We noticed some changes in your selling activity .. none in 3 years then twice in two weeks ?

[newyetdiscounted]

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 I had already withdrawn funds every day this week after the initial flag, so none of my money is currently tied up.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.

[dbfolks166mt]

     I may have something to do with the items you are selling. Out of the 66 items you have listed 65 are new, most of your listings are using stock photos and a lot of the descriptions appear to have been cut and pasted from other sources. They may suspect you are drop shipping. Do not be surprised if you get a request for receipts for all of the items you have listed, or possibly even have sold. 

[newyetdiscounted]

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your wisdom !!! I appreciate it so much 🙂 

I add most of the actual photos for the product I ship at the end of the listing (like the last 2-4 photos) , I don't do that for the large-sized item or the item that's still inside the original delivery box. 

I do have detailed invoices for every New item (when it was purchased and shipped/delivered to me at my address), and I do ship all my items from home (shipping labels bought on eBay as well as the tracking can confirm that as well).   I sometimes post the used items that I sell at the garage sale for record-keeping purposes when the neighbor agrees to do so on eBay.

I've been selling this way for the past 3 years, and hopefully, that's what it is about, I am kind of relieved, to be honest.  I was a bit surprised that this kind of review even existed (never actually heard of or experienced it before).  I hope that's all this was about 🙂 

Thank you again, and have a blessed Sunday! 

[newyetdiscounted]

Just leaving the comment here for others who might go through the same thing.
The red warning just disappeared without any message/notification/email. I don't know when.. but it was gone 🙂 

I could also sell and do everything without any restrictions during those 2 business days (everything except the cash out). 

[collectiblesonthenetdude]

 I am a top rated power seller going through this same nonsense.  I don't drop-ship at all. I have never dropp shipped. I I have been in business for 20+ years. I have a business with employees and a warehouse full of product. I have been on eBay for 15+ years. Never been suspended. My account metrics are flawless. No cases without resolution, 0.1% transaction defect rate, all other metrics across the board 100%. No pending returns. No pending cases. No cases in months. We ship 6 days a week and pack all the Sunday orders to go out Monday morning. I think they just like to randomly do this to sellers. My theory is likely make extra interest on the money or show extra current holdings for stock holders. If they do this to xxx amount of sellers at all time they have more consistent numbers for holdings. Just my theory. It sounds illegal but we probably signed some fine print that makes it ok for them to do it. I called support a couple times and got couple different "fake" sounding answers. I am the prototype of what they claim they want a seller to be on their site. It just does not make sense. What I can state here is there are many other sites. If eBay keeps this up we will continue to put our efforts into selling elsewhere. We already do because of a lot of other things I refer to as "eBay nonsense". Why keep spending time fighting with eBay. Take that same amount of time and effort to just move your product elsewhere. That is how we plan to solve the problem. Especially if this becomes a consistent issue. If enough people do that sites like eBay will theoretically stop treating the people that make them billions as disposable entities. 

[newyetdiscounted]

Wow, you are a much more established seller than I am, and, it is really unfortunate they even put you through this periodic review while holding the payment for 5 days or so. Whether you believe it or not, they put me on another review for the fourth time this month, lol. And before this month, I had none. Every time, the payment gets released on the third business day. 

My sales have been fluctuating, but it's been like this for a while. Like you, I am a top-rated seller with 100% tracking provided (because I buy all my labels on eBay), no cases resolved without intervention, etc.

I have everything I sell at my place (not drop-shipping) and include actual product photos at the end of the listing for about 80% of my items now, as someone suggested using stock photos might trigger this (but all of a sudden?).  I still put stock photos on the top, but I see many other small sellers like me do.  

More than anything, it is very stressful to go through this without knowing if they might hold my payment forever, haha. I just hope they let me know exactly what they are reviewing and why this is happening in such a disruptive way.  
The only behavior I changed is that instead of weekly or bank transfer payout, I've been using express payout for the past month (coincidentally, after I started using express payout, this periodic review has been starting every week). 

Just venting because I couldn't believe I got another periodic performance review message after I just went through this Tuesday... lol.

Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts.  wishing you the best for your business! 

[fashunu4eeuh · Accepted solution]

Hi @newyetdiscounted 

I just came from comparing your prices against other retailers, and to see if past sales were similarly discounted or if there has been a change. I believe you have been flagged because of your deep discounts on new items.

Because online reselling has been subjected to the recent uptick in criminal  fencing of stolen goods, eBay has put checks and balances in place to root them out. Unfortunately, legit sellers have been snagged in the dragnet too.

eBay is likely reviewing your account because your item are priced at under-market retail, on new items you have multiples of. That is a red flag to eBay who, because of the INFORM Consumers Act, now is obligated to investigate and monitor certain patterns of seller activity. See links below for details on this new law.

Because your feedback is cloaked by private listings, i could not determine any  long term changes in goods or prices. (That was just to offer you any other potential red flags present and is not crucial as you obviously know your history, lol.)

But luckily, since you have stated that you can provide receipts for all your items, you seem to have your ducks in a row, you’re prepared and will be fine in any review process.

Sadly, have conversed with some sellers here who were similarly-reviewed recently and have been shut down permanently for lack of proper record-keeping. No receipts, no eBaying.

Wish you well and hope all is resolved quickly to your benefit.

https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/what-third-party-sellers-need-know-about-inform-cons...

https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/resources/inform-consumers-act?norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-153677-...

[newyetdiscounted]

Wow, thank you soooooo much for taking the time to share your wisdom and information. I really appreciate it.  Your explanation seems like the most plausible one I've heard so far IMHO.  Newly enacted law, to comply, all these sudden reviews lol 

I actually want them to just ask me for invoices/receipts to get it over with. All 'NEW' or 'Open box' items I sold and listed have detailed invoices (order number/date of purchase), and I can provide the itemized tax reports on my inventory for the past three years, which they never ask for somehow during the past 3 reviews. 

As for my pricing, this is my side gig, so I don't necessarily try to make a lot of profits (I donate most of my eBay net earnings to a cause I truly care about, which is why I invest a good amount of time on this). Basically, I can prove when/how I acquired all the products at what cost, except for heavily used instruments from my mom's storage that I sold. This is close to what I do for a living the same field so I keep detailed inventory information for record-keeping purposes. 

Again, the new law explanation as you mentioned seems like a possible cause of all these sudden reviews.  Because I used to sell items at much more discounted prices when I started on eBay to gain feedback (like 50 % of the retail price before shipping). Now, I know several other sellers on eBay sell for lower prices than I do, and I don't offer free shipping like many of them do.  That's why I discount the prices a bit more to match. I usually start at 80% of retail prices (including shipping, so around 75% plus shipping) and then discount a few dollars almost every week. Most of my items are heavily discounted now because many of them have been listed for several months. The product category has stayed the same—mostly electronics, with occasional household items I come across.

One thing though, I am all for monitoring stolen goods transactions because it is getting out of control according to the news. However, putting me through the same periodic reviews over and over again needs to change, lol.

[fashunu4eeuh]

You are most welcome, @newyetdiscounted and so correct about the process. Others who have been reviewed as well, report they have had to submit same info multiple times. How frustrating! But just hearing how you conduct your business is miles ahead of the pack. Feel a good deal of confidence you will triumph. Best of luck to you and please let us know your outcome!

[watchexport]

Hello, I experienced the same thing, everything returned to normal, but sales stopped, interaction decreased, what do you think might be the reason?