Ebay Wrongfully Temporary Restricted My Account Without Notice. What a JOKE.

[moviemerchmania]

I got a message from eBay restricting my account for 30 days from listing. I have the same PC computer game listed both are different conditions. One is Brand new one has a cracked case. Obviously a person with common sense would list these as two different items. Wrong....

According to the CS rep I spoke too I should have put both of them in the same listing... So basically according to her if I have two of the same item one is broken and one is brand new than according to what I am told by eBays customer service they belong in the same listing.........

And on top of this because the majority of the items I sell are in the DVD category, if have multiple duplicate listings since one DVD may be "Brand new" and another may be classified as "Very Good". And once again according to the eBay staff member these should be in the same listing...

So now my account is restricted for 30 days due to multiple duplicate listing violations...

[femmefan1946]

Since incomplete purchases on eBay could lead to black marks on your selling record, would it be feasible to close ALL your listings here for the next couple of weeks?

The  closed items would transfer to your Unsold page and could be relisted/sell similar when the restriction is lifted.

If you had a Store, I would suggest that you put it On Vacation. But you don't have a Store.

Just because I'm nosy, how do your sales on Amazon compare with normal sales on eBay?

[moviemerchmania]

In terms of number of sales they are about the same. But when you take into account how many active listings I have, Amazon knocks eBay out of the park. 

In terms of average sale price on eBay its around $10.62, on Amazon $9.33

[moviemerchmania]

Also to add to that, 

Average shipping price $1.54

My average sale price used to be much higher but since adding sports and gaming cards with an avg price of $1.68 it has really dropped my Average sale price.

[moviemerchmania]

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@moviemerchmania wrote:

In terms of number of sales they are about the same. But when you take into account how many active listings I have, Amazon knocks eBay out of the park. 

In terms of average sale price on eBay its around $10.62, on Amazon $9.33

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What I meant by this is I have much more listed on eBay then I do on Amazon but yet Amazon generates roughly the same amount of sales.

[pierrelebel]

Would eBay allow you to open an eBay store ($20 for a month) while your listing privileges are suspended?

If so, would you consider it?

Once you have a store, you could put everything "on vacations" for three weeks or so, eliminating the risks of selling the same item twice (on eBay and Amazon).  Well worth $20 in my book.

[moviemerchmania]

Last thing I want to do is give eBay more money then I have to. 

I have spoke with and been lied to by two different Managers from different departments both noticing the issue and "working" to "fix" it. They gave me time deadlines. Never heard back. 

As a desperate measure I have emailed Kalvin (no reply) , spoke to some mods, dealt with numerous customer service reps, and tried corporate head office San Jose CA. 

The reason I fight for this is because I do not want this error impacting my account in the long run. This restriction will stick with my account forever.  There "perfect" system is not perfect. This should have never happened to begin with, they should have someone who can deal with these issues. The frustration is greater then I would ever imagine.

I am so amazed with eBay's customer service reps I decided to submit this whole scenario to the news station in hopes to have one of those "on your side" reporters actually look into and investigate how deceitful, powerless, un-knowledgeable and full of lies they actually are.

Although I must say the reps are polite and I understand their working conditions probably are not the best, wages are most likely low, and they deal with a lot of **bleep** in the run of a day. The news station requested as much detail as possible in regards to this, along with my contact information. 

[pierrelebel]

It is not a question of "giving eBay more money'.

It is a question of doing what is best for you in the circumstances.  This is business.  Do not let your emotions govern your actions.

With over 2,000 listings, i really question why you do not have a store already.  Have you ever worked the numbers?  Matching additional costs versus savings for the categories you list in (different categories yield different results)?

[moviemerchmania]

Yes I have looked into it and the savings from the extra discount on FVF would cover the cost of the store. My fear is that I would lose out on free listing promo's.

Without a store in my category its 5 cents, with a store it's still 5 cents so I do not save there. Without the listing promo's the store subscription would definitely not be worth it.

[pierrelebel]

There is much more to having a store than the savings on FVF.

Take a look at: http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/store-getstarted.html

So many advantages - such as Markdown Manager, ability to put your listings "on vacations", email marketing, etc...

Also, while the bulk of your listings are DVDs and games, you also have listings where having a store may be cheaper.

[pjcdn2005]

I would fight it too and can only imagine how frustrated you feel.

Kalvin is no longer here which is why I suggested that you write Raphael.  Kalvin's email may automatically go to Raphael..I'm not sure.. but it can't hurt to write Raphael as well.You may not receive a reply right away but hopefully you will receive one.

[allicat902]

Oh I must of thought Kalvin when I read your message. I will send Raphael a message for sure as at this point anything will help. If I could manage to get on the phone with someone in North America this issue could be addressed pretty quickly. 

Thanks PJ I appreciate your reply. 

[moviemerchmania]

Just realized I forgot to switch to my account, I don't generally use the girlfriends laptop -.-  

[moviemerchmania]

Time keeps ticking away, the bulk of my listings have ended. I was invited to the free listing promotion, the last call from eBay was four days ago letting me know they still have not fixed the issue with my account but are still working on it and it is being expedited on the priority list. I was given multiple deadlines as to when it would be fixed. Still nothing. False hopes and a company build on fake promises and lies.

There just stalling out the time and hoping to never hear from me again. To those who PM'ed me its nice to know i'm not the only one who has ever went through a similar situation to this, and sadly I won't be the last. 

[melissasminis]

A 30 day ban for a duplicate listing is harsh, especially if you have no previous violations. If your titles were the same, then this is a duplicate listing violation, even if everything else is different. Even if you didn't mean to, rules are rules. I wouldn't use the automated product info either because it has the same product code. The Ebay rep telling you on the phone that you have to list both items in the same listing and not separately is wrong of course, that wouldn't make sense. I personally would do as others said and list one at a time (waiting for one to sell before listing the other), it is a safe option for you. If you do list them both at the same time, do not use the automated product info because the product codes are the same, they may see this as a duplicate listing, not sure, have different pictures of the actual games or dvd's, different titles is a must (put condition in title, new, like new, used, scratches, cracked case etc.), different description, different price, to be safe. I'm sorry you got a 30 day ban on your first violation, that's not right!

[tobyshitzu]

" then this is a duplicate listing violation, even if everything else"

that is clearly not the rule, as stated in ebay's own help section and mentioned here a number of times.  Putting "like new" in a title would be against the rules.  Ebay warns you extensively when you list without the prefilled info that you should be using it