Need help! I can't list an item because of eBay personal information blocker.

[secondhandsomebooks]

Hello all,

I need some help from you more experienced eBay listers out there.  I've been trying to list an item for a few hours now (book) that eBay is blocking:  We can’t list your item because it looks like it includes a phone number or email address. Contact info is not allowed anywhere in a listing, including shipping and payments fields.

I've checked and rechecked the copy and there is no such info in the listing? I've tried contacting a CSR by phone, and that doesn't seem to be possible. I've emailed customer service and am waiting for a response.

Does anyone know of a way to satisfy eBay's "robot" content checker, so I can get this book listed? Thanks in advance for your help and suggestions.

[donsdetour]

and what it the title and description you are trying to enter??

[nobody*s_perfect · Accepted solution]

The bots are very literal and will object to random uses of the @ symbol, use of .com or .net by punctuation accident, strings of numbers,  etc.  If you share the description we can take a look. Or just publish it one sentence at a time to narrow down the objectionable section.

[eleanor*rigby]

See if any of these tools help:

Self-Service Online tools for eBay Compliance 

I think this one looks promising . . . 

Scan a single eBay description for Violations. 

[kensgiftshop]

@secondhandsomebooks 

If you copy information from another site and paste it in the description, that could be the problem.

It'll copy some code from the other site that'll cause you to get some errors.

[eleanor*rigby]

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@kensgiftshop wrote:

@secondhandsomebooks 

If you copy information from another site and paste it in the description, that could be the problem.

It'll copy some code from the other site that'll cause you to get some errors.

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The tool I linked above will identify active content, as well. 

[coolections]

You are going to have to do better than that if you expect answers. Give the exact title of the item you are trying to list.

[a_c_green]

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@secondhandsomebooks wrote:

I've checked and rechecked the copy and there is no such info in the listing? I've tried contacting a CSR by phone, and that doesn't seem to be possible. I've emailed customer service and am waiting for a response.

Does anyone know of a way to satisfy eBay's "robot" content checker, so I can get this book listed?

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Do you have anything in your description that looks like it could be a phone number, even though you know it isn't?  ISBN digits, for example?

As for email addresses, have you checked to be sure that you have a space following every period in your text? Line wraps can be misleading that way, as a sentence can wrap to a new line on a period without showing you that there's actually no space character following it.

[secondhandsomebooks]

Thanks to everyone for your replies, suggestions and advice. I found the problem. I was using ampersands in my condition description, rather than "at".  Ooops! All is well now; item is listed. Thanks again for everyones help.

[lac358232]

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@secondhandsomebooks wrote:

I found the problem. I was using ampersands in my condition description, rather than "at". 

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FYI this is an ampersand versus the at symbol. Okay, settle down everyone.

[nobody*s_perfect]

That's an ampersand and a G (treble) clef.

[a_c_green]

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@lac358232 wrote:

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@secondhandsomebooks wrote:

I found the problem. I was using ampersands in my condition description, rather than "at". 

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FYI this is an ampersand versus the at symbol.

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Ummm... no...?

[secondhandsomebooks]

 I stand corrected. I was the using the "at" symbol rather than the word "at".  I learn something new everyday. For years, I've always thought the ampersand symbol was the email "at".  I'm just glad the problem is solved.

[aproudparent2010]

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@lac358232 wrote:

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@secondhandsomebooks wrote:

I found the problem. I was using ampersands in my condition description, rather than "at". 

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FYI this is an ampersand versus the at symbol. Okay, settle down everyone.

Uh no it isn't

That is the And symbol and a Treble (G) Clef

The At symbol is @

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[lac358232]

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@lac358232 wrote:

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@secondhandsomebooks wrote:

I found the problem. I was using ampersands in my condition description, rather than "at". 

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FYI this is an ampersand versus the at symbol. Okay, settle down everyone.

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This came directly from the "ampersand versus at" search result. 

So if you can't trust Google, who can you trust?