Ebay Canada uses AI and wrongly accuses seller of policy violations, continually!
Summary: jupea_53 expressed frustration with eBay Canada's use of AI, which wrongly flagged their listings of 2 Way radios as policy violations, labeling them as surveillance equipment and uncertified. Other participants, such as john_koenig99, easoss, and ericsells75, shared similar experiences, noting issues with AI moderation leading to unjustified restrictions and account limitations. jupea_53 highlighted attempts to appeal, which were ignored, and criticized eBay's reliance on AI over human judgment. The discussion extended to concerns about AI's impact on sellers and corporate decision-making favoring AI due to cost and efficiency over accuracy.
Has anyone else selling 2 Way radio equipment on eBay Canada has issues with their using AI to find issues with your equipment?
I am in a running battle with them. First they accused me of policy violations telling me I was selling surveillance equipment - something
against their policies? I have never sold surveillance equipment. I sell used 2 Way radios which are incapable of recording anything. I appealed
one item successfully, but when I went in and added an operational feature to it, the listing was once again classified as a violation.
THEN if that weren't enough, they accused me of selling radio equipment which wasn't "certified" even though labels were featured in two of the
recent listings which were policy restricted. I appealed and pointed out that both units were FCC and IC (Industry Canada) certified but
my appeal was declined.
eBay Canada is using AI to make decisions about electronic listings and AI has it wrong. It doesn't matter if you appeal online or speak with a
human being, they just tell you to refer to their policies and ignore the facts.
I used the US ebay site for decades until Trump's tariffs killed US business - and never had a problem like this. I began using ebay Canada
to offset those losses but I think I have given up on them. They wrongly accuse a buyer of policy violations when there are none. I have now had my account resricted for
7 days and most definitely are looking for other venues. Has anyone else had a similar experience?
byto253
·3 weeks agoDang, I have done very well with vintage ham gear in the past. As if a 65 year old tube Heathkit ham radio is a security risk. I never tested these either, sold as is for parts or repair.
jupea_53
OP3 weeks agoI sympathize. They seem to be going after amateur radio as well. WTH?
jupea_53
OP3 weeks agoI think eBay Canada is guilty of poor management - opting to alienate their sellers by insisting AI is always right. Not a great business model but that seems to be the hill they will die on.
marnotom!
·3 weeks agoThis affects sellers in the UK and likely all of eBay’s local sites, though, so while I’ll grant that eBay Canada’s management seems to be wanting, I don’t think you can pin the AI debacle on that.
I think eBay in general is running scared of the FCC and communications regulators in other countries, and the use of AI in its current form is a stop-gap measure until eBay has a better handle on how sellers and sales are being affected and if and how the AI can be fine-tuned.
While most eBay sellers sell what they know and know what they sell (thank you, @pierrelebel ), there are ones that don’t and they tend to ruin things for the good ones. Perhaps eBay is hoping to weed the bad ones out somehow, but in the meantime, the good ones will have to be patient.
jupea_53
OP3 weeks agoIf I appeal their restriction - which I did - and a human being can't be bothered looking at the labels which were posted in the listings - clearly stating that the radios were certified by both the FCC and Industry Canada, then I can't excuse them. The FCC has been around forever and I begin using ebay in 1998. These restrictive actions are something recent. And it doesn't take a lot to research that radio equipment is not equally surveillance equipment. All I can say is that it must be nice to have a business model where you really don't care about the people who provide your inventory - that being the sellers.
marnotom!
·3 weeks agoeBay is an online sales facilitator or digital marketplace. Nobody is providing it with inventory.
jupea_53
OP3 weeks agoI disagree. It is the sellers who provide "inventory" which eBay sells and makes money on. Without sellers, there is nothing to sell and there would be no ebay. I feel as though they are treating their sellers with contempt when they refuse to acknowledge that AI is creating problems for their sellers. They're not acknowledging it and they're doubling down on AI - if only to reduce their workforce and pad their bottom line.
marnotom!
·3 weeks agoSo why is eBay determined to reduce its “inventory” which would in turn reduce sales and have an impact on its bottom line?
jupea_53
OP3 weeks agoYou tell me. When AI screws up and offends their sellers, and eBay ignores a legitimate appeal supported by facts and documentation, it's not a great business model. I have not only been accused twice of violating their electronics policy - accusations which were FALSE, they have now restricted my account. They're doubling down on their own stupidity.
sylviebee
·3 weeks agoAbout AI but a little different than other issues reported here. eBay encourages sellers to use AI to write item descriptions and for my items those descriptions are ludicrous. My items are described as stylish elegant accessories which anyone would be proud to wear about town etc. etc. These descriptions are ridiculous because antique purses are rarely used and generally for display only. Completely inappropriate to use for a night out. More and more sellers are opting into these descriptions, and virtually every one of them could nail the seller with an INADed violation should a buyer decide to pursue that option.
jupea_53
OP3 weeks agoI have complained to the BBB and written to the head office in the US. Nothing came of it. I think anyone adversely affected by AI needs to complain as well. I use other venues on which to sell and will double down on that because eBay Canada insists on offending their sellers.
rdemaree
·3 weeks agoAI moderation is incredibly lazy and buggy and is 100% about corporate profits. Period.
But at least ebay still has some human customer service. META uses 100% AI moderation and has ZERO customer service. I lost a facebook account for a false flag and theres nobody to even talk to about it. Its just their buggy robots making sloppy decisions left and right.
This goes right along with why EIS and GSP are sloppy programs. They restrict tons of things just for containing a no-no word using AI analysis.
We are in the early stages of AI and there will be alot of trial and error. I just hope laws can be shaped to put the populace above corporate profits. AI is a powerful tool with potential but that just means that it needs to be reigned in.
flipistics
·Aug 11, 2026 at 6:21 PMeBay is really, really cautious about items in these categories. I've had manuals for radios taken down, so if they're taking those down they're definitely taking the actual radios down.
jupea_53
OP3 weeks agoexcept this is something new. And the fact that they are wrong on both counts is really frustrating. That they would take the advice of a bot over that of a experienced business owner is really galling.
flipistics
·3 weeks agoFrustrating, yes. I don't blame them for believing their bot over the seller though. eBay DOES NOT want to get fined by the government for the items that can't be sold, nor do they want sellers getting hit. They don't have the manpower to manually review a bunch of items, they probably don't have the expertise, and their bots would probably just immediately take it down again anyway.
jupea_53
OP3 weeks agoRadiocommunications are a staple on eBay both on the US and the Canadian site. When you post an actual label of a radio which indicates both FCC and Industry Canada certification, it takes a certain level of stupidity and irresponsibility to just skate over that and still make the accusation that you are selling radios without certification. I doubt that eBay Canada has been taken to task for their listings. I think their use of AI is simply for the purpose of shedding employees from their workforce to save money and increase their bottom line.
john_koenig99
·3 weeks agoI wouldn't be surprised if the current clamp down is due to a more recent directive from the American government - ahem! (Orange alert). Many large US companies have been instructed to follow certain directives that either were not enforced by previous administrations, or are just made up out of thin air, all with the objective to "protect the homeland from external threats". 🙄
I know this because my significant other has an executive position in the Canadian arm of a huge American multinational corporation, and you would not believe the amount of cr*p that they have follow since TACO came in to his second mandate.
ericsells75
·Aug 11, 2026 at 4:49 PMYes I had this happen about a month ago. Exactly the same - two way radio. I’m liquidating my store and leaving eBay so I didn’t bother to fight it
jupea_53
OP3 weeks agoit seems you can't fight it because I appealed and a human being is supposed to review the appeal but my appeal was declined. I have been in this business for over 35 years and know a little about it and the items I am selling. But according to eBay Canada, I know nothing!
john_koenig99
·Aug 11, 2026 at 11:35 AMThis is the part that a lot of eBay sellers are having trouble with. AI bots are literally judge, jury and executioner. They flag certain terms and there's no recourse - the only solution is to remove them from the listing.
In your case, with two-way radios and similar communications equipment, it seems that eBay has taken an overzealous approach on scrutinizing listings of such items, as if they were to be used for the sole purpose of nefarious activities. Just as mentioned by @marnotom!
jupea_53
OPAug 11, 2026 at 4:44 PMI have used Ebay US for decades and never encountered anything like this. Not only am I being wrongly accused of selling surveillance equipment and radios without certification, human beings at eBay will not take the time to actually assess whether or not these allegations are true and side with the bots.
easoss
·3 weeks agoIt’s everywhere. On marketplace AI is so ridiculous. I listed a chalkware German Shepard figurine from the 50’s and it was removed because they don’t allow the selling of live animals. AI has a long way to go.
rdemaree
·3 weeks agoCorporate greed and laziness + AI being so new and buggy will cause a ton of problems for at least another 5-10 years and we get to be the guinea pigs!
No company is worse than META about AI tho.
jupea_53
OP3 weeks agoTrue. This must be eBay's strategy to shed employees and use bots. It's a mess.
jupea_53
OP3 weeks agoGood grief!
jupea_53
OP3 weeks agoGood grief!
marnotom!
·Aug 11, 2026 at 2:07 AM · EditedI haven't, but there have been at least two posts this year from Canadian eBay sellers in a similar boat as yours but finding them with this new community board set-up is a bit of a headache.
However, with a bit of general online searching, I found out that UK eBay sellers are having this issue as well.