eBay

froogal_electronic_parts_and_overstock · ‎01-21-2014

Hooray! My account has been limited because I am 'encouraging illegal activity"

First it was from the all so professional cutsomerhelp_ca. I am not sure what cutsomerhelp is and if they mean customer help, well, they're not helping.

Why was I limited? Long story short, I purchased an iphone 4 and it arrived in an iphone 5 box. What do I need with the box? So I look on ebay and see...lots of iphone boxes only for sale. So what? I never rely on what people are trying to sell so I look in completed. Here is similar to what I found:

ACTIVE
111260215691

271378889565

281249751216

181305344870

COMPLETED

331084431880

201008263806

Not more than 2 HOURS after I placed the listing I get the lovely email from ebay that my selling is now limited due to and I paraphrase:

The listing being removed because it violated ebay's brand protection policy. Ebay doesn't allow the sale of certain items that bear a trademark but are not sold as a separate item

Fine, I messed up, so I follow their link and NOWHERE does it mention ANYTHING about iphone boxes, or even close. It mentions WATCH boxes, and JEWELRY boxes, but nope, nothing about Iphones.

So I search on ebay, see many many listings of iPhone boxes, both ACTIVE and COMPLETED , and NOWHERE does it specifically say I can't list the item, I see it's listed by others, so I list it.

2 HOURS late I am limited in my account with the note saying I will be suspended if I list it again.

Hardly seems like a level playing field.

So maybe I was reported by a listing vigilante? Well, I look around, and I buy a lot of tablets, and I see this item:

ACTIVE:
331110033855

First, no brainer, it's NOT a tablet, its NOT advertised as a tablet, and it's specifically mentioned that NO TABLETS are included...........and it's listed in the category of iPads, Tablets & eBook Readers. Not accessories, so a no brainer, it's miscategorized and should be moved/cancelled.

Second, here is an EMPTY BOX with NO ACCESSORIES, in clear violation of the exact same rule I was limited for.

So I 'report' the item a few days ago and guess what?

NOTHING, NADA, ZIP.

The listing stays, there are bids on it. There are active and sold listings of iphone 5 boxes, ipads, and more. They continue on while I am now limited in my selling. This is not an isolated incident. I get annoyed that people constantly sell empty boxes under the product category, and because I buy a lot of digital cameras, I see a lot of sellers selling film cameras under the digital camera category. I used to email the sellers, but few would ever change it, so I reported many items and very very few ever get moved/cancelled.

It's very clear to me that from this experience that the handling of ebays rules and regulation is haphazard and uneven.

Rant off.

i*m-still-here · ‎01-21-2014

It's very clear to me that from this experience that the handling of ebays rules and regulation is haphazard and uneven.

That's absolutely true. I could never figure that out either. Why can some sellers list some items that others cannot?

I don't believe anyone is reporting. I think it's a mindless computer thing going on.

I've had similar issues listing toy guns.

I even called eBay and got their go-ahead and total approval of the listings and still they were pulled and I was smacked with violations.

There was nothing I could do to get the violations removed even though the CSR higher ups had cleared my listings.

Some items are just better left alone.

froogal_electronic_parts_and_overstock · ‎01-21-2014

@i*m-still-here wrote:

It's very clear to me that from this experience that the handling of ebays rules and regulation is haphazard and uneven.

That's absolutely true. I could never figure that out either. Why can some sellers list some items that others cannot?
I don't believe anyone is reporting. I think it's a mindless computer thing going on.

I've had similar issues listing toy guns.
I even called eBay and got their go-ahead and total approval of the listings and still they were pulled and I was smacked with violations.
There was nothing I could do to get the violations removed even though the CSR higher ups had cleared my listing fes.

Some items are just better left alone.

some people are reporting. I used to, but I have stopped. I am taking the advice and not listing it again, but it's like a kick in the teeth from ebay.

Some get to sell the item, some don't. Take a chance.

CUTSOMER???? Really professional.

1167FB, 5 years, 'top rated seller', DSR 4.8+ (just checked and I am below average for GLOBAL due to 4 'shipping time' which is a farce, because I ship all my items in less than the 2 days posted).

Then I list a BOX, an EMPTY BOX, that other people both list and SELL and currently list and sell, and now I am MUD.

rose-dee · ‎01-21-2014

'froogal' -- This caught my attention:

"I am taking the advice and not listing it again, but it's like a kick in the teeth from ebay.

Some get to sell the item, some don't. Take a chance.

CUTSOMER???? Really professional."

About a month ago, I received a 'supposed' email from eBay (or it may have been Paypal - can't recall now), saying that my limits were now restricted, which I was really confused and rather upset over. Then I took a careful look at the subject line: it said "Cutsomer Service". Uh-oh.

Although it's possible that eBay customer service may misspell words, I really doubted it, and the fact that the restriction made no sense at the time made me suspicious. I reported the email directly to one of the "Pinks", and they asked to see it. Nothing was ever actually done to my account.

If I can offer some advice, I'd send an email to perhaps Kalvin@ebay.com or Raphael@ebay.com and ask whether others have reported these "Cutsomer" emails. It is just possible the email is fraudulent (which I hope for your sake is the case).

pjcdn2005 · ‎01-21-2014

If the email was not from ebay then the listing wouldn't have been removed.

I agree with I'm that in these cases it is usually a bot that reports and takes down the listing. I don't understand either why they are so selective about which ones they do take down.

OP...about your 4 in shipping comment...I don't know if you already do this but it really does help if you send a note with an estimated shipping time once the item has been shipped. It is also a good idea to remind international buyers that it may take some extra time to receive their item because it is coming from another country. I realize that you give some information about that in your listings but customers are more likely to read the message you send then read your very long TOS.

rose-dee · ‎01-21-2014

@pjcdn2005 wrote:
If the email was not from ebay then the listing wouldn't have been removed.

I'd still be inclined to contact one of the eBay.ca staffers and make sure the email and the removal was legitimate. I don't trust that hackers aren't beyond that sort of thing (taking down listings), especially if you take the bait and open the email. For some reason, the Pink I corresponded to thought the email I got was fishy -- he told me not to open it, and I took his advice.

To the OP --It's probably not much comfort to you, but I actually have had a recent experience of my own that is a different, but comparable example of the unfairness of eBay's rules and decisions on listings:

About 3 weeks ago I noticed one of those "helpful" recommendations on my seller page. I dutifully made the revisions suggested (in this case it was one listing photo that didn't meet the size requirements). I thought that was that. Two days later I started getting warning messages about authenticity every time I attempted to relist some items. I should mention that I've gone through the "authenticity" battle previously with eBay and was proven correct. Now it seemed it was starting all over again.

The next day I received an email warning me that my listings were in violation because of "keyword spamming". Again, this was a term in my listing titles that had never been an issue with eBay for years, and had nothing to do with copyright or brand ownership.

I've gone through 2 CS telephone reps, one higher-up in CS who at least spoke English, several emails, and now I'm told that if I don't remove the word(s) from my titles, my listings will be taken down and my seller status impacted. To be clear, this is a term that my competitors regularly use, my buyers use to search, and is clearly understood by those interested in what I sell.

The bottom line is that I strongly suspect these seemingly "arbitrary" decisions and rules are driven by pressure from someone (or some company) with an interest in seeing that eBay keeps control over certain areas of selling on its site. In that sense, they are not at all arbitrary and irrational, but are definitely unfair and discriminatory toward smaller sellers who do not have the clout that larger corporate interests have.

And the more such larger corporate interests are involved in eBay, the more we're all going to see these hammers falling on our heads -- any small seller could be next, no matter how compliant with policies and rules they think they are.

My only real choice now is to remove the offending term and consider reporting every one of my competitors who uses it (and there are many!). My concern, perhaps like the OP's, is whether that reporting is going to get any results from eBay, or -- what is even worse -- just get me more negative attention and punishment from Cutsomer/Customer Service.

You can probably tell I'm as incensed about this as the OP seems to be over his experience. It stinks.

captivatemedia · ‎01-21-2014

I can vouch for what pjc says as I got 4 shipping knocks within the first 2 months after starting this account. I started sending emails with ETA times and whatnot and haven't had another one since. Unfortunately, that killed any possibility of TRS status in 2013, but those knocks should be dissapearing anytime now.

froogal_electronic_parts_and_overstock · ‎01-21-2014

@pjcdn2005 wrote:
If the email was not from ebay then the listing wouldn't have been removed.

I agree with I'm that in these cases it is usually a bot that reports and takes down the listing. I don't understand either why they are so selective about which ones they do take down.

OP...about your 4 in shipping comment...I don't know if you already do this but it really does help if you send a note with an estimated shipping time once the item has been shipped. It is also a good idea to remind international buyers that it may take some extra time to receive their item because it is coming from another country. I realize that you give some information about that in your listings but customers are more likely to read the message you send then read your very long TOS.

I might start doing that, but there are a couple concerns. First, I buy a lot of stuff from China and they are doing it. some in a cute way and others just stating estimated time, but either way it doesn't bother me, but ebay actually is dissuading the extra emails and if you do send an email doesn't that count as contact? and if so, then it too can affect your rating.

The most frustrating part of the low DSR's is that in the ebay sanctioned emails, I put in a standard blurb about leaving 5 stars when happy with your purchase in the details section and I got a NEUTRAL FB because they didn't like being reminded to leave good ratings.

So if you try to mention something over and above what ebay is doing, it can backfire.

The listing was removed by ebay, so I am pretty sure it was them.

I have learned not to contact ebay as it can easily go the wrong way when talking to them, although I will admit their customer service for me has been much better recently than in the past.

froogal_electronic_parts_and_overstock · ‎01-21-2014

@rose-dee wrote:

The bottom line is that I strongly suspect these seemingly "arbitrary" decisions and rules are driven by pressure from someone (or some company) with an interest in seeing that eBay keeps control over certain areas of selling on its site. In that sense, they are not at all arbitrary and irrational, but are definitely unfair and discriminatory toward smaller sellers who do not have the clout that larger corporate interests have.

And the more such larger corporate interests are involved in eBay, the more we're all going to see these hammers falling on our heads -- any small seller could be next, no matter how compliant with policies and rules they think they are.

I call your strongly suspect and raise you to almost convinced. I am sure larger corporate interests are constantly lobbying ebay to change and enforce their rules to suit their own agenda.

I also think it's likely that ebay has understaffed some areas or have untrained people who make these decisions (or don't)

I also believe that ebay won't publish their guidelines and keep their rules vague so that they can have the freedom to enforce and not enforce the rules based on their own criteria, such as maybe not punishing their large corporate customers, or even letting a newbie off the hook so that they don't lose that business.

All of this adds up to a very unsatisfying selling experience on ebay. Unfortunately they are still the only real game in town.

rose-dee · ‎01-21-2014

@froogal_electronic_parts_and_overstock wrote:
[...] but ebay actually is dissuading the extra emails and if you do send an email doesn't that count as contact? and if so, then it too can affect your rating.

You're right. It's a fine line between providing information and ticking off a buyer with too much contact, resulting in a DSR backlash.

Having said that, I do usually send a message, just a friendly but brief note: "Thanks very much for your purchase, I'll be taking your parcel to the P.O. tomorrow a.m. and estimated delivery (not including customs processing) is ____ days".

I would never mention feedback, let alone ask for positive FB in a message (I think that's a recipe for trouble). However I do put a printed thank-you note in every parcel saying that I'd appreciate it if they could leave FB to let me know the transaction is satisfactorily concluded. I never say positive FB, just FB, because some people resent having others suggest exactly what they should do and will retaliate out of pure spite.

I suppose it also depends on how much you use tracking and Paypal labelling. If you use Paypal labels, they send an automated notice to the buyer indicating the item has been shipped, and the estimated delivery time (usually a safe spread of time), which is probably enough for most buyers.

As I'm sure you know, if you don't send a separate message (or engage in communication) and you upload the tracking information within your stated handling time, then you get the automatic 5 star communication DSRs. This means for me that there are times when I'd just as soon get the 5-stars than risk sending a message and actually inviting a possibly damaging DSR "opinion poll" concerning my messaging. Yuck.

On the "old" eBay, I used to like communicating with my buyers, some of it was fun. Now I always have to consider those DSRs.

froogal_electronic_parts_and_overstock · ‎01-21-2014

@rose-dee wrote:

I would never mention feedback, let alone ask for positive FB in a message (I think that's a recipe for trouble). However I do put a printed thank-you note in every parcel saying that I'd appreciate it if they could leave FB to let me know the transaction is satisfactorily concluded. I never say positive FB, just FB, because some people resent having others suggest exactly what they should do and will retaliate out of pure spite.

Well, we are getting a bit off topic, but I review my messages every once in a while. Many people have commented that they like my messages, while I am sure I turn potential buyers away. I am a little leery of getting rid of my messages. If I scare away the more finicky buyers that's ok with me.

Along with the email messages I get from sellers from China, usually, from the larger sellers inside will be a business card. On it, it has a request for positive feedback and 5 stars, and often explains why 5 stars is required if happy.

I do try to communicate with the buyer and out of 1000's of FB I get one that specifically mentions they didn't like the requests so I really don't know if I should change or not. I sell electronics. People can be very fussy about them.

You would be surprised at how many xmas' I have ruined and how many 'trips of a lifetime' were ruined because I sent a faulty camera. I think I even had someone lose their job because of an item they bought from me. 🙂

femmefan1946 · ‎01-22-2014

[...] but ebay actually is dissuading the extra emails and if you do send an email doesn't that count as contact? and if so, then it too can affect your rating.

Since I leave feedback almost as soon as my item is packaged, I put 'Shipped Canada Post 22/1/2014 Air Mail' in the FB. No 'communication' fears and the information is right there for eBay to see.