eBay

assayer-j · ‎06-06-2019

I had a listing removed as being from "Iran". When I called customer service I was told it was determined the image was from Iran. The item in question is a Spink Auction House, London catalog that was printed in the UK or US . The offending image is a detail picture of a Egyptian Banknote P-13, which can be found for sale on eBay. This item is in no possible way in violation of any embargo, How do I defend my product and myself? It's a simple mistake but can't get anyone other than customer service who doesn't listen, they're just reading the manual to me which isn't addressing the issue of my item was mistakenly identified as being of or related to Iran cleared?

femmefan1946 · ‎06-06-2019

My auntie always insisted she was born in Persia, not Iran. She was quite snotty about it.

So there's that.

However, since you don't think there is any connection to Iran, a country currently embargoed by the USA, you could call back and ask to speak to a supervisor and then her supervisor, and then her supervisor.

Dates can be important. The name change was post WWII, but I'm not sure when.

Also some Egyptian stamps were overprinted for other East Asian protectorates. Check the pictures you used as well as any eBay catalogue descriptions.

ittybitnot · ‎06-06-2019

This item is in no possible way in violation of any embargo, How do I defend my product and myself?

Since we cannot see the ~~offensive~~ offending listing, nobody can really say. A good portion of listings are taken down by auto run "bots". If you used the word Iran anywhere in the listing, that was probably enough for it to get the ax and a policy violation for you.

eBay bots are often not very smart. Their AI is lacking. This sort of auto takedown has been going on for years. For an example, when eBay was "hot on the trail" regarding Coach purses, we had a member reporting a takedown for an old cardboard jigsaw puzzle of a Victorian Coach. He waited a while and relisted it as a Victorian Carriage and all was good. We have seen takedowns for vintage dinnerware where the backstamp that identified the make and year of production OLD IVORY. The said dinnerware was pottery. You can probably not sell a DVD and mention the actor Cuba Gooding.

You may get a CS rep to tell you "all is good and it is OK to relist", but don't. It will just happen all over again until they reprogram sic the bot resources on some other takedown campaign.

ed8108 · ‎06-06-2019

@assayer-j wrote:
I had a listing removed .... can't get anyone other than customer service who doesn't listen, they're just reading the manual to me which isn't addressing the issue of my item was mistakenly identified as being of or related to Iran cleared?

Customer service is doing what they are programmed and paid to do.

Since cs is not accommodating your request, it is probably wise to just let it go and move on.