Has anyone else ever received this notice?

[canuckgirl_416]

Just wanted to know if anyone has ever received this notice:

"Attention Sellers:
Buyers have high expectations when purchasing brand name items on the site. To make sure sellers are able to meet these expectations, limits are sometimes placed on sellers' accounts.

You've reached your limit for the type of item you're trying to list, and you won't be able list any more of these for 30 days. However, you may still list other types of items. These restrictions apply to all sellers, so please don't feel that we're singling you out.

These restrictions will remain on your account until you’ve received 25 positive selling feedback and completed 90 days as an active seller in good standing."

Is there anything I can do to continue listing or do I just have to wait?

[femmefan1946 · Accepted solution]

All new sellers ( you have 22 selling FB) have restrictions on their accounts.

As the message says, its nothing personal.

This is mostly a Buyer Protection policy, along with the 21 Day Hold.

You don't mention that one, but basically all your customers' cleared payments are being held for 21 days against your good service.

You can ask Customer Service, about once a month has been suggested, to have the restrictions lessened or lifted.

It helps if you can afford tracked /delivery confirmed shipping. It makes  part of your good service electronically visible to eBay/Paypal.

And did you know that while PP will Hold your customers' payments, you can still use that money to purchase PP shipping labels? And that some services you purchase have a 5% to 17% discount off PO counter prices?

Your product line is a (small ) part of the problem. Makeup is one of the higher risk categories and eBay is very careful about letting new sellers run wild. And the risk is not only on the buyer side, sellers get a lot of complaints too.

On the other hand, some sellers in even more volatile categories are restricted to 10 or 25 listings. So your 150(?) is higher than average.

Might I suggest that saying you do not take returns, can lead to losing both payment and product to a determined scammer. It is best not to mention problems in your description.

There is a choice of return policies that shows on the payments tab.

Personally I prefer "refund on return" on the basis that if it's good enough to keep it's good enough to pay for. YMMV. 

Same with feedback, Leave it promptly, but don't solicit . You may get it.

There is an Advanced Sell Your Item form which is more complex but also gives you more choices, including allowing some HTML coding to make your listings prettier and easier to read. Look for it at the top of the page under Sell.

[canuckgirl_416]

Thank you so much for the advice femmefan. This helps a lot.

[momcqueen]

Patience and strategic planning must be exercised when you hit your selling limit as it appears that you have at this point, triggering that message from ebay. I too felt like I'd been slapped in the face with a wet fish when, just as I was hitting my stride a few years ago, I got one similar. You can call Customer Service to ask, kindly, that it be lifted. Sometimes they can, sometimes they cannot. 

Oh and be sure to set your auto-blocks to stop chronic non-payers from tying up your product with purchases they've bought but not paid. Those used to be accounted against your limits too, I'm not sure if it has changed. Immediate Payment Required will put a stop to the thrill-bidders. 

Keep up the good work. 

[pjcdn2005]

According to that notice, you can still list but not that type of item...I'm guessing they were referring to name brand cosmetics/perfume.

But there should be a total number of items that you can have listed at one time on your my ebay page. That would be a different number than what they are allowing you to list for name brand items.

[canuckgirl_416]

Yes, it does feel like I've been slapped in the face, lol. Any other time I would be okay with it, but not during the holiday season. I will try to call Customer Service. I used to have the Immediate Payment Required box checked off but I stopped doing it for some reason. I need to start doing it again because I have one buyer who hasn't paid for an item yet. I'll send them another invoice tomorrow. 

Thanks so much mjwl2006.

[femmefan1946]

Not another invoice-- she's got one from eBay and one from you (?). Make it a polite note.

No response or no payment, go right to the Unpaid Item Dispute once 96 hours have passed.

Some people are just slow payers, either the note (because it is a different message) or the UID may kickstart her.

If not, in another four days, close the Dispute, get your fees back and give her a Strike. This will make it harder for her to bid on eBay in future.  She also cannot leave you feedback if she loses the Dispute.

And go to your Seller Preferences and Block bidders with UID Strikes. You may find this useful as you go on.

It's now December, can you list more?

[canuckgirl_416]

Yes pjcdn, they were referring to the MAC cosmetics. I can still list perfumes. I was revising my listings on Wed. and Thurs. in preparation for Black Friday weekend when I got the notice.

Thank you so much.

[canuckgirl_416]

Okay, no invoice. I will definitely send her a polite note. What about the Unpaid Item Assistant? Can I rely on it to open and close unpaid item cases for me automatically?

Yes! I can list more. Thank you so much femmefan.

[momcqueen]

You know, I had once subscribed to Unpaid Item Assistant and it didn't ever seem to work. I unsubscribed. Also, if you ever run auctions and have a buyer bid on one and then another that ends in five days, the Unpaid Item Assistant will give them a heart attack when it opens a case on Day 5. Although it is good manners for a buyer to check with a seller before hissing on things that end so far apart, a seller is able to override it in specific instances, I think. It didn't seem to function for me. 

Unless you also offer Cash on Pickup for Local Buyers, Immediate Payment Required is the way to go.

That and the auto-block for anyone with more than two UIS within 12 months.

p.s. I didn't realize that ebay would restrict a seller to a limit on specific items, I thought only numbers in total. Interesting. 

[canuckgirl_416]

Thanks mjwl. You have all been very helpful.

[rose-dee]

---

@mjwl2006 wrote:

p.s. I didn't realize that ebay would restrict a seller to a limit on specific items, I thought only numbers in total. Interesting. 

---

Yes, this has been the norm on eBay for quite a long time -- many years in fact.  If you're selling high-visibility brand name goods of any kind, you're likely to run into the cap on the number of listings allowed per month, even if you're an experienced seller.  

This is not connected in any way with the listing limits for new sellers, but applies to just about any seller on eBay.  However, I've always suspected that the biggest retailers may have some sort of exemption.  

Three or four years ago I had a number of authentic Chanel and Dior vintage garments and accessories to list.  I got the same message as the OP after I listed the first few.  I assume eBay's purpose is to prevent private sellers from dumping large numbers of top name goods onto the site in direct competition with retail sellers who have a licence to sell from those brands.  It may also be eBay's method of controlling just how many top brand name goods are available at any given time, to sort of spread the competition around (these are always in demand of course).  

And I also suspect the bigger the name, or the more demand there is for a name (e.g. Chanel, Dior, Gucci, Prada, etc. etc.), the smaller the listing limit.  

To the OP:  Not to worry, you should find that once you've past a month-end point, you'll be able to list a few more brand name items.  But you'll likely not be able to list more than the limit each month for a very long time, if ever.  I frankly don't think that calling eBay to increase your limits where top brand restriction is concerned will help, but you can try.  

By the way, if the problem was with your listings of MAC make-up, keep in mind that that name is primarily associated with high-fashion clothing, which may be where eBay's restrictions are primarily directed.  If you do call to request an extension of the limits on those products, make sure you point out to the Customer Service person that you are selling make-up, not MAC clothing.  That may or may not help. 

Remember, this is a different restriction than the limits on listing imposed on new sellers -- that limit will fall away once you pass the "probationary"  requirements.  

[rose-dee]

Oh, and just one more note: you may find, for the reasons I mentioned above, that you'll reach a limit on Alfred Sung (or other top clothing designer's ancillary products), depending upon how much you list.  

Although there may be a limit, you'll never know what that limit is for any particular brand (as I said, I strongly suspect that the more well-known the brand, the lower the limits).

So just list until you get the message again and then you'll know what your monthly limit is for that brand.  They are right -- it isn't personal at all, so don't be discouraged.  Keep a note of what the limits are for each top name product, to avoid unnecessary frustration in future. These restrictions do apply to everybody, with the possible exception of sellers who can show they have a licence with the manufacturer.      

[momcqueen]

It's probably also meant to control knock-offs too because, now that I think about it, because who is more likely to suddenly find themselves with a surplus of high-end designer clothing than a counterfeiter? (Not directed at the Original Poster, of course.) In the land of toys, I had not encountered this type of limit. If I had, well, that would be tragic. There are almost 1,000 different Cars characters. All of mine are new, factory-sealed in package but Cars are also an area ripe for knock-offs in the form of loose ones from high-volume sellers which are most certainly factory-direct via backdoor. 

[rose-dee]

I think it probably has more to do with licensing and the VeRO owners themselves imposing limits on what eBay can permit people to sell here, although it would of course serve to limit fakes too.  

It certainly impacts any items related to high-end clothing designer names.  Over the years I can't recall having seen any sellers complaining about being limited on other "name brand" type of articles.  For example, you would think it would apply to names like Sony, Toshiba, etc. etc. but it doesn't appear to be the case. 

[pjcdn2005]

I think it probably has more to do with licensing and the VeRO owners themselves imposing limits on what eBay can permit people to sell here, although it would of course serve to limit fakes too.  

It is to limit fakes which is why sellers without a history of selling that product are often limited on how much they can sell. There are problems with fake MAC cosmetics on ebay and elsewhere on the net. 

Rights owners can not legally impose a limit on how many items are listed here so I doubt this has anything to do with licensing and I don't believe that ebay limits certain items to keep down the numbers.