embargoed goods - this doesn't make sense

[sin-n-dex]

So I attempted to list some coins from a couple of countries on the embargo list. When SixBit tries to list, an error comes up telling me I can't list it from there. OK fine.

This doesn't make sense though...

1. There's a category for these embargoed countries, and there's stuff listed in the Syria category for both coins and stamps (but nothing in Iran)

2. I tried to list some stamps as Persia because they are 100 years old and Iran wasn't a country then, but the software caught that I wrote "Persia" in the title, even though I listed under "other middle eastern stamps"

3. I see things listed with the word Persia in the title.

So if the software and eBay's interface is stopping me from listing it because of the words I use, how are other things with the same words being listed? Exactly how are they tricking the software into not reading Persia or Syria in the title?

And I went to read the policy after SixBit stopped me, and the policy specifically says both embargoed and pre-embargoed goods, which means even before the embargo was put in place listing the item is still a no-go.

I'm not trying to get around the policy, I just don't understand how other people can do it when the software is preventing me from doing it too.

C.

[upgradedendmills]

Are the other sellers in Canada also?

[patd3283]

I have had that problem - sometime ago.  A couple of questions or suggestions...

Have you  tried limiting where you will sell them to such as the US or Canada?

There are a number of Persians (that is what they call themselves) / Iranians living here and in Canada as refugees.

What I found that did work was to list without the 'offensive' words.

Leave for a day or two so they index then go back and revise your listing to show what you are actually selling and be sure to note the age, such as 100 year old coin or stamp...

[fashunu4eeuh]

Just wanted to urge you not to try to list those items, regardless of what other sellers may be doing. It is your account on the line. All it takes is one slip to be on eBay’s radar. 

Because of the restricted goods that fall between the cracks of eBay’s efforts to remove policy violators, it is never a good idea to base one’s actions on what other sellers have listed. It is very risky.

[richard1rst]

Do you sell internationally?

Every country is different but it is not uncommon to see a restriction note such as this on any individual country:

The UK absolutely prohibits the following:

Coins; platinum, gold, or silver (manufactured or not); precious stones; jewels; and other valuable articles. Counterfeit currency, bank notes, and postage stamps.

other countries have restrictions such as:

Coins; paper money; securities and other paper values of any kind; as well as savings-bank booklets; and unmanufactured gold, silver, and platinum may be imported only by authorization of the State Bank

Apparently it does not matter what country the coin, etc is from. It is restricted - period. That may be why you can not list it. If someone buys it how are you going to ship it?

[sin-n-dex]

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@upgradedendmills wrote:

Are the other sellers in Canada also?

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They're from a few places, I remember seeing USA and Netherlands.

I didn't think that mattered though, I ship from USA and am treated as a USA seller on the dot com site. The issue of getting it from Canada to USPS is an issue my courier needs to deal with, and they aren't forcing an embargo, just forcing honest customs declarations with the goods (which the buyer doesn't see, it's strictly for US customs).

Anyway eBay says embargoed goods are banned, and from what I read previously, the ban is site-wide, not just on the dot com site. So where the seller is shouldn't matter, I don't think...

C.

[sin-n-dex]

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@patd3283 wrote:

I have had that problem - sometime ago.  A couple of questions or suggestions...

Have you  tried limiting where you will sell them to such as the US or Canada?

There are a number of Persians (that is what they call themselves) / Iranians living here and in Canada as refugees.

What I found that did work was to list without the 'offensive' words.

Leave for a day or two so they index then go back and revise your listing to show what you are actually selling and be sure to note the age, such as 100 year old coin or stamp...

---

If it's not allowed to be listed, I won't list it.

The question was how does software and website prevent something from happening that people seem to be able to do.

Your post might have answered that question (but I'm not going to try and find out, there's enough of my competition out there waiting for an excuse to take me out of the running I wouldn't deliberately give them a reason to report me).

C.

[sin-n-dex]

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@fashunu4eeuh wrote:

Just wanted to urge you not to try to list those items, regardless of what other sellers may be doing. It is your account on the line. All it takes is one slip to be on eBay’s radar. 

Because of the restricted goods that fall between the cracks of eBay’s efforts to remove policy violators, it is never a good idea to base one’s actions on what other sellers have listed. It is very risky.

---

I do understand (from many posts here) that there are cases of lots of something being listed, it being banned, one seller getting caught, and then they post about it here.

My confusion was over why they have a category for something they they banned (that's like setting up a category for cigarettes or guns, but they are banned), and also why my software doesn't let me list it because it says "Syria" in the title or description, but other people seem to be able to do it. (A technical issue, not an issue about why they haven't had their listings taken down).

I did notice when I reviewed the policy last night that Sudan is no longer on the list. This is good, I have a number of stamps from there that I thought were going to enhance my personal collection but I can sell them now.

C.

[sin-n-dex]

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@richard1rst wrote:

Do you sell internationally?

Every country is different but it is not uncommon to see a restriction note such as this on any individual country:

The UK absolutely prohibits the following:

Coins; platinum, gold, or silver (manufactured or not); precious stones; jewels; and other valuable articles. Counterfeit currency, bank notes, and postage stamps.

other countries have restrictions such as:

Coins; paper money; securities and other paper values of any kind; as well as savings-bank booklets; and unmanufactured gold, silver, and platinum may be imported only by authorization of the State Bank

Apparently it does not matter what country the coin, etc is from. It is restricted - period. That may be why you can not list it. If someone buys it how are you going to ship it?

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I don't think where you're going with this has anything to do with my question...

For one, I ship lots of coins to lots of places and declare them as such. If they are banned from import I would think I'd have disappearing packages to those countries.

It was a technical question... if the website prevents you from doing something, how are other people doing it. An the second issue is why is there a category to list stuff that's banned.

Also on the subject of imports, it's the importers responsibility. eBay isn't policing what you can ship where (on non banned items), for the most part... I've seen exceptions though.

C.