Indefinite Selling Restriction

[copperfoxantiquesemporium]

First I would like to say that I just got off the phone with one of the most cordial eBay supervisors.  His name was Mark.  I really feel he went out of his way to be helpful and feel he deserves a special mention.

Now to my issue.  My eBay selling account has been indefinitely restricted which I believe is not fair.  We have been an eBay since 2001 and our store has consistently been rated as a 'Top Rated Seller" with a 100% feedback rating.  On or about 09/06/2019 I contacted customer service regarding a notification that was received stating our account had been temporarily suspended for 7 seven days for 2 listings that had appeared on eBay's German website.  The way this was determined was that a message from eBay arrived in my message center in German.  Google translate had to be utilized in order to read the message.  I requested to speak with a supervisor and spoke with Mary (SR#1-225898466687).  Initially she and I were both confused as the message had been in German.  I explained to Mary that the two listings were placed on the US eBay site and since I had utilized the free listing opportunities that eBay solicited to me they were also placed on several international sites.  The listings were placed on an approved US eBay category and if there was a problem with listing internationally I would be happy to remove them from the international sites.  The 2 listings contained the work 'meissen' and I advised Mary that the items were listed as used (vintage and/or antique) and that there were many manufacturers that produced china patterns that contained the description of 'meissen'.  I provided her a website of replacements.com which if you searched the word meissen within that site you would see several pages of manufacturers that utilized the word 'meissen' within their patterns.  My listings were truthful with detailed pictures that I took and did not violate any trademarks as they were 'USED' and as I understand it available to be sold on eBay.

Mary manually removed the temporary suspension as she felt that it had been inappropriate based on the information provided.  She specifically told me she would be performing an escalation on this case and that I should not worry about anything.  She would be personally handling the case and would call me back within 48 hours.  Neither Mary or anyone else from eBay ever called me back.

On 09/09/2019 another German eBay message arrives.  Google translate was once again utilized to read the message and I was informed that my account had been permanently blocked for sale based on trademark violations.  I would like to state that these 'trademark violations' did not become an issue until my listings were posted on the German eBay site.  Once again I contacted customer service and requested to be transferred to a supervisor as the initial representative was unable to provide any assistance.  I was connected to and spoke with supervisor Michele who was NOT pleasant or cordial.  She advised me that there was nothing I could do, no appeal process and no alternative and nothing could be done about it.  Additionally she was unable to even explain the violation other then stating that this was my second violation, the first one was the one supervisor Mary had manually removed as mentioned above.  After trying to explain the situation without any understanding on her part I requested to speak with her supervisor.

Jeff, an eBay senior manager was my next point of contact (SR #1-226516866667).  Jeff listened to my argument and kept apologizing and told me not to worry, that he would personally handle this issue and would see if there was any way to resolve the problem.  Again I stated that I would be happy to remove my listings from all international sites and just list within the United States.  He requested that I give him 72 hours to get back with me.  I asked if there was a phone number or email address for him so communication could be maintained directly with him.  Jeff advised he would send me an email for this specific purpose.  Upon receipt of the email I should just respond with acknowledgement of it, which I did.  I received a generic email from Jeff with no direct line of communication back to him.  To date I have never received a call back from him or anybody else.

I cannot begin to express the frustration level I am experiencing or the number of hours that it is taking me to try to contact a representative of eBay that can actually help.  My objective is to discuss this situation with a representative of eBay that can actually help and/or advise me of what would need to be done to reinstate my selling privileges.  It seems unfair that I am not even being given an opportunity to argue or discuss this matter with an individual that is in a position to do something about it.  Consistently being read a 'script' by representatives that can do absolutely nothing to help is unacceptable. 

Any assistance or advice that could be provided would be appreciated.

Thank you.

[greg5000]

Sadly my Customer Service experiences here at eBay are similar to yours (but regarding different issues).

After 9 years of very frequent buying, in 2019 I finally had enough of the broken promises, incorrect information, long calls ... and wasted time.

I would suggest you call again and try to speak to a US eBay Rep./Supervisor.  If this gets you nowhere, I would write a letter to eBay and send it to the address you can find at their corporate site.

[Anonymous]

I remember you - at least I think it was you. Is this your thread from the first suspension @copperfoxantiquesemporium?

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Restricted-from-Selling-on-eBay/td-p/29966320

[mansons2005]

General Reply -
Part of the issue is that the name/word Meissen is trademarked in Germany - it can not be used on any item not produced by the Meissen factory. Many porcelain manufacturers use the name or word to describe a pattern and are in fact breaking German law. Meissen has tried for decades to legally stop this practice, but because of international law they are unable to bring it to a complete halt. So technically speaking, using the term Meissen in any way not directly related to product/item not produced by the factory of that name IS illegal in Germany. Incidentally, Meissen also has a copyright/trademark on the pattern "Blue Onion", but again has been unable to have others cease and desist.

The above is not an excuse for the issues you are running into, just an explanation of what probably triggered the issue i the first place. Sorry that I can not be of assistance with that "hot mess"!!!

[copperfoxantiquesemporium]

Thank you, but no.  This was my first post.

[copperfoxantiquesemporium]

Thank you for your message.  I have filed a complaint with the BBB as it doesn't seem like you can get anyone who can help.  Hopefully the complaint will get me a contact person who I can discuss this with. 

[copperfoxantiquesemporium]

Thank you.  The confusion probably should be cleared up by eBay by placing a disclaimer for the approved category they have for 'meissen'.  Unfortunately I was not aware of this issue and had I know I would have complied.

[fashunu4eeuh]

"...My listings were truthful with detailed pictures that I took and did not violate any trademarks as they were 'USED' and as I understand it available to be sold on eBay."

First, so sorry for your predicament. No one wants to hear a fellow eBayer has been suspended. It effects us all.

If I understand correctly, eBay gave you the violation for using the word "meissen" claiming it was copyright infringement? Did a little digging on the internet and see that the House of Meissen has trademarked the word and the company is in Germany. This manufacturer must police the German eBay site looking for listings using that word. But I'm a little confused. I saw one of your listings for the meissen compote and it is marked "Blue Meissen" on the bottom of the piece. So you were not keyword spamming, if that was something that was a concern. The compote is blue meissen. That said, I know of no policy on eBay that states copyright material can be listed without violation if the condition is used, but perhaps i am mistaken. 

So you called eBay and they lifted the 7 day ban and you then relisted the meissen items? This is no help to you now, but others might benefit knowing that on the forums, posters regularly advise members to never relist an item that has been pulled, even if eBay assures you they were in error and the item can safely stay. It is not uncommon for this situation to arise where the seller finds himself suddenly suspended a second time over the same items. (Sadly it is also not uncommon for customer service to say anything to cut short the conversation, or promise to call back but fail to follow-thru.)

What other violations might you have? I ask because it is irregular for a permanent restriction to be given on a second offense. So something else has likely affected your account before all this happened. Once this designation is reached, a seller has no recourse--indefinite restriction is eBay-speak for life-long ban without appeal. If there were no prior violations and/or defects on your account, there might be a  possible chance of getting reinstated. Reaching out here on the forums is good, but except for the Community Team members, there is limited help available here for those needing to address eBay directly. You might try eBay's Facebook or Twitter to gain the right customer service assistance on what can be done when an account has been improperly suspended. I am also paging one of the "blues" to come to the board to see if something can be done to help you.

trinton@ebay

tyler@ebay 

@TRINTONebay.com

@TYLERebay.com

Trinton and Tyler, is there anything that can be done to help this eBayer? Thank you for any assistance!

[copperfoxantiquesemporium]

Thank you for reaching out to me.  I just wanted to clarify that the two initial listings that were referenced in the first German eBay notice were never relisted by me.  In fact I had even asked if I should remove other listings and was told not to since they were not in question.  In doing a simple search on the US eBay site there are well over 5,700 listings that contain the word meissen.  It is in fact an approved category.  How would one know since there are some categories that give you specific disclaimers.

[copperfoxantiquesemporium]

I'm sorry as I forgot to thank you for reaching out to one of the blues.  Maybe I can hope for help......

[gamersbaystore]

While I would agree that ebay likely overreacted to your trademark violations which initially seem unintentional, you made the mistake of relisting using the same keywords again, and you admitted this in your post here.

You stated "she was unable to even explain the violation other then stating that this was my second violation."

The keywords of importance here are "Second Violation", meaning you did it again after they told you not too.

I've had listings removed for trademark issues too, but in each case I did what ebay told me to do and never tried to relist those items with those keywords.

Likewise, the word "meissen" is not a description, its a brand name. Just because others use it to describe a common product doesn't mean the brand that owns the name wants others using it. 

What can you do at this point? You need to contact Meissen, apologize for misusing their trademark, and ask them to contact ebay and remove the violations. It would also be best to request an official letter that states this in writing.

Keep in mind, they're the ones who instituted those legal claims against you, not ebay. If they drop the trademark claims, then ebay would realize you had no violations and that they had no reason to terminate your account.

I've been hit with so many notices from trademarks and copyrights with youtube alone I've lost count. Its how you handle the situation that matters. I usually reach out to the rights holders and apologize, ask for clarification of what was wrong, and ask for them to remove the claims they made.

One other thing to consider here is that its possible the trademark claims being made were actually bogus. This is another reason you need to reach out to Meissen, to ensure the claim is actually legit, and not some competitor attacking you. Did ebay show you a copy of the actual claim being made?

For instance, I once had 2 strikes in one day for Capcom videos on youtube. When I reached out to Capcom for help, they stated they made no such claims and had no problems with my videos at all. They contacted youtube requesting the fake claims be removed and they were.

[forgottenape]

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@greg5000 wrote:

Sadly my Customer Service experiences here at eBay are similar to yours (but regarding different issues).

After 9 years of very frequent buying, in 2019 I finally had enough of the broken promises, incorrect information, long calls ... and wasted time.

I would suggest you call again and try to speak to a US eBay Rep./Supervisor.  If this gets you nowhere, I would write a letter to eBay and send it to the address you can find at their corporate site.

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so you don't buy you don't sell you hate the site but your compelled to continue on the boards?

[Anonymous]

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@copperfoxantiquesemporium wrote:

On or about 09/06/2019 I contacted customer service regarding a notification that was received stating our account had been temporarily suspended for 7 seven days for 2 listings that had appeared on eBay's German website.  The way this was determined was that a message from eBay arrived in my message center in German.  Google translate had to be utilized in order to read the message. ... I explained to Mary that the two listings were placed on the US eBay site and since I had utilized the free listing opportunities that eBay solicited to me they were also placed on several international sites.

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Is this promotion you used with a company called Webinterpret?

[ittybitnot]

I remember you - at least I think it was you. Is this your thread from the first suspension @copperfoxantiquesemporium?

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Restricted-from-Selling-on-eBay/td-p/29966320

The person in that thread had a similar issue.  It was also related to the use of Webinterpret and the issue is almost identical with a listing posted to Germany for a similar item.   Eventually, ebay apparently took care of it for her.  

Hopefully, someone with some sense and the ability to correct the problem can be contacted on behalf of the OP. 

[ittybitnot]

 you made the mistake of relisting using the same keywords again, and you admitted this in your post here.

It is my understanding that the OP was not in violation with his posts made on the US ebay.com.  He only listed them himself on eBay.com US.   Webinterpret placed his listings on the the German ebay site where apparently you are unable to mention the actual  "pattern name" of your item on the site because it gets flagged because of the word Meissen.