Land line phone number no longer sufficient for identity verification to sell on ebay

[brandonsvsu]

Maybe I'm the only person left on earth with a land line and who doesn't want to give his cell phone number to a company such as ebay, but I have found out today after a lengthy conversation with an ebay rep that unless I provide ebay with a phone number capable of receiving text messages, my seller payout funds will be put on hold indefinitely.

I find it ridiculous that they can't just call my land line number with an automated message containing a verification code.  Practically every other major company that requires verification offers this.  Ebay?  Nope.  You gotta have a cell phone to sell here.

[a_c_green]

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@buyselljack2016 wrote:

If the scammer has also stolen your cell phone, that rises to a whole new level of problem ..............

__________________________________________________

Apparently I am too dense to understand this......................

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I will concede that it's definitely giving you problems; yes...

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@buyselljack2016 wrote:

Scammer does not have to have " my cell phone". All the scammer has to do is to provide "their cell #" to have a code sent to..................     Who is going to "verify" that the cell # "is me"?

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They are not requesting a number at the time they're trying to verify your login attempt. They will use the number that you provided back when you set up the account. They send a code to that phone, and you respond by sending the code back to them as part of your login. That verifies that it's you at the keyboard, and not some hacker from Outer Franistan someplace... because that hacker would not have your cellphone.

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@buyselljack2016 wrote:

They have verified my email. They can send that code to my email just as other sites do 🙂

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I agree that they could send a verification code to your off-eBay email address if that option was offered. It would not be sent to your eBay Messages folder since that's part of your on-site account, but could be sent to a third-party email provider for which you have separate access (and presumably not the same password as whatever you're using for your eBay account). I myself have a Hotmail account that I use for eBay business and nothing else.

Bottom line here is that it's eBay that needs to explain why they don't want to use landline numbers for two-factor code verification. Granted, a landline doesn't receive texts, but there's nothing new about doing an automated call that just reads the code to you over the phone, after which you type in whatever code you heard, and off you go.

[policequilts]

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@a_c_green wrote:

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Bottom line here is that it's eBay that needs to explain why they don't want to use landline numbers for two-factor code verification. Granted, a landline doesn't receive texts, but there's nothing new about doing an automated call that just reads the code to you over the phone, after which you type in whatever code you heard, and off you go.

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The banks will do the automated phone calls.

From my warped mind . . .  😄 😄

@buyselljack2016 wrote:

If the scammer has also stolen your cell phone, that rises to a whole new level of problem ........

Yep,  cell phones get stolen all the time.

When has a landline been stolen?  😄 😄 

Maybe the phone, especially if you have a rotary one you will see it being sold on eBay. 😄 😄

Just joking. 😄

[buyselljack2016]

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@a_c_green wrote:

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@buyselljack2016 wrote:

If the scammer has also stolen your cell phone, that rises to a whole new level of problem ..............

__________________________________________________

Apparently I am too dense to understand this......................

---

I will concede that it's definitely giving you problems; yes...

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@buyselljack2016 wrote:

Scammer does not have to have " my cell phone". All the scammer has to do is to provide "their cell #" to have a code sent to..................     Who is going to "verify" that the cell # "is me"?

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They are not requesting a number at the time they're trying to verify your login attempt. They will use the number that you provided back when you set up the account. They send a code to that phone, and you respond by sending the code back to them as part of your login. That verifies that it's you at the keyboard, and not some hacker from Outer Franistan someplace... because that hacker would not have your cellphone.

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@buyselljack2016 wrote:

They have verified my email. They can send that code to my email just as other sites do 🙂

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I agree that they could send a verification code to your off-eBay email address if that option was offered. It would not be sent to your eBay Messages folder since that's part of your on-site account, but could be sent to a third-party email provider for which you have separate access (and presumably not the same password as whatever you're using for your eBay account). I myself have a Hotmail account that I use for eBay business and nothing else.

Bottom line here is that it's eBay that needs to explain why they don't want to use landline numbers for two-factor code verification. Granted, a landline doesn't receive texts, but there's nothing new about doing an automated call that just reads the code to you over the phone, after which you type in whatever code you heard, and off you go.

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I appreciate your attempt, but sorry, I'm old, and still confused.  "Verify my login attempt" ?  I am logged in on my account using it daily. My landline is registered with eBay.

No one is asking me for a cell #, and again what proof would they have that it is "me" even if the "landline" was switched over to a "cell" number by me when I was attempting to update.I have thought about trying it, but one can of worms open at a time is about all I can stand. (next they will want my passport to start verifying things that are not in question.  (Also don't have one of those)

Put in the "cell", get a code, enter the code, all verified.  Whose phone # was verified? Scammer/hijacker? How would eBay know who was providing that random cell # ?

And yup, I have done the "two-factor code verification" via landline (or my email) to receive a code for many things. eBay isn't going to explain any of the reasons for the things that they do ☹️ Basically because there is no real reason why it needs to be done that way.

[nativeflagirl]

We went to a coin meet in Indiana and there was NO signal. It was interesting trying to text each other to meet up for meals - texts might come the next day, if at all. Couldn't use the GPS to find place, couldn't use the internet to look things up. We went to the home of the host 5 miles outside town and husband could only barely get a phone signal on one corner of their property by the road. I believe if the townspeople had a cell, AT&T was a little better (most of us at the meet had Verizon). The host couple had one shared cell but rarely used it. They used their landline and would use the internet at the library in town. I had to sit in the parking lot of the library with my iPad to do eBay as we rented a camping spot for a week or two and we had no signal to call, text or tether the laptop or iPad. It was very frustrating. But if you went to the next town probably 10 miles away, they had all kinds of signal (phones were dinging with notifications).

[nativeflagirl]

If they are verifying your login because they don't trust your location or something, most places do this by text and email and you only have to respond to one or the other. 

[buyselljack2016]

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@nativeflagirl wrote:

If they are verifying your login because they don't trust your location or something, most places do this by text and email and you only have to respond to one or the other. 

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Therein lies the utter nonsense about what is going on. It is not a "login" issue. At home where I am 99.9% of the time.  Done rarely from the "library" when power/weather necessitates. eBay just wants me to verify/update the phone # used on the account. (for 2 months now) (selling with the same # for over 2 decades)

email verified, but phone continues to fail update/verification.  Not verifying account/identity, just the phone. They have the #. They did a "call back" on it in Nov, and Dec..

[buyselljack2016]

@fern*wood 

If "you" can receive a code, perhaps it will work.

Maybe the eBay "bots" are trying to text a code to my "landline" and getting no response from me, causing my "red warning banner" to remain.

In my calls/chats with eBay they provide no explanation/details for the failure. (secret info. can't reveal anything to scammers/hijackers/sellers in good standing)

[dhbookds]

I spoke with Concierge today.......

Explained the discussion on the board, and questioned Elizabeth's answer (not doubting you, but questioning previous answer I had gotten from Concierge).....  I asked whether it was necessary to go buy a new cell phone.

He stated that it was a requirement for new sellers to have the ability to receive text messages, but that older sellers who have current phone numbers on file and who have had no problems with communicating with Ebay...should have no problems.  Said I do not need to go get a new cell phone.

I trust Concierge.......I will not buy a new cell phone.  However, I've been on here long enough to know things can change on a dime.........I feel "warned"........

@brandonsvsu 

elizabeth@ebay 

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elizabeth@ebay wrote:

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@dhbookds wrote:

elizabeth@ebay 

I'm sorry, I'm not clear on this.........Is it required to have a text able phone to sell on Ebay? 

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Sorry for the confusion @dhbookds. You do need to have a valid cell phone to sell on eBay. Things such as Google Voice or Text only devices would not work. 

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[buyselljack2016]

but that older sellers who have current phone numbers on file and who have had no problems with communicating with Ebay...should have no problems. Said I do not need to go get a new cell phone.

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Still not complete clarity, at least not for this dinosaur

no need for a cell phone.............   or no need for a new cell phone.

eBay can/does communicate with me on my "landline", but I have a "problem" with that persistent "red banner", and "every Friday" like clockwork, request to update/verify my phone #.

[wastingtime101]

Hey @buyselljack2016 - when you've gone through this run-around with CS and they never mentioned needing a cell phone specifically - just wanted to confirm that you did clarify with them the number they're attempting to verify is a landline?

[buyselljack2016]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

Hey @buyselljack2016 - when you've gone through this run-around with CS and they never mentioned needing a cell phone specifically - just wanted to confirm that you did clarify with them the number they're attempting to verify is a landline?

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I have not not pointed out that I am using a landline. Did not want to give them a "go to response" option to suggest that I need a cell, and not actually do anything.

They have in chat, and in writing confirmed that the # provided is indeed the # already there in my personal information. Assured it would be resolved by the "tech team". It has been another 3 weeks.

Perhaps tomorrow I will again reach out to ebay for Business on the facebook

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truncated chat from 2022-12-13

09:04:10 UTC       jack

I have this very minute gone to my account personal information, and that is the # that is there. Has not changed.

09:05:53 UTC Mxxxxx

I do understand that the personal information of your account has not been change from ages. Need not to worry I am looking into this matter

09:06:22 UTC      jack

OK, will wait

09:10:17 UTC Mxxxxx

Upon checking the details I can see 3xxxxxx276  is already there in your personal information of your eBay account.

09:12:35 UTC  jack

Yes, problem is that I keep getting a red banner to update as well as an email, and in "my Messages" The Attention is needed to Update every few days

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

requested screenshot sent to link provided.  chat continues

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

09:44:24 UTC Mxxxxx

This is a rare occurrence; I though understand it is an inconvenience for our members and thus, please consider our sincere apologies for the same. This is very important to us, as we want our community of users to enjoy the best possible trading experience and use all of the features available on the site. Our technical team is already working on this on priority and will try to fix this as soon as possible.

09:50:59 UTC Mxxxxx

Need not to worry this will be resolved soon

09:51:16 UTC Mxxxxx

It will be updated in your account.

[wastingtime101]

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@buyselljack2016 wrote:

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truncated chat from 2022-12-13

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Overseas CS always tells people tech team is working on it and issue will be resolved in 48 hours or soon. Those are go-to responses for them. Overseas chat isn't going to get you anywhere on this.

[valueaddedresource]

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elizabeth@ebay wrote:

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@dhbookds wrote:

elizabeth@ebay 

I'm sorry, I'm not clear on this.........Is it required to have a text able phone to sell on Ebay? 

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Sorry for the confusion @dhbookds. You do need to have a valid cell phone to sell on eBay. Things such as Google Voice or Text only devices would not work. 

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elizabeth@ebay  - is this new (not stated in any policy pages) requirement to provide a cell phone number for personal accounts, business accounts, or both?

If it's for business accounts as well, I can tell you that you are going to run into a very large problem.

I previously worked for a company that did about $25M/year in sales total (~$2M/year of that through eBay) - the kind of modern ecommerce operation with a large warehouse and professional offices in a business district, 50+ employees...you get the picture.

The registered phone number for that account was the 800# for the company's customer service department which was a VOIP service, but in many similar companies could just as easily be a landline.

Companies of that size are not going to approve of an employee attaching their personal cell # to the account, even if the employee would be OK with that (which FYI I absolutely would not have been) and there are all kinds of very good security reasons why eBay should not ever ask them to do so.

Using the cell # of any upper management would have not worked either - they would often be in another state, possibly another country, not to mention having much more important business functions to attend to, so having a text sent to them with a verification code every time I needed to contact eBay support would have been an absolute non-starter.

If eBay had said a cell phone # was required and it could not be VOIP or Google Voice, they would have likely simply decided to stop selling on eBay.

[elizabeth@ebay]

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@valueaddedresource wrote:

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elizabeth@ebay wrote:

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@dhbookds wrote:

elizabeth@ebay 

I'm sorry, I'm not clear on this.........Is it required to have a text able phone to sell on Ebay? 

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Sorry for the confusion @dhbookds. You do need to have a valid cell phone to sell on eBay. Things such as Google Voice or Text only devices would not work. 

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elizabeth@ebay  - is this new (not stated in any policy pages) requirement to provide a cell phone number for personal accounts, business accounts, or both?

If it's for business accounts as well, I can tell you that you are going to run into a very large problem.

I previously worked for a company that did about $25M/year in sales total (~$2M/year of that through eBay) - the kind of modern ecommerce operation with a large warehouse and professional offices in a business district, 50+ employees...you get the picture.

The registered phone number for that account was the 800# for the company's customer service department which was a VOIP service, but in many similar companies could just as easily be a landline.

Companies of that size are not going to approve of an employee attaching their personal cell # to the account, even if the employee would be OK with that (which FYI I absolutely would not have been) and there are all kinds of very good security reasons why eBay should not ever ask them to do so.

Using the cell # of any upper management would have not worked either - they would often be in another state, possibly another country, not to mention having much more important business functions to attend to, so having a text sent to them with a verification code every time I needed to contact eBay support would have been an absolute non-starter.

If eBay had said a cell phone # was required and it could not be VOIP or Google Voice, they would have likely simply decided to stop selling on eBay.

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Hi @valueaddedresource. We reached out to the appropriate team who stated the following:

"With the new contact verification we are required to do, we can only verify by a cell phone because the system only sends a text out."

[valueaddedresource]

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elizabeth@ebay wrote:

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@valueaddedresource wrote:

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elizabeth@ebay wrote:

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@dhbookds wrote:

elizabeth@ebay 

I'm sorry, I'm not clear on this.........Is it required to have a text able phone to sell on Ebay? 

---

Sorry for the confusion @dhbookds. You do need to have a valid cell phone to sell on eBay. Things such as Google Voice or Text only devices would not work. 

---

elizabeth@ebay  - is this new (not stated in any policy pages) requirement to provide a cell phone number for personal accounts, business accounts, or both?

If it's for business accounts as well, I can tell you that you are going to run into a very large problem.

I previously worked for a company that did about $25M/year in sales total (~$2M/year of that through eBay) - the kind of modern ecommerce operation with a large warehouse and professional offices in a business district, 50+ employees...you get the picture.

The registered phone number for that account was the 800# for the company's customer service department which was a VOIP service, but in many similar companies could just as easily be a landline.

Companies of that size are not going to approve of an employee attaching their personal cell # to the account, even if the employee would be OK with that (which FYI I absolutely would not have been) and there are all kinds of very good security reasons why eBay should not ever ask them to do so.

Using the cell # of any upper management would have not worked either - they would often be in another state, possibly another country, not to mention having much more important business functions to attend to, so having a text sent to them with a verification code every time I needed to contact eBay support would have been an absolute non-starter.

If eBay had said a cell phone # was required and it could not be VOIP or Google Voice, they would have likely simply decided to stop selling on eBay.

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Hi @valueaddedresource. We reached out to the appropriate team who stated the following:

"With the new contact verification we are required to do, we can only verify by a cell phone because the system only sends a text out."

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Thanks elizabeth@ebay  - can you ask that team what new contact verification requirement they are referring to?

The only new legal/regulatory requirements I'm aware of for eBay (or other marketplaces) to verify seller contact information would be the INFORM act that was recently passed as part of the 2023 Omnibus bill.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/INFORM-Consumers-Act-Passed-Marketplace-Must-Verify-amp-Public...

However, the INFORM act simply says that marketplaces must verify "A current working email address and phone number" for "high volume" third party sellers ( 200 or more discrete sales in a 12-month period amounting to $5,000 or more).

The INFORM act makes no explicit distinction of cell phones only, nor does it require the verification to be done via text message, again it simply says marketplaces must verify a current working phone number - I see absolutely no reason landlines would not qualify within the context of the law that was passed.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/5502/text

If eBay has decided on their own for their policy to be cell phones only to make the verification process easier to automate via a text messaging system, that would appear to be unnecessarily restrictive and not a requirement of the actual law in question.

If the requirement they're referencing isn't the INFORM act, then what specifically is it?

And please get that team to put all of this in writing on official policy and help pages ASAP - this is far too important of an issue and there needs to be transparency and an easy to find policy for both sellers and support reps to refer to.