have my livelihood stripped during A) a pandemic B) 11 days before Christmas C) when I haven't done what I'm being accused of.

[sextons-sweet-deals]

I wonder if a competitor on here falsely reported you?

You are good standing from what I see in your profile.

This is when eBay needs to look deep before acting on complaints. Review the sellers status and review the person who is possibly complaining and communicating with the seller before making judgement.  

[ronsam-197]

This is just a WAG but is it at all possible the bots have misinterpreted your zero qty OOS listings as 'placeholders with no item listed"? Or even "open box" as an empty box? (If so there's a lot of sellers about to be in a world of hurt).

Just too bizarre.

I hope you can get this rectified asap.

[luckythewinner]

The message you got says this:

"Selling empty boxes or photographs of high value electronics are not allowed. Buyers may be confused that you are selling actual game console.I feel for you." 

Unfortunately, since we cannot see the 600 items that were pulled, we cannot really get a sense of whether there were any poliocy violations, and if so how many. 

But looking at your completed listings, I saw a listing for Destiny (The Ghost Edition) for PS3 that used the UPC for the actual game in the item specifics and included catalog information for the game, but your listing contradicted this and said it was actually just the box with no game included. IMHO that is absolutely, 100% a policy violation - and not a trivial one. 

Both eBay policy and the user agreement give eBay wide latitude when it comes to restricting accounts. Most policies give a range of sanctions, from ending one listing all the way up to to terminating your account. And the user agreement gives them a blanket waiver to do whatever they want with or without a reason. 

But it does seem a bit harsh to cancel all 600 of your listings if there were only a couple that were a problem.

[bangordiscount]

---

@luckythewinner wrote:

The message you got says this:

"Selling empty boxes or photographs of high value electronics are not allowed. Buyers may be confused that you are selling actual game console.I feel for you." 

Unfortunately, since we cannot see the 600 items that were pulled, we cannot really get a sense of whether there were any poliocy violations, and if so how many. 

But looking at your completed listings, I saw a listing for Destiny (The Ghost Edition) for PS3 that used the UPC for the actual game in the item specifics, but your lsiting said it was actually just the box with no game included. IMHO that is absolutely, 100% a policy violation - and not a trivial one. 

Unfortunately, eBay policy and the user agreement gives eBay wide latitude when it comes to restricting accounts. Most policies give a range of sanctions, from ending one listing all the way up to to terminating your account. 

It seems a bit harsh to cancel all 600 of your listings if there were only a couple that were a problem.

---

I don't agree with a lot of the stances you take on here but please explain how the listing your referencing is a policy violation:

184484206383 - Destiny [The Ghost Edition] (PlayStation 3) *Product Box Only; No Game or Items*

In the video game world, many collector's edition games get parted out. The game discs, SteelBook Cases, "Swag (shirts, pins, maps, books, etc.)" get sold separately.

The product box for this game actually has value because most were severely damaged during transit when it was released several years ago. If one can't ascertain what is being sold from the title, the condition selected and the description how is that on the seller?

This isn't trying to pass off an empty product box or photo as a high valued item. But regardless this is one item from my personal collection not a multi quantity using a stock photo.

[coffeebean832]

It sounds like selling empty boxes is where the problem is. This is the part that gets me though-

"You can't relist items we've ended."

They pulled all 600 of your listings when (I'm assuming) only a relatively small percent of them were in violation.

tyler@ebay- In this situation, is it accurate that the OP really can't relist anything when all 600 listings were pulled? Can't they relist everything that wasn't in violation (ie: no empty boxes or digitally delivered goods)?

[bangordiscount]

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@ronsam-197 wrote:

This is just a WAG but is it at all possible the bots have misinterpreted your zero qty OOS listings as 'placeholders with no item listed"? Or even "open box" as an empty box? (If so there's a lot of sellers about to be in a world of hurt).

Just too bizarre.

I hope you can get this rectified asap.

---

Thank you.

I thought this might be related; I stopped selling high volumes for a few years while my family and I purchased some rental properties and did the rehabs. It took too much of my time to focus on that and eBay.

I have started recently, about a year ago getting back into selling off personal inventory. When I sell through a quantity and I'm not sure if I have more or will go out and get more I leave the listing active with "0" quantity so I can replenish it later on the chance I do get more and dont' have to start from scratch on "selling similar" down the road.

If I don't end up making adjustments, then at some point eBay ends and pulls the listing and I get an e-mail about it. I think it is a predetermined amount of time, maybe 90 days, but I didn't think there was anything wrong in doing that.