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Watch out! EBay will end your listings without notice to you!

It just happened to my brother-in-law who has an EBay store specializing in restored wristwatches.

It seems that EBay will take the word of someone, beit stranger or customer, that a seller has violated some dumb rule and without notice, EBay will start removing that seller’s items without cause and without even the decency of a telephone call to investigate the claim.

My brother-in-law had a customer in FRANCE who had been doing business with them for months (satisfactory business) so it was a shock to learn that this Frenchman complained to EBay, causing EBay to remove over 1,000 of his items for sale.

One day you wake up and find your store “closed” – not literally - just empty – like someone came in and robbed you of your inventory. What a horrible feeling of doom in the pit of your gut!

It takes months to create listings of 1,000 for an EBay store. These people (brother-in-law and sister-in-law) are on disability and social security and depend on EBay sales to supplement their income. They told me they sat down and cried (what else can one do in this situation?)

It happened to me about 2 years ago. One day I opened my EBay page to discover I only had about one-half the items that were in my store the day before.

“What the ____?” I wondered. “What’s going on?”

One by one they were coming down. I could refresh the page and see my inventory diminishing. There was no way I could stop it.  And, to make matters worse, they were totally disappearing; not even in the ‘closed’ section so I could salvage the descriptions.

Many attempts to call EBay or to go through their support “form”  just ended with frustration. I can’t remember exactly, but I finally was reinstated and allowed to relist my items, but at that time I had over 1500 pieces of vintage jewelry and it took six months to re-list them. Thinking of all the business and income I lost over that period of time still makes me mad.

The “reason” EBay was taking down my listings was because they had mistakenly identified me as someone who was trying to scam people with multiple id’s. Their belief was based on the fact that I was trying to help two friends set up EBay accounts so they, too, could sell stuff and make extra money.

But, instead of calling me to investigate why I was using multiple id’s from my computer, they made a false assumption and caused a lot of turmoil. I was a Power Seller, and they never even picked up the phone to question me.

This is to caution you, as an EBay seller, that you have to prove innocence when dealing with EBay policies and buyers. Beware, and watch your listings closely. Abiding by their rules is one thing; being unjustly accused is something else!

*EBay Store: Orphaned Items |  Author: Easy Easy Jewelry Photos