eBay

lklong1215 · ‎06-26-2021

I have an old police badge, around 50 to 60 years old.....i started an auction and right away Ebay took it down...I checked and there are hundreds if not thousands of similar badges on ebay. I found one that was the same age just a different department and the auction lasted 5 days. When I asked ebay why this one is allowed and mine isn't, they said they can't find them all, so I sent the link to the one similar to mine with already 18 bids on it thinking they would tell me why it is allowed and mine wasn't....No intelligible reply...and the other badge went on with over 20 bids with nothing happening but a hefty sale...any ideas?

inhawaii · ‎06-26-2021

Sorry for my flawed analogy. I will admit that i am no expert in the matter, but i'm under the impression that "collectables" means old, no longer being used, vintage, etc. It makes sense that ebay would not want people selling current police badges, patches, etc. to just anyone. So that explains why they even have a category.

As for your situation, i know you said they were old. Perhaps you were targeted in error? I don't know?

Good luck.

Goodbye Stranger - Supertramp

sin-n-dex · ‎06-26-2021

@maxine*j wrote:
Actually, it is a mess.

The eBay Policy clearly and simply states: "Police and emergency response uniforms, equipment, or accessories can't be sold on eBay. To help prevent impersonation, we don't allow certain police or emergency service-related items to be listed for sale... The following items can't be listed for sale on eBay: Law enforcement and other government-issued uniforms, badges, or accessories, such as hats, jackets, and shirts, or replicas of these items."
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/prohibited-restricted-items/policerelated-items-policy?id=4319

And yet, as you say, many thousands of badges are being sold under Collectibles > Historical Memorabilia > Police > Badges: Obsolete > U.S. and many more thousands also under Collectibles > Historical Memorabilia > Police > Badges: Novelty & Replica

So, on the one hand eBay prohibits the sale of an item. On the other, it provides categories for the sale of the item, with thousands of listings in each.

It beats me what a seller is to do.

=

This came up with the weekly chat a few weeks ago, I mentioned what I was told about this in a previous post.

C.

sin-n-dex · ‎06-26-2021

@johnrj1226 wrote:
Here is what eBay says what police items can't & can be listed
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/prohibited-restricted-items/policerelated-items-policy?id=4319&st...

Police and emergency response uniforms, equipment, or accessories can't be sold on eBay.
To help prevent impersonation, we don't allow certain police or emergency service-related items to be listed for sale.
What is the policy?
The following items can't be listed for sale on eBay:
Law enforcement and other government-issued uniforms, badges, or accessories, such as hats, jackets, and shirts, or replicas of these items
Official emergency lighting systems or sirens, including lenses or LEDs for these systems
Activity that doesn't follow eBay policy could result in a range of actions including for example: administratively ending or canceling listings, hiding or demoting all listings from search results, lowering seller rating, buying or selling restrictions, and account suspension. All fees paid or payable in relation to listings or accounts on which we take any action will not be refunded or otherwise credited to your account.

next time try using the eBay Help & Contact (kinda' like a Goggle Search) and save you the headache of trying to contact & communicate with eBays CSRs. Took me less than 30 seconds to find this policy.

Prior to posting in the weekly chat I spoke to an agent in the Listings department (because the CSR that answered the phone thought police items from England from 1948 to 1974 were Nazi items and therefore not allowed). It has to be obsolete. The agent said there's a dedicated group of people who check up on listings to see if they violate policy. There's no way to determine if it will be allowed or not, the call is entirely eBay's to make.

C.

sin-n-dex · ‎06-26-2021

@lklong1215 wrote:
Yeah, I read the policy, did you also see that there are categories listed buy eBay for police badges?
On my second try to list I thought the word obsolete may be the trick as most of the others used this word in the title, but they still took it down....My badge is no longer in use as many of the other sellers state in their description....
Besides, if someone is going to impersonate an officer they can do it with any type badge....

did you use relist, or list as new? If you used relist, the bot will find it and take it down regardless.

But if they've been taken down twice, I wouldn't advise doing it again. If you have USA badges, from what I understand a lot of USA police departments are particularly concerned about their department's items being listed.

C.

magicjohnsonsvariety · ‎06-26-2021

@inhawaii wrote:
I got pulled over and ticketed for speeding the other day ... i checked and there were hundreds if not thousands of other vehicles speeding. Why are they allowed to speed and i wasn't?

The answer is ... they aren't allowed to speed. You got caught and they didn't. Some of them will eventually. Some wont.

Whenever someone can't answer a question regarding ebay's inconsistent policies, this statement rears its ugly head. 🤔

sin-n-dex · ‎06-26-2021

@lklong1215 wrote:
Remedial reading is the key to understanding this, "inhawaii".....
The question is not why can others do it and I can't, but instead why does eBay even have the categories ....Collectibles > Historical Memorabilia > Police > Badges: Obsolete > U.S. and Collectibles > Historical Memorabilia > Police > Badges: Novelty & Replica..... in the first place if such items are against the policy?
Makes no sense, even with your flawed analogy.....

You should post in the weekly chat - provide pictures of what was taken down - it's Wednesday's between 1pm and 2pm PDT.

Someone from eBay can give you a more definitive answer than I can.

C.

sin-n-dex · ‎06-26-2021

@pikabo-icu wrote:
@lklong1215 wrote:
Remedial reading is the key to understanding this, "inhawaii".....
The question is not why can others do it and I can't, but instead why does eBay even have the categories ....Collectibles > Historical Memorabilia > Police > Badges: Obsolete > U.S. and Collectibles > Historical Memorabilia > Police > Badges: Novelty & Replica..... in the first place if such items are against the policy?
Makes no sense, even with your flawed analogy.....

If I recall correctly @sin-n-dex recently had an issue with buttons from defunct police uniforms..
I hope twas her..
Anyway, I think it's possible the policy changed recently and they haven't edited the category choices yet..
That's all I got.. /shrugs

My specific issue was that it was RCMP pins and the RCMP has requested eBay take anything down. The warning and removal notice I got specifically said the RCMP requested it be taken down.

I posted about this in weekly chat and I was told certain departments have higher standards for making sure none of their items are listed.

C.

pikabo-icu · ‎06-26-2021

@sin-n-dex wrote:
@pikabo-icu wrote:
@lklong1215 wrote:
Remedial reading is the key to understanding this, "inhawaii".....
The question is not why can others do it and I can't, but instead why does eBay even have the categories ....Collectibles > Historical Memorabilia > Police > Badges: Obsolete > U.S. and Collectibles > Historical Memorabilia > Police > Badges: Novelty & Replica..... in the first place if such items are against the policy?
Makes no sense, even with your flawed analogy.....

If I recall correctly @sin-n-dex recently had an issue with buttons from defunct police uniforms..
I hope twas her..
Anyway, I think it's possible the policy changed recently and they haven't edited the category choices yet..
That's all I got.. /shrugs
My specific issue was that it was RCMP pins and the RCMP has requested eBay take anything down. The warning and removal notice I got specifically said the RCMP requested it be taken down.

I posted about this in weekly chat and I was told certain departments have higher standards for making sure none of their items are listed.

C.

Thanks..

I wasn't sure the exact item but I knew you were knowledgeable about the police memorabilia/items.

I appreciate you taking the time to share what you know on the subject..

CHEERS

~Pika~
People in life that are the happiest don't have the most,, they make the most of what they have...

eunster1313 · ‎06-26-2021

(My specific issue was that it was RCMP pins and the RCMP has requested eBay take anything down. The warning and removal notice I got specifically said the RCMP requested it be taken down.)

@sin-n-dex

@pikabo-icu

The RCMP (requesting) eBay to take something down is the old way.

This is the new way.

More About eBay Letting Regulators Remove Listings

https://www.ecommercebytes.com/2021/05/28/more-about-ebay-letting-regulators-remove-listings/

eBay Launches its Regulatory Portal

https://www.ebayinc.com/stories/news/ebay-launches-its-regulatory-portal-a-new-tool-to-further-prote...

sin-n-dex · ‎06-26-2021

@eunster1313 wrote:
(My specific issue was that it was RCMP pins and the RCMP has requested eBay take anything down. The warning and removal notice I got specifically said the RCMP requested it be taken down.)
@sin-n-dex
@pikabo-icu

The RCMP (requesting) eBay to take something down is the old way.

This is the new way.

More About eBay Letting Regulators Remove Listings
https://www.ecommercebytes.com/2021/05/28/more-about-ebay-letting-regulators-remove-listings/

eBay Launches its Regulatory Portal
https://www.ebayinc.com/stories/news/ebay-launches-its-regulatory-portal-a-new-tool-to-further-prote...

My listing was removed in April, before this came out. I'd hazard a guess that the RCMP is on board with this new process (even though it wasn't mentioned in the article). I'm sure more authorities are going to sign up to participate in taking listings down, and I don't see this is a bad thing.

When I was in the eBay chat, I was told certain police precincts have higher standards for protecting their property and being obsolete doesn't matter. (As was the case with my 1960 RCMP pins).

C.

ypdc_dennis · ‎06-26-2021

No surprise if the RCMP is onboard, after the murder rampage of Gabriel Wortman in 2020. Wortman drove a fake police car and wore a fake RCMP police uniform, killing 22 people and setting multiple fires before he was stopped.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Nova_Scotia_attacks

coolections · ‎06-26-2021

I for one am very glad they took it down. Too many crooks out there pretending to be police and robbing and killing people. OP, don't relist, you will be booted from Ebay. As far as the others, they will eventually get caught.

sin-n-dex · ‎06-27-2021

@ypdc_dennis wrote:
No surprise if the RCMP is onboard, after the murder rampage of Gabriel Wortman in 2020. Wortman drove a fake police car and wore a fake RCMP police uniform, killing 22 people and setting multiple fires before he was stopped.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Nova_Scotia_attacks

When I was watching the daily covid update by Trudeau I remember he took some time to talk about this. I just didn't remember all the details.

C.

lklong1215 · ‎06-27-2021

My second listing was new.... I studied over as many listings as I could to try and figure out what was different about mine? There was nothing different about mine than from the others....Mine hasn't been used in over 60 years...there are many that say obsolete, but in reality they are not....for example there are many LAPD and other large departments detective badges they are newer than mine....and much more susceptible to being used illegally than my little ol badge from a small southern department..

oldwestgold · ‎06-27-2021

eBay likes to be unclear on many policies. That way you can't hold them responsible, especially in a court of law. Badges are a big hobby. It is incredibly confusing since eBay has a specific category for these. Not much different from the 20+ year problem I always have experienced in selling coins. Replica coins are not allowed on eBay. Yet eBay has a category for replicas. And guess what? Replicas are clearly listed as such and are sold by the thousands in non-replica(genuine) categories. It really isn't rocket science to remain consistent on 90% of the items allowed and not allowed by the eBay powers-to-be. It is eBay's responsibility to police themselves not anyone else with their reporting options. That's what everyone pays fees for. You would think they would have it figured out after 20+ years, but no. Accountability or the lack of it, again only works in their favor. This is no coincidence.