Sellers prevented from using "Vintage", "Antique", "Victorian", etc. in their listings as punishment

[allen1853]

So I truly made a mistake listing a fossil walrus item, carved by a native American Eskimo in the 1970s with label and full provenance. I searched eBay for fossil walrus items and at the time thought it was an exception to their ivory policy since it was 1. Ancient Fossil and 2. Native Eskimo carved with 1970s provenance. My mistake. Ebay came down hard. Suspended my account for a week resulting in the loss of thousands in revenue. (This was after an agent lifted the suspension as unfair given all of the fossil walrus items listed at the time. This was reversed by a backroom fascist dictator.) I served my suspension costing me thousands of dollars.

But wait, eBay has given me a LIFETIME punishment, preventing me from using common words in my listings having nothing to do with ivory or marine mammals. It is a sadistic "gotcha" up yours seller punishment having nothing to do with the "crime". 

Initially I figured out the prohibited words were Vintage, Antique and Victorian (90% of my items are vintage or antique.) These restrictions came up when I tried to amend my promotional rate from the newly unsupported rate of 1% to 2%. The error message only said I could no longer use the word "bone" even for bone items acceptable for everyone else like bovine, camel and ox. The error says nothing about anything except "bone". When I called (the listing had no bone at all) I was told about also not being able to use Vintage or Antique. I ultimately figured out I could not use Victorian either. Wanting to "play by the rules" I called to ask for a list of words I could no longer use. I was told it was a "secret", I would have to figure it out for myself. 

Today I tried to revise a listing, removing bone, horn and carved. Still got error message. So I called again for help with the "offensive" word. Turned out to be EBONY. Ebony is a petrified black wood, having nothing to do with ivory, bone or marine mammals. So I again asked for a "complete" list of prohibited words. This time I got a partial list and was told it was not "secret". (One of the biggest frustrations with eBay is inconsistent info depending on which agent answers the call.) The list I was given was ebony, carved, horn, antique and vintage. I asked about bone. Yes bone. I asked about Victorian. No, let me check. Yes, Victorian too. What about elephant? No, I don't see it. Well trust me, I cannot use the word elephant either, not for a coloring book or a costume pin or anything. Finally I asked what about ivory? Oh no, you can't use that at all, not as a color, not for Ivory soap, not at all. 

Now this only applies to us Top Sellers with 18 years on eBay who currently have over 5000 positive feedbacks, who made a mistake. Most of you can still use these words. But if you dare make a mistake, beware, the sadistic back room dictators at eBay will punish you for life and make your lives miserable. 

[wrong66]

"Backroom Fascist Dictators"? That's funny.

[donsdetour]

Not secret list is also funny:

show me were this list is posted on eBay......

Yep not secret it is.......

As for your restrictions nothing can be done about it>

ebony is a wood and for srure should not be on the list,

but it is eBay's playground we only get to use it with there permission.

[wrong66]

And quit calling CS. They will eventually succeed in getting you permanently suspended with answers they just pull out of thin air to get you off the phone.

[katzrul15]

@allen1853 

Not tied to just you - most of those keywords apply to us all.  Ivory is tough as a descriptor - gotta use Ecru instead, even on Ivory Soap, which can be a headache.

We put vintage in a title with no issues.  Must be other keywords or category restrictions. 

And "bone" has been an issue for years.

[bonjourami]

Seems you are on the bot's radar now.

[dbfolks166mt]

     As others have noted below call in customer support from eBay is just below the abysmal level and not worth your time and effort. It is quite possible they are using day labor's to cover the support because the skill set is about on par with anyone you could pull of the street, maybe a bit lower. Suspect this is a cost cutting effort by eBay to boost their bottom line. 

[simply-the-best-for-you]

This has been a fairly new punishment that we've been seeing, that once you are suspended or otherwise sanctioned for selling a prohibited item, you can no longer use words like "vintage" or "antique" or "ivory".   I have had this confirmed by eBay.   It is b/c of your supsension & only affects sellers who have been sanctioned.  

Though some of those words, like Ivory, in particular, can be problematic DEPENDING on the category you are listing in.  In some categories, such as clothing, ivory is not only allowed, but is on eBay's own drop down menus.  

Sorry OP, but there is nothing you can do, it is tied directly to your sanction.  

[maxine*j]

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@donsdetour wrote:

Not secret list is also funny:

show me were this list is posted on eBay......

Yep not secret it is.......

As for your restrictions nothing can be done about it>

ebony is a wood and for srure should not be on the list,

but it is eBay's playground we only get to use it with there permission.

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There are many species of wood on the CITES list.  Several species of ebony are among them.

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[maxine*j]

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...  Ebony is a petrified black wood... 

Ebony is not petrified wood.  And there are many species of ebony, many of them on the CITES list and, therefore, not allowed in most international commerce and not allowed in U.S. interstate commerce.

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[collectfest]

Ok, I am REALLY confused about this thread.  I am I reading that we cannot use the term vintage antique or Victorian IN A GENERAL WAY of items that are not banned or controversial? I get the ebony, Ivory deal. NOT ASKING ABOUT THAT.

Thanks.

[ittybitnot]

I am I reading that we cannot use the term vintage antique or Victorian IN A GENERAL WAY of items that are not banned or controversial?

@collectfest 

This is NOT the first post I have seen here and other places about this.  You can apparently use those generic words UNTIL you have a policy violation such as outlined by the OP.  Then it is a lifetime sanction and those words become prohibited to the offender (not to everybody else).  THIS IS NOT PUBLISHED IN ANY RULES or on any pages that anyone can find.  Maybe they will tell us about it in the next update?  

All this from the company that thinks UNICORNS are an endangered species.  

[wrong66]

I think only if you've had something taken down previously that even remotely is related. Very confusing, indeed.

[collectfest]

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@ittybitnot wrote:

I am I reading that we cannot use the term vintage antique or Victorian IN A GENERAL WAY of items that are not banned or controversial?

@collectfest 

This is NOT the first post I have seen here and other places about this.  You can apparently use those generic words UNTIL you have a policy violation such as outlined by the OP.  Then it is a lifetime sanction and those words become prohibited to the offender (not to everybody else).  THIS IS NOT PUBLISHED IN ANY RULES or on any pages that anyone can find.  Maybe they will tell us about it in the next update?  

All this from the company that thinks UNICORNS are an endangered species.  

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Wow! Thanks for letting me know. Crazy. Don't get me wrong I am not a fan of the term thrown around but when I have a 1890's item still in the box, heck, its vintage LOL. I am not a fan of 1990 hallmark ornaments described as vintage or antique.

Anyway, thanks for the info...

[collectfest]

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@wrong66 wrote:

I think only if you've had something taken down previously that even remotely is related. Very confusing, indeed.

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thanks for the info...