Selling on eBay is getting very difficult

[gregorpalon0]

I just got off a restriction that was placed on my account Feb 12th. I called customer service and they lifted the restriction but all my listings were still hid for 10 days anyways! Now on March 1rst I got restricted again. 

  We sellers are not allowed to sell expired items anymore? The item in question is tanning lotion not a medicine. Selling on eBay is becoming very difficult. I'm scared to list anything. THE TANNING LOTION EXPIRED ON 2/28/22! I get restricted and lose my business for another 10 days! Expired on 2/28/22 I got restricted on March 1!

One day! I clearly had tanning lotion listed with a picture and date of best use date. This just seems ridiculous

I already contacted facebook ebayforbusiness and they wont help. Does anyone in this company really help us sellers? Why not just send me an email stating 

[singular-source]

eBay may be moving towards Amazon type restrictions...especially with products touching skin.  I'm not sure, but would not be surprised.

[saylesville2003]

Hi

As I understand it, any  health, beauty, food, items that are expired are prohibited for sale by the FDA. Therefore Ebay abides by that prohibition. It is in Ebay's prohibited items to be sold policy.

Possibly a competitor reported your item if it was only one day past expiration date?

[gregorpalon0]

Why not a simple email stating I should delist this item? eBay seems to get off on this restriction stuff. Does anyone have a corporate email? Corporate has to know my concerns. Sure I have had restrictions before. Listen to this one! I sold 67 eye drops. I had one returned so I did a simple relist. Bang restriction! Emailed vero. I had international selling turned on and its not eligible for France! But it was okay in my previous listing!

How the heck was I supposed to know that

[gregorpalon0]

Yes expired end of Feb and I got burned March 1

[gregorpalon0]

The problem here is there are 1000's of listings with expired product

[lepke1979]

"We sellers are not allowed to sell expired items anymore?"

As I understand it it's been this way a while. Obviously there are people that still sell expired stuff. See it in the makeup category a lot. It's maybe listed in the title and description, but they usually leave it out of the expired field so eBay doesn't smite them.

But expired stuff that is meant for skin or medicine is a big no-no in general. Can maybe get away with selling it elsewhere though (place where I just got Zucked earlier today for instance). For stuff expiring soon, it's usually recommended to stop selling it the month it expires (at the very least a couple weeks before expiration) because they have to receive it before it expires which is unlikely to happen if it got mailed out a few days to a day before it expires.

[singular-source]

I would hate to see eBay take down expired items as it saves me a lot of money.  I think about expired ink that literally performs exactly the same as a new cartridge as long as it has not been decades...

[lepke1979]

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@gregorpalon0 wrote:

Why not a simple email stating I should delist this item? eBay seems to get off on this restriction stuff.

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Have you had warnings in the past? Have had eBay take one of mine expired listings down in the past that I forgot to remove. If you've had warnings in the past, it's possible they felt the need to not doing that anymore.

[lepke1979]

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@singular-source wrote:

I would hate to see eBay take down expired items as it saves me a lot of money.  I think about expired ink that literally performs exactly the same as a new cartridge as long as it has not been decades...

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Ink should be fine. It's if you're supposed to rub the ink on your skin (or else it gets the hose again) that becomes a problem.

[yuzuha]

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@lepke1979 wrote:

"We sellers are not allowed to sell expired items anymore?"

As I understand it it's been this way a while.

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Yes. Selling any sort of food or health/beauty product that is expired has NEVER been allowed. Any products that have an expiration date MUST have the expiration date listed clearly in the listing and you must remove them before they actually expire.

I know, I have sold food products here before and those have always been the rules.

[stainlessenginecovers]

If you got a warning in the past, and suspended for a time, that means you were 'warned' NOT TO RELIST these type items MORE THAN ONCE. 

Now you RELISTED again? You are looking at a permanent ban if you keep that up.

Also note; anything expired should NEVER be sold BY ANYONE ANYWHERE- do you, personally, want to get sued?? Very dangerous to sell things that are expired. Buyer has your address and can drag you to court should they have ANY adverse effects by using your sold product. 

[gregorpalon0]

I never relisted an item that I got warned about. Ever. The problem here is eBay is not consistent with there policies. Come on. How hard is it to find expired products? I can find 10 in an hour. I didn't even get a day to delist it. I sold 67 eye drops got one returned. Did a simple relist of one. Bang restricted! Contacted Vero. The item wasn't allowed in France. Are you kidding me how was I supposed to know that. eBay needs to make sure listings are not created if not allowed international. In a week period it changed? That is one of my restricted listings that led to this point

[gregorpalon0]

Ready for this. I'm already restricted and received this email today. 

We had to remove your listing because it didn’t follow our Product safety policy. Products that pose a health or safety hazard can’t be listed on eBay.

This item is recalled and is not permitted on eBay due to product safety concerns as shared on the Government of Canada website. Are you serious. I don't even have the product listed! It sold a week ago 

in the US.  A Fitbit.  If I did how would I know It's not allowed in Canada! Unbelievable. Don't mean nothing now but 2 more times and I'm done again! eBay has problems. Big time. I'm just not selling worldwide anymore. eBay  pushes it and I get hit all the time. France can't have eye drops. I guess Canada can't have Fitbits. If eBay doesn't even know how are we sellers supposed to know? Why not a simple email so going forward I know not to list fitbit's worldwide. Why a strike? Did I ever know Canada had a recall? I hope cooperate reads these because its out of control bad

[fashunu4eeuh]

”The problem here is eBay is not consistent with there policies.”

You are a highly successful seller in danger of gumming up your works with these multiple violations. You can’t afford to get suspended again because your selling privileges can be permanently revoked. When the final boom comes down, there is no avenue to appeal nor path to re-instatement.

Ebay is inconsistent in application of its policies, no one would argue that, but it doesn’t appear to be the problem you are experiencing. Ebay is applying the full measure of its policies in your case. The reason you are being hit with so many violations Is because you are on its radar now. This means any mistake, any slip up won’t pass unnoticed. 

Sellers bear all the risk and responsibility for following the rules, both within and without, local and international. As for international laws, before listing an item, i google it to see as many results for its allowability in countries i ship to as possible. It slows the listing process but i’d rather do that than add to my risk level. 

So what can you do going forward to best protect your interests? Do your homework. If you haven't already, read all the terms and policies on eBay, starting with the User Agreement. It is not feasible to hope eBay will adopt a more seller-friendly stance anytime soon. It is a buyer-centric platform and will likely remain so.

If you decide to continue selling internationally, there is helpful information about disallowable items on USPS that you might find useful, see link below. (The lists can be broken down by country.) Good luck to you and hope you’ve seen the last of the punitive actions by eBay. 

https://www.usps.com/international/shipping-restrictions.htm