Your listing was removed: Restricted adult items policy

[wilmcal0]

My auction of THE GIRL NEXT DOOR DVD has just been pulled by eBay for the second time in the last 3 months.

This is a 2004 teen comedy (currently on Netflix) starring Emile Hirsch and (now) currently owned by the Walt Disney company. 

Ebay states:

"We had to remove your listing because it didn’t follow our Restricted adult items policy. Adult and sexual wellness items must be listed in the correct category and must follow our guidelines.

We appreciate that you have selected eBay to list your item; however, please be informed that you listed an item with nudity/adult content on the site. Adult media items with sexual content, such as nudity, and video content meant only for adult age group, are prohibited to be listed on eBay Canada site. As there are other buyers on the site who don't want to come accross such items when browsing. We understand that it was unintentional from your side; hence, we kindly request you not to relist such items on the eBay Canada site."

There are currently 506 auctions featuring the same DVD?????

This is a 2004 mainstream teen comedy...it is not pornographic in any way!!

I spent a long time in ebay chat with an idiot named Virish(?) who told me that unrated videos indicate extreme porn.

I (tried) to explain to him that 'unrated' just means that the video was never submitted for a rating. EVERY movie released before 1968 is unrated, Jane Fonda exercise videos are unrated, SNOW WHITE AND THE 7 DWARFS is unrated, TV shows are unrated, self-help videos are unrated, most indie movies are unrated, etc.

Yet eBay allows the listing of of magazines such as Playboy & Playgirl as long as there is no explicit content on the covers. There is no explicit content on the cover of THE GIRL NEXT DOOR.

I am now on my last warning. If I relist and it gets pulled again, ALL of my auctions will be hidden from the search function for 3 days...which really just means that eBay will be curtailing their own profits for 3 days, lol

I should also mention that there is NOTHING sexually explicit in my item description or photo either.

Here is my complete item description: 

Excellent condition unrated DVD of Luke Greenfield's THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, starring Emile Hirsch, Elisha Cuthbert, Timothy Olyphant, James Remar, Chris Marquette, Paul Dano and Timothy Bottoms. Features include audio commentary by Luke Greenfield, trivia track, scene-specific commentary tracks by Emile Hirsch and Elisha Cuthbert, 16 uncensored deleted & extended scenes, original ending, unrated gag reel, THE LOOK NEXT DOOR featurette, THE ELI XPERIENCE featurette, photo gallery, red band theatrical trailer, chapter insert, 16x9 enhanced 1.85:1 widescreen, English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround, Spanish & French Dolby Surround, English & Spanish subtitles.

That is what's written of the back cover of this DVD which is also available on Amazon, Best Buy, Netflix and many streaming services. Hard-core sexually explict porn it is not.

How do I get through to stupid people on eBay???

[pjcdn2005]

It's rarely a good idea to relist something that has been pulled. Quite often the listing has been pulled by a bot and even if cs tells you it is ok to relist it, chances are that it will get pulled again.

[2nd-time-around-jewelry]

Check out  my recent post.  I had about 10 items removed by bots as being against their policy.  There is no way to fight eBay.  I tried in the past but with no success. I bet there are other copies of your movie listed for sale by other sellers on eBay.  There is no rhyme or reason why some people are targeted & others are not.  Do not relist unless you completely change your title. 

[marnotom!]

While there may be over 500 other listings for this DVD, I bet very few of them were listed on eBay Canada.

I’m thinking that it wasn’t just your use of the word “unrated” that triggered the spider-bot checking your listing, but also terms like “uncensored” and “XPERIENCE.” The two Canadian listings I found with a quick search for the DVD have very minimal item descriptions.

[recped]

I spent a long time in ebay chat with an idiot named Virish(?) who told me that unrated videos indicate extreme porn.

Instead of listing it as "unrated" why didn't you list it with the actual rating?

[marnotom!]

---

@recped wrote:

Instead of listing it as "unrated" why didn't you list it with the actual rating?

---

Because it's a version of the DVD that didn't go through the ratings process, hence it's unrated.

There's enough versions of this DVD listed on eBay to fill the bed of a Ford F-150 and they all hype the "unratedness" of it because the DVD is marketed as such.

Which makes me wonder why the OP decided to add another one to the truckload.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

---

@marnotom! wrote:
While there may be over 500 other listings for this DVD, I bet very few of them were listed on eBay Canada.

I’m thinking that it wasn’t just your use of the word “unrated” that triggered the spider-bot checking your listing, but also terms like “uncensored” and “XPERIENCE.” The two Canadian listings I found with a quick search for the DVD have very minimal item descriptions.

---

@wilmcal0 

@intimewithmusic 

@doc_scribe 

I'm not sure when this took place.... just know it did take place. eBay recently updated listings(anything that was rated) to the US standard of movie ratings. In the past there was most likely a combination of both available when sellers originally created their listings. When this was first discovered/and reported by other Canadian sellers eBay I passed it on to the department responsible for item specifics (again not positive on the timing). During these operation(s) I'm not sure how or if it corrupted listings created months ago. As a seller you would only notice if you were creating a new listing or checked your old listings one by one. I did a random check of my DVD/CD/VHS listings but not a deep dive.

(In one of eBay's seasonal announcements several years ago eBay advised sellers that if a mistake was made (in error or whatever) sellers would have the opportunity to resolve. Basically, no harm no foul. Unfortunately this announcement was very light on specific exceptions.) This type of issue should have been covered by the above mentioned announcement. See attached.

Simpler Policies | 2019 Fall Seller Update (ebay.ca)

Policy Updates

• "Correct a policy issue and continue selling without penalty"
• Automatic updates of existing listings to support return policies
• Returns exception for Jewellery & Watches

Quite often older movies are unrated. Same goes for exercise movies. It's possible eBay's bots are picking these off using whatever criteria eBay chooses. The bigger elephant in the room is these flagged listings are just honest mistakes. 

The other place this becomes very messy if you happen to be selling a mixed lot of movies. The item specifics section only has the option for 1 movies specifics. You're only option is to pick one and hope for the best.

-Lotz

[reallynicestamps]

There seem to be at least four movies with the same name at least two of which appears to be rated R and the one in question with Elisha Cuthbert is rated PG. 

Not something difficult to learn--- unless there is a "filf" version .  The three listings I saw which pushed that they were Unrated also say on the label "What you couldn't see in cinemas"  which is misleading-- but also covers most DVDs with a commentary track .

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

For stuff like this, it is always better to call rather than chat. You have to understand the person on the other side is from a different country and may not have any idea of the context of the movie, which is why they might have assumed it was an adult movie. 

I would advise you not to re-list a removed item without calling first. You might risk further penalties.

[doc_scribe]

As you, and others, especially OP wilmcal0 have noted this is the new challenge for media Sellers:

I (tried) to explain to him (eBay rep) that 'unrated' just means that the video was never submitted for a rating. EVERY movie released before 1968 is unrated, Jane Fonda exercise videos are unrated, SNOW WHITE AND THE 7 DWARFS is unrated, TV shows are unrated, self-help videos are unrated, most indie movies are unrated, etc.

And "Not Rated" - the correct term for any titles without an MPAA Rating because that org didn't exist when the movie was originally released - was recently removed from eBay's Rating dropdown, leaving that field now blank for any titles previously designated "NR". 

With most of my home video titles skewing vintage, I'm only half joking when I refer to 'best fit specs'. 

[clemowbooks]

I noted that the pictures of the "unrated" versions that are still listed are deliberately designed to make an innocuous movie look like pron.

[wilmcal0]

Because the actual rating is UNRATED...just like the big letters on the DVD cover state.

[wilmcal0]

Because I sell things that I have and no longer want.

I don't sell things because they are not currently listed on eBay by other sellers!!

[wilmcal0]

I spent over 3 hours on chat and was transferred through 3 different people. The last one (Vinish?) basically said that I was selling extreme porn AND TO NEVER DO IT AGAIN!!!!

[wilmcal0]

I could easily list all my DVDs as PG and bypass any bot.

The problem is, if someone buys it and discovers that it's not PG, R or whatever...they could claim a false description and want their money back.

Do buyers actually look at the Ratings field?

I've always assumed that buyers search for an item by title.

Most of these new 'REQUIRED' item details are absolutely inane and are a waste of time!

[wilmcal0]

And I cannot make phone calls as I am hard-of-hearing!

[doc_scribe]

---

@wilmcal0 wrote:

Because the actual rating is UNRATED...just like the big letters on the DVD cover state.

---

;^) I should have clarified the distinction between 'NOT RATED', which up until recently,  eBay had a selection for in their Rating field dropdown. As such, 'NR' could be accurately used by Sellers for any pre-'68 title that was not assigned an MPAA Rating during original release. Now we have to guesstimate a hypothetical best-fit Rating for movies that don't have one because they never did.

On the other hand, 'UNRATED' is predominantly a home video term. And as you've noted, it does not necessarily signify salacious content. Typically 'UNRATED' is used for a Director's Cut or Extended Special Edition which was never formally exhibited this way during original release - just as often as not, reinserting scenes that were originally dropped to keep the running time down and maximize the number of theatrical showings each day. In terms of adult content, if the original version was 'R-Rated', then it might still be an 'R' in this form...only more of it.

My larger point is an agreement with you that focusing on the word 'UNRATED' and restricting listings of legit studio product because of it, is misleading and a misunderstanding of what that term often means in Ratings practice.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

What I am suggesting is that you do not use the chat. Use the phone line.

The chat feature is very bad for anything nuanced that requires context. It takes forever. It is only good for very basic objective issues that can be fixed quickly.

If you phone in and explain the context in a way that someone who is not from Canada and does not now anything about our movies, unrated editions, etc, would understand - you are more likely to have them understand it than you would using the chat feature. 

(edit: Sorry, missed your follow up above about being hard of hearing.)

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

Ratings are not required with DVDs. I believe they are suggested. The only required fields are title and format. If it is a brand new DVD, the UPC is required. The UPC is not required for used DVDs.

If you choose to scan the UPC, it might auto-populate the listing with things like the rating.