While I'm not a high-volume professional seller (sold only about 1300+ so far), I do resell items I come across from various sources, often during my work-from-home hours or after work. It's been about three years, and I haven't encountered any issues with eBay thus far. Though I occasionally sell to neighbors in person, I prefer conducting business on eBay to maintain a clear record of transactions ( I just like to have everything on the record, which could be my thing as my background as an auditor (though not in taxation ).
However, last Sunday, I received an email stating, "We noticed some changes in your selling activity." On the third business day thereafter, the red flag indicating, "Your payouts are on hold while we conclude a periodic performance review. We will disburse the funds once the review is complete. During this time, you can still continue to sell," disappeared with the payment release.
Subsequently, I received the same email again just now ( a little after one week from the first one). I had already withdrawn funds every day this week after the initial flag, so none of my money is currently tied up. My sales volume has been modest (decreased, to be honest), typically just one item per day at most, with no high-value items. Additionally, I possess receipts for all my products, except for used items, which I rarely sell, as the majority of my inventory comprises new items that I don't use. I buy all my labels on eBay (100%) and have about 1% return, no cases ever opened or resolved without my intervention, last shipment was late by less than 0.5% (only because USPS picked up the packages I left out for FedEx, so it took a while for USPS to hand over those packages to FedEx). Edit: also 100% positive feedback with Top-rated seller status. I don't have any violations as long as I know.
Upon contacting eBay via chat when I received the first email a week ago, the representative assured me that there was no cause for concern, as it was a routine check. However, I'm apprehensive about the possibility of this recurring stress.
Should I be alarmed if this occurs twice in a single month? Would it be prudent to adopt a wait-and-see approach, similar to my previous experience, in the hopes that it will resolve itself?
If anyone has encountered similar situations, I would greatly appreciate hearing about your advice and experiences. Thank you in advance for your insights.
