You can't sell on eBay if you don't own a cell phone!

[paytonrules2003]

On October 26th I got an update from eBay asking me to update my seller information, specifically my email and telephone number. They have not changed in the 17 years that I've sold on this platform so I verified them and the screen said DONE. No problem right? WRONG

The next day I got a nasty ACTION NEEDED message that stated:

We recently asked you to review and update some details on your eBay account. Looks like you haven't made any updates yet. Your payouts will be on hold until you fix this. Please do this by 2023-01-24 to get your account back in good standing.

I called in and was told that I was fine, it just might take time for the system to verify things since they were sending the message out to many sellers.  Each day I had a nasty pink banner telling me to update my information and on November 4th I got the threatening message again. I called in, got routed through 3 people into Europe somewhere and was told that I was fine. This time I made one of them actually send me a message in eBay verifying that fact:

Thank you so much for reaching out to us for the account information inquiry, you needn't worry about any update to the information since it is currently undergoing said verification with no issues at all.
The payouts are active and eligible to be sent to the bank account on file.

Problem solved, right? WRONG!

The daily pink messages kept coming and the threatening ACTION NEEDED message came again this afternoon. Another phone call and another routing to Europe, to the UK this time. A very nice young lady put up with my by this time very angry response to this continued threat to not pay me what I had earned.

We went through everything step by step and I found to my horror that since my phone number was a landline they could not verify it by sending a text message to it. I literally had to change my primary number to my wife's cell phone number in order to get my information verified. And even that was not good enough at first because they sent a verification code to my email address which when I put it in was not enough for the system to verify me. Only when they sent a second verification code to my wife's cell phone was I able to be verified and hopefully off the pink threat list!

Which leads to the following questions:

1. Why did it take 3 weeks and 6 phone calls for someone to tell me that I needed text capability in order to continue to sell on eBay?

2. Is that even legal? Since a larger proportion of older adults in the US may not have text capability like yours truly (maybe I'll change my screen name to Dinosaur1 or something) is that not age discrimination?

3.  Why is this second layer of verification so important? Even the patient lady said that I could request a call back from eBay on my landline if I needed it and that it was more necessary in Europe than in the US to have this type of verification.

4. Why does Ebay continue to make simple things hard? Instead of sending threatening emails couldn't they simply have sent one saying they needed to be able to send me a text in order to verify my account information?

5. Am I the only dinosaur left or is anyone else in this predicament? If you are getting these messages and don't know how to deal with them you simply need to find someone with a cell phone to help you out.

All this angst because I was perfectly happy using the same phone number since 1987 and not thinking that the world has a right to track my every move through a cell phone!

[paytonrules2003]

If you bundle phone, TV and internet the phone part is much cheaper than paying for a separate cell phone plus monthly fees.

But that is not the point. Why should it be a requirement? It does not affect anyone else's privacy or quality of life for me to choose what kind of phone I have. And if they want to make it a requirement they could have simply said that to me on any of the phone calls I made to them since October.  I'm just frustrated that eBay makes things so difficult instead of being clear. They have even introduced a wonderful new autofill feature that makes it impossible to type in certain search terms. Try and type in B&O railroad in the search window and see what happens! It seems to me that I can figure out what words to type and what phone to use without their "kind" help!

[hartungcards]

They're not dictating which type of phone you have to have.  They're just saying you need one that's compatible with the 21st century.

[hartungcards]

Boy, you and a lot of others are really gonna be mad when you're forced to get an electric car.

[lakefor94]

Averaging 9 sales a day without a cellphone. Very impressive in today's world.  12k listings on this account.  WOW.   

You are ruling.  @paytonrules2003  !!!!

[hartungcards]

Well, let's see, I pay about $12 a month for my cell phone, and it ain't bundled with anything. And that's the total monthly fees.  If you think a cell phone has to cost a fortune, you ain't doing your homework, you're just being stubborn.

eBay has a lot of requirements.  If you don't like them, nobody is forcing you to use their platform.

[buyselljack2016]

As I posted on another thread. Complete insanity to require an "unverified" cell phone # to send a text to for "verification" of a "currently registered with eBay" phone #.

My call from CS today was a "call back" to my,..........  eBay registered account, ....... on file, .........phone #, but it,.......... according to the CSR is not being updated because of a "bug" on the eBay end. Called me back on the #, and confirmed that #, telling me the last of the #, but can't confirm/update that #.

Was put on hold twice. It was attempted again, and I need to check back. May take up to 72hrs (must be the time printed on the script)

I was told that I may need to upload my driver's license. Never once was the need for a cell phone (that I do not use) mentioned.

15 minutes of my life that I will never get back. May end up being productive, may not.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

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@hartungcards wrote:

Boy, you and a lot of others are really gonna be mad when you're forced to get an electric car.

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Don't know why you care so much that many people have absolutely no need or desire for a cellphone.   But they don't & it's a lot more people than you think.  People can spend their money however they want.   For many people a cell phone just doesn't make sense.   Also, many people have terrible cell service.  It's so unreliable my DH can't use it for his job, hence having to have multiple land lines for his job with a huge corporation.   You'd be surprised how many people live their lives just fine w/o a cell phone or social media. 

I do have one now & I maybe make a call once every 3 months LOL.   

And yes, they'll have to pry my Tahoe from my cold dead hands 😁

[ittybitnot]

eBay has a lot of requirements.  If you don't like them, nobody is forcing you to use their platform.

@hartungcards 

Perhaps if eBay posted having a cell phone is a requirement for being a seller BEFORE holding one's money hostage until one is acquired,   it would not be so annoying.  

[hartungcards]

Uh.....maybe because having a cellphone is one of the most important things you can have in an emergency?

I also have no idea why you and others keep implying that having a cellphone somehow requires you to use the social media capabilities that they afford.  You apparently have a cellphone.  Do you use it for social media?  No?  I didn't think so.

[hartungcards]

Maybe eBay should post an announcement that having internet access is a requirement for being a seller too.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

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@hartungcards wrote:

Uh.....maybe because having a cellphone is one of the most important things you can have in an emergency?

I also have no idea why you and others keep implying that having a cellphone somehow requires you to use the social media capabilities that they afford.  You apparently have a cellphone.  Do you use it for social media?  No?  I didn't think so.

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I didn't imply that it did.  Simply stated that many don't use SM either b/c I know that many younger people find it unthinkable to not have a cellphone or do SM.   Most of the people who have no need for cell phones managed to live MOST OF THEIR ENTIRE LIVES before cellphones existed.   We don't miss what didn't exist for most of our lives.  It's just an additional cost & burden.   Cell phones didn't exist for most of my life.  Gee, I wonder how I managed to live so long & get through all those 'emergencies' without one 😀    Don't worry so much about how other people live their lives.  They know what they want & need.   Anyway, I'm done.  I have better things to do.  Like try & determine if it's really necessary, since this is now the 2nd thread in a couple of days.  

[janet9988]

Since needing the internet to even access ebay to see the ebay site in the first place. YES..LOL

[hartungcards]

Well, I know that many older people find it unthinkable to not have a cellphone considering how much more versatile it is than a landline.  But these are mostly older people who lived most of their lives without one, but who aren't too stubborn to admit that sometimes technological changes are for the best.  You know, like polio shots, which many older people also lived without for a long time. 

[12345jamesstamps]

If you go to vacation or visit  in another country and use your credit card and don't tell that credit card that you are leaving the country for a vacation...guess what...your charges probably won't go through in that other country and when you call your credit card company up in another country and can't remember secrets answers to questions they ask you on the phone your credit card becomes blocked...Need a cell phone to travel nowadays...my travel airline and hotel reservations are on my cell phone...Perhaps you have never traveled outside the USA...yet...If you go on a cruise in the USA and visit a port of call in Canada your credit card will also get blocked if you don't tell your credit card where you are going if you try to make a purchase in a port of call in Canada but it is basically USA ports of call. The monthly charge of a cell phone or land line are almost the same. I have both and live in San Francisco by the way. You just have to buy a cell phone which can be pricy.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

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@12345jamesstamps wrote:

 .Perhaps you have never traveled outside the USA...yet...If you go on a cruise in the USA and visit a port of call in Canada your credit card will also get blocked if you don't tell your credit card where you are going if you try to make a purchase in a port of call in Canada but it is basically USA ports of call.  

Not sure if you're directing this at me, but I have traveled outside of the US extensively.   I also have never found what you say about CC co's to be true, though I've heard the rumor before.   Perhaps it's b/c of my extensive travel (10 years almost every week), but I have NEVER told my CC co about any travel I do, foreign or domestic & I've never not had a charge go through.   Oh guess what, I did all that travel without a cell phone too.  No problems at all LOL. 

It has nothing to do with stubborness, for some it's an unnecessary cost & burden.  For others it's a convenience.  Either is fine.  

Anyway, posted to the Mentors board to try & dig down a bit further into this issue & whether it's truly a requirement or not.  It's Friday evening though, so I don't expect any answers tonight.