OK guys, call me crazy but I'm trying to figure out why this specific listing was pulled.
I'm going to put aside the fact that a video game was pulled for price gouging (really??) because we all know there are free games out there and video games are not an essential item.
Instead I'm going to focus on the fact that this is a discontinued and collectible game.
trinton@ebay said this:
"I can confirm that collectible items, such as video games that are no longer in production, could reasonably be sold with a high markup from the initial listing price due to the nature of the product. Listing a video game that is still in production at a price that is significantly higher than retail price, but may simply be experiencing high demand and low supply due to recent events, would be seen as an attempt to profit from the suffering and hardship of others, and be actioned appropriately as price gouging."
And this:
"I can encourage you to review the communication you received from eBay and suggest that you research the item in question further. Based on what has been shared here, I believe there has been a misunderstanding regarding the rarity of the item or there may have been errors made with the item details provided to us."
Here's what I'm extrapolating from that: I think this removal is yet another victim of the ol' product catalog issues we sellers have seen.
@usgamecollector , is it possible the UPC or MPN on that game is shared with other versions of the game currently in production? Is it possible your listing had the wrong UPC or MPN because you did a sell similar and forgot to change it - or that you typed the wrong number?
trinton@ebay's post suggests that this listing was pulled because of the item specifics on the listing making eBay think the game was currently in production. He also says that discontinued games are allowed to be sold with a markup.
Again - I disagree with video games being caught up in price gouging take downs, so I'm instead focusing on the fact that this is a discontinued game that is allowed to be sold at a markup according to eBay. Why would a discontinued game not subject to price gouging rules be taken down with price gouging cited as the reason? I think this has to do with the item specifics and the product-based search or the product catalog.
usgamecollector, can you provide any more details that might help us figure this out? If we can find the issue then maybe it can be corrected so you can relist the item without fear of another removal. Maybe that's pie in the sky thinking, but I'm going with it.
