UNFAIR EBAY POLICY! Not allowed to list an item while other sellers listing identical items! WHY????

[red-rooskie]

I am officially **bleep**.  I am one of the "Little Guys" in this massive ocean we call eBay.  I had 12 listings removed and when I called to get some answers, I was told it was an item that has been prohibited as of November, 2016.  (5 of the items in question......Railroad Keys). One of the items they removed was a COIN with the word Railroad on it, NOT A RAILROAD KEY!  Seriously eBay, REALLY?!?  Here's is the short version of the call:

eBay:  "It's a security risk to sell them".

Me:  "What I am listing is an obsolete item that is no longer being used and it's more than 20 years olds."

eBay:  "Well......we got calls from several railroad companies asking us to stop selling them".

Me:  "Really?  Even if it isn't something that is current use?  Which railroad companies requested this?"

eBay:  "For security reasons, we can't tell you."

Me:  "OK, so is security is such an important reason for this policy, why are identical items still being sold by other sellers, but I'm not allowed?  Why haven't you removed those???"

 eBay:  "If you see an item like the one we are talking about, you should report it. There is no way for us to catch all of them".

Me:  "Huh, I noticed these items that aren't being removed are listed by "Power Sellers".  Um, I'm a seller too, and we should both be able to sell the same thing."

eBay: "Well.....we're working on it".

Me:  "Well.......you have a lot of work to do".

eBay: "Well......you should report the items when you see them".

Me:  "Well.......you should  know that is your job, not mine.  My job is to be a seller.  Your responsibility  is to address this "Security Risk and delete every last one of these listings.  It is my responsibility to be a SELLER - to make money  -   to pay my mortgage, get food to eat, get clothes for my children to wear, pay the electric bill.....oh, and run a business,  But if you want to pay me to do your job, I will gladly accept.  How DO you police this policy anyway?"

eBay:  "We have a seperate department that handles policy violations, but it takes time"

Me:  "My time is just as valuable as yours, probably more so, since I' a SELLER.  You make money off everything I sell. "

eBay:  "Well.........."

I find it extremely hard to believe that eBay has prohibited us from selling this ENORMOUS category of items which is by the way a highly lucritive and very popular collectible item!!!!  All I see is the "Little Guy" getting the shaft.  This is horribly unfair and you better believe I will be calling them weekly to ask why these keys are still being sold on eBay, and why I am not able to sell the exact same item.  This is really gotten me worked up and I am truly **bleep** off.  Anyone else experienced this treatment???

[d-k_treasures]

Railroad keys have been banned from being sold here for a long time. Even antique ones.

[best_vintage_photos]

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@red-rooskie wrote:

I am officially **bleep**.  I am one of the "Little Guys" in this massive ocean we call eBay.  I had 12 listings removed and when I called to get some answers, I was told it was an item that has been prohibited as of November, 2016.  (5 of the items in question......Railroad Keys). One of the items they removed was a COIN with the word Railroad on it, NOT A RAILROAD KEY!  Seriously eBay, REALLY?!?  Here's is the short version of the call:

eBay:  "It's a security risk to sell them".

Me:  "What I am listing is an obsolete item that is no longer being used and it's more than 20 years olds."

eBay:  "Well......we got calls from several railroad companies asking us to stop selling them".

Me:  "Really?  Even if it isn't something that is current use?  Which railroad companies requested this?"

eBay:  "For security reasons, we can't tell you."

Me:  "OK, so is security is such an important reason for this policy, why are identical items still being sold by other sellers, but I'm not allowed?  Why haven't you removed those???"

 eBay:  "If you see an item like the one we are talking about, you should report it. There is no way for us to catch all of them".

Me:  "Huh, I noticed these items that aren't being removed are listed by "Power Sellers".  Um, I'm a seller too, and we should both be able to sell the same thing."

eBay: "Well.....we're working on it".

Me:  "Well.......you have a lot of work to do".

eBay: "Well......you should report the items when you see them".

Me:  "Well.......you should  know that is your job, not mine.  My job is to be a seller.  Your responsibility  is to address this "Security Risk and delete every last one of these listings.  It is my responsibility to be a SELLER - to make money  -   to pay my mortgage, get food to eat, get clothes for my children to wear, pay the electric bill.....oh, and run a business,  But if you want to pay me to do your job, I will gladly accept.  How DO you police this policy anyway?"

eBay:  "We have a seperate department that handles policy violations, but it takes time"

Me:  "My time is just as valuable as yours, probably more so, since I' a SELLER.  You make money off everything I sell. "

eBay:  "Well.........."

I find it extremely hard to believe that eBay has prohibited us from selling this ENORMOUS category of items which is by the way a highly lucritive and very popular collectible item!!!!  All I see is the "Little Guy" getting the shaft.  This is horribly unfair and you better believe I will be calling them weekly to ask why these keys are still being sold on eBay, and why I am not able to sell the exact same item.  This is really gotten me worked up and I am truly **bleep** off.  Anyone else experienced this treatment???

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This kind of thing happens quite often. Sellers have items removed, and many of which should have never been removed in the first place, and point to other sellers still selling similar items.

But be careful when calling eBay when you are angry about something. I had a friend who had a few of his listings removed by eBay a few years back, and he was very angry about it. He insisted that his items should have never been removed in the first place, and also pointed out that other sellers were still actively selling similar items.

He called eBay when he was very angry about it. He was a 'big bad Power Seller' paying eBay hundreds of dollars per month while maintaining a perfect feedback rating. So his attitude was like: How dare you mess with my listings eBay?

He bacame verbally combative with the CSR, and began assaulting that person's intelligence. The CSR ended the call, and moments later the rest of that seller's 3500 plus listings were also deleted. All that work gone to waste all because the seller could not maintain a civil and respectrful conversation with the CSR.

Apparently, many people do not enjoy becoming someone's verbal punching bag.

[duchess-at-speakeasy]

Before listing anything for sale, you need to read and understand eBay's policies with regard to restricted and prohibited items: https://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/items-ov.html Do not rely on what others are selling -- the listings may be in violation. ~~C~~

[best_vintage_photos]

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@duchess-at-speakeasy wrote:
Before listing anything for sale, you need to read and understand eBay's policies with regard to restricted and prohibited items: https://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/items-ov.html Do not rely on what others are selling -- the listings may be in violation. ~~C~~

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There are most likely many current listings on eBay that may be in violation of some eBay policy since the list of restricted and prohibited items is so long! Many people these days don't read as much as they should in general. So it is no surprise to me that many might be simply ignorant regarding eBay listing policies - especially when there are so many of them.

Many people do rely on the idea that other sellers have listed similar items, and as you say, they should not be doing that. So if a seller does not want to have one of their listings deleted by eBay, they should do whatever research it takes to be 100% certain the item is 'eBay compliant' BEFORE they list the item. In the long run, that research may pay off in terms of less aggravation overall and less non-productive futile work that may only get deleted.

[chrysylys]

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@red-rooskie wrote:

I find it extremely hard to believe that eBay has prohibited us from selling this ENORMOUS category of items which is by the way a highly lucritive and very popular collectible item!!!!  All I see is the "Little Guy" getting the shaft.  This is horribly unfair and you better believe I will be calling them weekly to ask why these keys are still being sold on eBay, and why I am not able to sell the exact same item.  This is really gotten me worked up and I am truly **bleep** off.  Anyone else experienced this treatment???

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Yes it should be consistent and equally applied.  But we all know that isn't how it works here.  We all know there are favorites.

And we all believe at least some of the policies are silly to begin with.  This is one I'm not sure about though.  While the word 'obsolete' is often used, is anyone 100 percent sure that not a single one of these is in use anywhere in  the world?  I'm not.  Then again, even if not, this may be about the fact they're all company owned property and were never reelased for private sale.

Ida Know.

(But I do know you can edit quotes when replying).

[luckythewinner]

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I find it extremely hard to believe that eBay has prohibited us

You seem to have absolutely indisputable evidence that eBay has prohibited you. They took your listings down and told you. 

Which by the way a highly lucritive and very popular collectible item

I doubt that how much profit a seller can make on an item is the criteria that eBay uses when updating the the prohibited item list.

You better believe I will be calling them weekly to ask why these keys are still being sold on eBay

And eBay will tell you the same thing - report the items. I sincerely doubt that entry level customer support employees have the power to change the prohibited item list or to protect your listings from removal. 

Why I am not able to sell the exact same item

For the same reason that some people get away with speeding and why others do not. After you get teh prohibited item list changed, try calling your local police department and ask them to remove the speed limits. 

[best_vintage_photos]

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@luckythewinner wrote:

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I find it extremely hard to believe that eBay has prohibited us

You seem to have absolutely indisputable evidence that eBay has prohibited you. They took your listings down and told you. 

Which by the way a highly lucritive and very popular collectible item

I doubt that how much profit a seller can make on an item is the criteria that eBay uses when updating the the prohibited item list.

You better believe I will be calling them weekly to ask why these keys are still being sold on eBay

And eBay will tell you the same thing - report the items. I sincerely doubt that entry level customer support employees have the power to change the prohibited item list or to protect your listings from removal. 

Why I am not able to sell the exact same item

For the same reason that some people get away with speeding and why others do not. After you get teh prohibited item list changed, try calling your local police department and ask them to remove the speed limits. 

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It is the same old story - a recurring theme - of how 'unfair' eBay can be. The thing is that they are all correct - every one of them who have made that statement. It is true that eBay can be 'unfair', but the same is true with every other aspect of life - not just limited to dealings with eBay. Life in general may not be 'fair' to all. For example: Is it 'fair' when a child's life comes to an end for any reason?

Life may not always be fair, but there are times when it may be very fair in deed. There is another phrase that annoys me, yet may be the truest words ever spoken: 'It is what it is." 

In order to be survivors of eBay or anything else in this life, we need to learn how to roll with the punches, because there will be punches.

Get yourself informed of the rules, list items accordingly and you may just avoid a few 'punches' from eBay. Just saying . . . .

Have a great day all! I gotta get back to work here. Stuff to pack and more stuff to list. 😉

[fuzzface50]

so instead of quietly disappearing from in front of ebay's radar and letting the dust settle and move on and sell other items  you are going to make a nuisance  of yourself weekly?   Then you will never get off ebay's radar and then you will be back here complaining about ebay hiding your listings, finding more faults in your listings and giving you restrictions, etc.

Better off just moving on instead of making waves that might end up swamping you instead. Why should ebay back a constant complainer?  they are going to back their good  non complaining sellers and let their sellers fall thru the cracks and hope they eventually disappear.

[slati_2013]

Yes, it is true that eBay does not get everyone, but whenever they can, they will remove offending items. Why? For legal reason. In a court of law, it is important for eBay to show that it did take actions and tried to comply with requests by copyright holders or those harmed by things sold on eBay. Ebay has won cases by proving it does take action. Failure to do all it can to remove offending items opens eBay up to lawsuits. And, oh, it is eBay's site; they can ban anything they want. For any reason. 

[thatsallfolks]

Since they’re lucrative and popular, I’m sure you can make a bundle selling them on a site where they’re not prohibited.

[couldabeenworse]

All I see is the "Little Guy" getting the shaft.

That is correct explanation.  You can report the other sellers until you're blue in the face, but there will always be Chosen Ones whose listings will not be removed.  eBay plays favorites, and if you're not among the favorites, resistance is useless.

[johnfduda]

If eBay seriously had a problem with listings for banned items.

:

They would check for them when you create the listing.

[lookng2015]

They can certainly block a listing containing the words "ivory" or "Indian" fast enough.

[johnfduda]

"They can certainly block a listing containing the words "ivory" or "Indian" fast enough. "

So there's a priority system involved.