Received a warning for cancelling my item

[fortyfive2life]

I had an item listed for sale, and didn't have much interest after a couple weeks (1 offer, but it was too low).  So I pulled the listing tonight, and immediately received a warning email from Ebay about selling outside of Ebay.

I'm not selling outside of Ebay, and I have no intention to.  In fact, I get offers to do so and always turn them down; I won't even ship to an address that is not the verified PayPal address, and I always require a signature. 

Most of the few items I sell are pretty expensive, and I don't take the risk.  But it's a little ridiculous that as soon as I cancel an item, Ebay decides I'm selling off the site and warns me.  The email says "at this time, no restrictions are being placed on your account".  Fantastic.  So if I list another item and in a couple weeks decide to cancel it, will it be different?

I really wish there was a good alternative to Ebay.  I've sold thousands of dollars worth of items just as most of you have, and Ebay has profited greatly from it.  I appreciate the opportunity to reach a lot of potential buyers, but not the strong-arm tactics.

Thanks for letting me vent.  First world problems right?

[emerald40]

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@kattinsanity wrote:

I did not mean you had to have the item available for (example~~30 day listing).  I said you had to have it available for the duration of however long you had it listed.  You had it listed and then suddenly it was "no longer available" and the listing was ended right after you had a offer on it.  Ebay naturally thought you made a "deal" with the person who made you the offer and that was why it was "no longer available".

It is also against ebay policy to have an item listed on ebay while you have it available for sale somewhere else.  THAT is what I meant when I stated you have to have it available for however long you have it listed for on ebay.  You can't list it on ebay and have it available in your store or listed on another site~~sell it~~then end your listing on ebay after you have sold it elsewhere.  THAT is where ebay believes you sold it off ebay and THAT is why it is "no longer available". 

This isn't the 1st time you have ended high $$ items as "no longer available" and ebay is wondering why??  You sold an item for over 15 hundred bucks not long ago, relisted it and ended the listing as "no longer available" a week later.  Seems fishy to ebay as to why you would do that especially when you had just sold one a week earlier.  It shouldn't have been ended that quickly "because nobody showed any interest in it"??

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100% agree.  Definitely enough history with this seller for ebay to become involved.

I have seen it many times where, sort after, high $$ items are cancelled after a few hours, way too soon to gauge anything.

[ersatz_sobriquet]

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@emerald40 wrote:

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@ersatz_sobriquet wrote:

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@*madison wrote:

Anybody who wants to end a listing on ebay because they decided to sell it elsewhere, throw it away, give it away, keep it, or are just bored of relisting that item for now, has the right to do so. 

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True.

But if ebay are not happy about that, ebay has the right to take whatever action they feel is appropriate..

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You may think so, or support that idea, but I would prove that wrong with a lawyer if there are final value fees charged for ending a listing. 

I have the right to end a listing and stomp on the item to my heart's content if I so wish. Ebay has the right to end our relationship, and I have the right to end our relationship also. 

Never give your power away willingly without an agreement that you have given up said power. Only fools give others their power without a good trade for doing so. This case is one where the seller has the ownership and has never agreed to give up that ownership, and ownership is the power we are talking about here. Ownership to do with an item as the owner wishes to. 

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A lawyer would tell you that you got a warning.  You are on notice, and if you do not agree, you should find a different venue to sell on.

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No that is not what a lawyer would tell me or anyone. A lawyer would take the case. 

[emerald40]

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@ersatz_sobriquet wrote:

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@*madison wrote:

Oh, don't start talking about lawyers,

I'm only talking about the UA.

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The only reason I said the word lawyer was because there is no such wording in the user agreement. So we can't talk about one without talking about the other, we are talking about legal rights whenever we are talking about the UA. 

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Ebay is not a monopoly.  You do not have to sell here.  You pretty much give up all your rights when you sign the user agreement.  You either agree to their rules, or you move on down the road.

[southern*sweet*tea]

**general reply**

This is freaking me out a little. I have several books listed that my daughter would like to have. I was going to end the listings and send them to her.  Now I'm kind of scared I'll get a nastygram.

Still going to do it - it's MY stuff, after all - but if I do get a nastygram there will be an explosion of nuclear anger the likes of which has rarely been seen around here. 

[emerald40]

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@luckythewinner wrote:

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@voodoorada wrote:

I had an item listed for sale, and didn't have much interest after a couple weeks (1 offer, but it was too low).  So I pulled the listing tonight, and immediately received a warning email from Ebay about selling outside of Ebay.

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1) When you piulled the listing, what reason did you choose? ("item is no longer available", error in listing", etc)

2) Can you post the actual text of the warning you got from eBay?

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Error in listing has the same connotation as no longer available, unless it is relisted.

[emerald40]

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@missjen316 wrote:

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@sharingtheland wrote:

So, the moral of the story is never use "item is no longer available for sale" when ending a listing?

What team group of a division of a department in ebay found that off-ebay sales were creating a huge impact on ebay's bottom line?   I'd say, to ebay, that it's just the cost of doing business.

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I think someone on the team is suffering from paranoia. Or another associated disorder that won't be mentioned. 

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I agree that it has turned to paranoia, but it is based on fact.  And unfortunately once again we are paying the price for the actions of others.

[emerald40]

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@voodoorada wrote:

Thank you all for the input so far, both positive and accusatory.  I can't keep up with the responses at the moment but I will post my final thoughts tonight.  

The bottom line is yes I have posted things before and yes I have ended them early, but I am not using eBay to find sales outside of eBay. The items I sell every now and then are usually expensive and I have been ripped off before so eBay is a nice protection through PayPal because I can ship to a verified buyer and be covered.

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Then if you are concerned about ebay and being ripped off, why o you continue to list expensive items and then take them down?

[emerald40]

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@ersatz_sobriquet wrote:

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@emerald40 wrote:

And because you are doing it under a 3rd party venue, ebay also has the right to question it.

Yes, they may be a little paranoid, but I have seen it many times with high priced fine jewelry, that all of a sudden it is no longer available.

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I don't care if ebay is suspicious all day long. 

If they don't have contact information being sent back and forth with a seller mentioning some kind of price or some clue to an off ebay sale through ebay messaging, then ebay is in the wrong same as any assumption we make of others is wrong. What is said when we assume? Something about donkeys.....

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In some cases like with this OP they looked at his history and a pattern of cancelling listings shorly after they go live.

[emerald40]

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@ersatz_sobriquet wrote:

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@emerald40 wrote:

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@ersatz_sobriquet wrote:

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@*madison wrote:

Anybody who wants to end a listing on ebay because they decided to sell it elsewhere, throw it away, give it away, keep it, or are just bored of relisting that item for now, has the right to do so. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

True.

But if ebay are not happy about that, ebay has the right to take whatever action they feel is appropriate..

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You may think so, or support that idea, but I would prove that wrong with a lawyer if there are final value fees charged for ending a listing. 

I have the right to end a listing and stomp on the item to my heart's content if I so wish. Ebay has the right to end our relationship, and I have the right to end our relationship also. 

Never give your power away willingly without an agreement that you have given up said power. Only fools give others their power without a good trade for doing so. This case is one where the seller has the ownership and has never agreed to give up that ownership, and ownership is the power we are talking about here. Ownership to do with an item as the owner wishes to. 

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A lawyer would tell you that you got a warning.  You are on notice, and if you do not agree, you should find a different venue to sell on.

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No that is not what a lawyer would tell me or anyone. A lawyer would take the case. 

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Oh, I am sure a shyster would.

[emerald40]

Have you had any recent interest in it from a buyer - bids, emails.

Are you in a habit of doing it?

If not, then imo you will be fine.

[kattinsanity]

You do see one completed listing BUT it was ended as no longer available~~a 3 grand item.  On 6/19 he sold an item for best offer on the $1550.00 item, relisted it and ended the listing on 6/26 as no longer available.  Why would he take the listing down after only a week for lack of interest when he just sold one the week before?

Read on a little after your post #40~~the OP admits to having done this in the past.

[ersatz_sobriquet]

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@southern*sweet*tea wrote:

**general reply**

This is freaking me out a little. I have several books listed that my daughter would like to have. I was going to end the listings and send them to her.  Now I'm kind of scared I'll get a nastygram.

Still going to do it - it's MY stuff, after all - but if I do get a nastygram there will be an explosion of nuclear anger the likes of which has rarely been seen around here. 

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Do what you want with YOUR STUFF! 

I will be here to help your thread go nuclear if you get nastygrams 🙂 

[emerald40]

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@kattinsanity wrote:

You do see one completed listing BUT it was ended as no longer available~~a 3 grand item.  On 6/19 he sold an item for best offer on the $1550.00 item, relisted it and ended the listing on 6/26 as no longer available.  Why would he take the listing down after only a week for lack of interest when he just sold one the week before?

Read on a little after your post #40~~the OP admits to having done this in the past.

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Exactly.  And if he is so skiitish, why would he keep relisting high $$$ items here.

[southern*sweet*tea]

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@emerald40 wrote:

Have you had any recent interest in it from a buyer - bids, emails.

Are you in a habit of doing it?

If not, then imo you will be fine.

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No...but it still freaks me out. It's like Ebay is becoming a virtual stalker....

[myangelandmyprincess]

With mobile app only allowing good til cancelled and automatically adding best offer a seller cancelling a "good til cancelled" listing even if it had best offers should not result in a message about off eBay transactions.  Good til cancelled tells you right in the name the only way to end is cancel. If you then get a email reprimanding you for just that It's wrong.  If you get some kind of restrictions because of it would be a legal case that would have merit