I registered my original eBay account on April 1st, 1999 in Germany. I’ve used it ever since, mainly to buy and occasionally to sell. It had a 100% rating, all my exchanges were always pleasant and I really love eBay for selling random items that there doesn’t seem to be an alternative marketplace for.
Having registered the account in Germany meant that I always had this funny side effect of My eBay switching to the German eBay site whenever I logged in, but I learned to live with that and navigate back to ebay.co.uk whenever that happened.
Until recently this was a minor inconvenience and because of eBay’s tight integration with PayPal, I never had a problem selling, either in the UK or in the US where I lived for a while.
Two weeks ago I decided again to sell some random items on eBay, including an Apple TV (3rd generation), a Logitech mouse, a Brooks bike saddle, an Apple Magic Keyboard and a Blackmagic HDMI recorder. Shortly after listing those items, eBay asked me to update my selling account details. So far, I’ve always been able to use a UK credit card to pay any selling fees. Now it was demanding a German bank account, which I don’t have anymore (after leaving the country in 2005). I didn’t think too much of it until my listings were cancelled by eBay and I got in touch with their phone support. I’ve asked them to change the country on my account so that it would match my country of residence (UK), but computer said no. The support agent at the time suggested opening a new account. Which I did.
And this is where this story begins. I dutifully listed those items again on my brand new UK account. Three of my items sold, two were pulled without being given a reason. I only noticed I was blocked from listing new items when I tried to relist one of the two cancelled items. Wondering about that, I got in touch with eBay’s chat support this time. Keep in mind that I was not told by eBay that the items got pulled or that my selling privileges got revoked.
Rahul
Welcome to eBay Live Chat Support. My name is Rahul and please allow me two minutes to read the chat transcript above or if you wish, you may elaborate the concern for me.
tsak
Hello Rahul, how are you?
Rahul
I am perfectly fine . Thank you for asking.
tsak
I was trying to list an item and I was told I wasn’t allowed and to check my messages. There was no message telling me about an account limitation
Rahul
Thank you for sharing your concern. Let me look into the details for you so that we can work towards the best possible resolution.
I’ll need a moment to review all the details. Can I put our chat on hold for 2 minutes while I do this?
tsak
Sure
Rahul
It will take 2 to 3 minutes more to review all the details. Thanks for bearing with me. I’ll be back shortly.
Thank you for staying connected. I appreciate your time and patience on this.
tsak I have reviewed your account and would like to thank you for contacting eBay regarding the suspension of your account. As we mentioned previously, we don’t make decisions like this lightly, so we have spent some time reviewing your case.
I am sorry to say that we have determined your business may not be right for the eBay marketplace. We have observed some risk patterns from your previous transactions, which caused bad buying experiences which were reported to you in the form of warnings. However, there was no change in the selling pattern and as a result, we have to indefinitely restrict your selling privileges in all regions.
tsak
Sorry, I don’t understand.
Rahul
In your case you may not open a new account to sell items with, as that account will also be subject to an indefinite selling restriction. At this point, your account will remain restricted from selling on eBay.
tsak
I registered an eBay account 23 years ago in Germany and used it ever since. Until recently, this wasn’t a problem, even though I moved to the UK and the US and back to the UK in the meantime.
Rahul
I know that this can be a bit disappointing. We try to provide the best environment possible for all sellers on eBay, but we also have requirements for sellers to remain on the site. Without these requirements, there is no way for our sellers or us to remain competitive and successful.
tsak
eBay customer support suggested that I should open a new account in the UK as you couldn’t change the country on my original account (tsakkadoo) I also did not receive communication about an account suspension on my UK account
Rahul
Your account is not suspended but it is only restricted for selling.
tsak
How can this restriction be lifted?
I haven’t done anything wrong, so please explain.
I have sold and shipped [link removed]
Two more items are ending today
Rahul
I know this may not be the answer that you were hoping for, but this is our final decision and you won’t be able to do any selling activities on our platform again but you can continue to do the buying activities.
tsak
I would like this to be escalated
Because you did not provide a reason
You didn’t even tell me
Rahul
The decision is final and cannot be uplifted.
tsak
Rahul, please escalate this
You did not inform me, do you understand? There was no communication from eBay
Rahul
Please understand I would be able to help you in I surely have done it till now. But as per the eBay policy your there is no appeal for the same.
tsak
I would like a call back please
Rahul
As this is a chat support help line I cannot arrange a callback for you, but I can guide you with the steps for the same.
tsak
Rahul, you provided no reason and eBay did not inform me about a selling ban. Do you understand that this is not transparent?
And telling me that there is no appeal is rather shocking So what I will do is I will summarise this and post it to Hacker News. Hope your PR department will lift the block afterwards
Rahul
Yes I do understand that, but the decision is final and cannot be changed.
tsak
Of course not :)
Rahul
tsak I would Like to know that if you know this user. tsakkadoo
tsak
It’s my German account (or it was)
eBay support told me that I wasn’t able to sell in the UK anymore, as you couldn’t amend the country on my account
I have moved to the UK in 2005. My account was created in 1999.
It was never a problem, I sold stuff in the UK as well as the US (where I lived from 2008-2014)
Rahul
Our system has determined your account has been linked with this account.
tsak
I was told by eBay support to open a new account in the UK as it was impossible for you to change the country on my old account
tsakkadoo - Account opened in Germany in 1999, used ever since.
tsak - account opened in the UK a week ago thanks to a suggestion by eBay customer support
You (as in eBay support) told me to open a new account, do you understand?
Rahul
tsak the decision is final and we cannot reverse it.
tsak
Rahul, my decision to make this public is final and I cannot reverse it!
Rahul
I know this is not a decision you must be looking for, If I would be able to help you in way I would have done it till now.
tsak
When you have a moment, I suggest you should google the meaning of the word “kafkaesque”
Because of a suggestion eBay support made, my account got cancelled and you are telling me now the decision is final
Therefore I will take the only avenue that is left and will post this to Hacker News to give this the attention it deserves, as your system is broken
Rahul
tsak allow me minute so that I can discuss this with my team and then get back to you.
tsak
Of course
Rahul
Thank you for waiting. tsak as per my discussion I would like to inform you that we can resolve the restriction and issues on both the accounts.
First of all you would need to contact us using the other account.
tsak
I don’t care about the old account. You told me already that the country can’t be changed from Germany to UK
And then it was suggested that I should open a new account
I can’t log into the old account because it got suspended
Rahul
Once we are able to resolve the issues on the other account we would be then able to remove the restrictions from the new account as well. Yes, I understand your point, however as the other account is still suspended we are unable to lift the restrictions.
tsak
So how do you suggest I should lift the suspension on the old account? Given that all your decisions are seemingly final
Rahul
You can simply resolve the suspension on the old account and then everything would be back to normal.
tsak
OK, I will try. But please be advised that I will publish this exchange, given that the situation I am in now was created by eBay support suggesting I should open a new account!
Rahul
tsak I have mentioned once you resolve your suspension from the account your this account will be back to normal.
tsak
So what about that final decision you mentioned earlier?
Rahul
I really apologize for the inconvenience caused to you.
tsak
I would still like to escalate this because your own support told me to open a new account, resulting in this situation!
I followed your suggestion!
Rahul
tsak trust me once you appeal the suspension everything will be back to normal.
tsak
OK, I will contact eBay support yet again
Rahul
We will be glad to assist you then.
Thank you again for using eBay Live Chat. If you’d like to get in contact at a future point, we’ll be happy to help. Have a good day!
