I just want to share below youtube video, so everyone can be careful when selling on eBay. Basically, the guy on the video suddenly generated about $2.5M sales and was not able to provide invoices. This could happen with anybody sourcing items via garage sales/thrift stores/estate sales, etc. 

 

Edited April 13, 20223 yr by airhanny

I was permanently banned 2 years ago after selling some expensive coins (all PCGS verified). They also banned my family members by association. (seller accounts, I could still buy)

Called/emailed/chatted about 100 times over 2 years with zero luck. Its a back office with no way to reach I was told.

Then one day I found a sympathethic rep who agreed to email the back office on my behalf. 

A few days later I received an email from said office saying they couldnt let me back on.

Emailed them back quickly with my arguments, and a few hours later they let me back on!

Lesson is, be persistent.

10 minutes ago, Bricklectic said:

I was permanently banned 2 years ago after selling some expensive coins (all PCGS verified). They also banned my family members by association. (seller accounts, I could still buy)

Called/emailed/chatted about 100 times over 2 years with zero luck. Its a back office with no way to reach I was told.

Then one day I found a sympathethic rep who agreed to email the back office on my behalf. 

A few days later I received an email from said office saying they couldnt let me back on.

Emailed them back quickly with my arguments, and a few hours later they let me back on!

Lesson is, be persistent.

What was the reason? You said the coins were verified.

1 minute ago, airhanny said:

What was the reason? You said the coins were verified.

I never got a clear  explanation.

Im 99% sure its because I presold about 20 gold coins for about 2k each.

I shipped them out in a timely fashion, however -

A few weeks afterwards they asked me for invoices for the coins - which I didnt have - because I bought them from friends and family who bought it form the mint.

(Some of you may recall the deals on the nonlego daily deal thread - they were limit one per household so i bought some off friends and family)

Basically, it was high risk, and it makes sense that ebay was concerned about invoices and authenticity. 

So I cant blame them for banning me.

But ultimately, everything I sold was certified by PCGS (World leader in coin authentication) so even without invoices, there wasnt any risk.

Although I guess ebay can also say that it was faked authentication.

 

32 minutes ago, Bricklectic said:

I never got a clear  explanation.

Im 99% sure its because I presold about 20 gold coins for about 2k each.

I shipped them out in a timely fashion, however -

A few weeks afterwards they asked me for invoices for the coins - which I didnt have - because I bought them from friends and family who bought it form the mint.

(Some of you may recall the deals on the nonlego daily deal thread - they were limit one per household so i bought some off friends and family)

Basically, it was high risk, and it makes sense that ebay was concerned about invoices and authenticity. 

So I cant blame them for banning me.

But ultimately, everything I sold was certified by PCGS (World leader in coin authentication) so even without invoices, there wasnt any risk.

Although I guess ebay can also say that it was faked authentication.

 

There are similarities here.

That youtuber sold a bunch of high end / limited edition shoes and could not provide invoice that was acceptable to eBay.  He bought those shoes from friends' private collections.

57 minutes ago, Bricklectic said:

I presold

And yet you did not learn your lesson? Isn't a big risk you take in continuing to presell stuff? Yes, you can make more money in the short term but in the long run if you get banned again you can’t sell these items on Amazon. 

Edited April 14, 20223 yr by Pseudoty

7 minutes ago, Pseudoty said:

And yet you did not learn your lesson? Isn't a big risk you take in continuing to presell stuff? Yes, you can make more money in the short term but in the long run if you get banned again you can’t sell these items on Amazon. 

I guess youre referencing my presale of castle in forests. Yes, it was probably unwise. My calculus was that theyre not high value items and i have direct receipts for them (at least 5 of them) but yeah, im gunna tread more lightly after seeing that 2.5M seller KO'd with no possibility of readmission.

Edited April 14, 20223 yr by Bricklectic

Basically, selling on eBay has to be slowly increasing the sales. When there is a big gap in sales, it's a red flag. Now I'm afraid to sell all LEGOs I recently got for 60% off retail. I paid in cash, and I do not have invoice.

On 4/13/2022 at 9:09 PM, airhanny said:

 Now I'm afraid to sell all LEGOs I recently got for 60% off retail. I paid in cash, and I do not have invoice.

You don't keep your receipts?

You don't keep your receipts?

Basically a case of paying cash for sets that are 60% off … and turning a blind eye to the possibility you are buying stolen goods.

2 hours ago, Phil B said:

Basically a case of paying cash for sets that are 60% off … and turning a blind eye to the possibility you are buying stolen goods.

And I could not blame eBay for trying to maintain some kind of order on their site.  Even tough they have let these kind of things slide for years.

7 hours ago, Darth_Raichu said:

And I could not blame eBay for trying to maintain some kind of order on their site.  Even tough they have let these kind of things slide for years.

early on in my resale start I asked the question here, "are we scalpers?"

now I find myself asking something else...are we a part of a fencing or laundering operation?

13 hours ago, Phil B said:

Basically a case of paying cash for sets that are 60% off … and turning a blind eye to the possibility you are buying stolen goods.

Pretty much what I was getting at. But yes, this.

Then critical about Ebay possibly banning because they are banning for this exact reason.

20 hours ago, Phil B said:

Basically a case of paying cash for sets that are 60% off … and turning a blind eye to the possibility you are buying stolen goods.

Possibility?

21 hours ago, $20 on joe vs dan said:

now I find myself asking something else...are we a part of a fencing or laundering operation?

It depends. I know where my items came from with receipts to prove them.  Do you?

8 hours ago, Darth_Raichu said:

It depends. I know where my items came from with receipts to prove them.  Do you?

Do we, though? How exactly are we supposed to judge the validity of an invoice or receipt when one can be generated online within minutes to say anything? It's also incredibly easy to set up a cloned storefront online and register an LLC shell. We see these scams pop up on social media daily for "too good to be true" deals/ store fronts. To further complicate things, a receipt from Ebay or Offerup for a "too good to be true" sale is what we consider valid?

I think the marketplaces are well-intentioned for asking for proof, but the whole exercise is pointless when the vast majority of invoices/ receipts are not even given human review or when they are it is by a non-native English speaker working in India who risks being fired for taking too long to make a judgement call and certainly doesn't have the time to follow up with information (e.g. phone calls, emails, etc.) 

31 minutes ago, Mark Twain said:

Do we, though? How exactly are we supposed to judge the validity of an invoice or receipt when one can be generated online within minutes to say anything? It's also incredibly easy to set up a cloned storefront online and register an LLC shell. We see these scams pop up on social media daily for "too good to be true" deals/ store fronts. To further complicate things, a receipt from Ebay or Offerup for a "too good to be true" sale is what we consider valid?

I think the marketplaces are well-intentioned for asking for proof, but the whole exercise is pointless when the vast majority of invoices/ receipts are not even given human review or when they are it is by a non-native English speaker working in India who risks being fired for taking too long to make a judgement call and certainly doesn't have the time to follow up with information (e.g. phone calls, emails, etc.) 

 Then we are doomed ☠️ 💩

At some point, there will be too many bad apples in the barrel, somebody might decide to throw away the whole barrel with everything in it...

.. until that time you are all stuck with my bad takes and my bad jokes

 

2 hours ago, Mark Twain said:

Do we, though? How exactly are we supposed to judge the validity of an invoice or receipt when one can be generated online within minutes to say anything? It's also incredibly easy to set up a cloned storefront online and register an LLC shell. We see these scams pop up on social media daily for "too good to be true" deals/ store fronts. To further complicate things, a receipt from Ebay or Offerup for a "too good to be true" sale is what we consider valid?

I think the marketplaces are well-intentioned for asking for proof, but the whole exercise is pointless when the vast majority of invoices/ receipts are not even given human review or when they are it is by a non-native English speaker working in India who risks being fired for taking too long to make a judgement call and certainly doesn't have the time to follow up with information (e.g. phone calls, emails, etc.) 

I generated paypal invoices for my purchases from friends and ebay rejected them Not saying I took the time to make the most sophisticated ones but my point is that they do review them

I generated paypal invoices for my purchases from friends and ebay rejected them Not saying I took the time to make the most sophisticated ones but my point is that they do review them

If eBay is anything like Amazon, then their algorithms and human review criteria generally demand invoices and receipts that meet their specific requirements and I’ve had many valid ones rejected because the data wasn’t formatted to meet their exacting standards. The point I’m attempting to make is valid or invalid don’t really matter when it is left up to marketplaces to judge based on their own internal policies. Amazon literally invites sellers to alter invoices by redacting pricing info and adding FNSKU numbers and item category info directly onto the invoice.

I’m guessing this is why the shady marketplace gurus have such a strong presence—once you crack the code anything can pass their review. And it looks like very few people care about rolling the dice with the threat of account deactivation but submitting altered documents.


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34 minutes ago, Mark Twain said:

If eBay is anything like Amazon, then their algorithms and human review criteria generally demand invoices and receipts that meet their specific requirements and I’ve had many valid ones rejected because the data wasn’t formatted to meet their exacting standards. The point I’m attempting to make is valid or invalid don’t really matter when it is left up to marketplaces to judge based on their own internal policies. Amazon literally invites sellers to alter invoices by redacting pricing info and adding FNSKU numbers and item category info directly onto the invoice.

I’m guessing this is why the shady marketplace gurus have such a strong presence—once you crack the code anything can pass their review. And it looks like very few people care about rolling the dice with the threat of account deactivation but submitting altered documents.


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I am in the wrong business.  I can probably make more money by cracking Amazon's code that searches for missing FBA inventory... 🤔

Darn it, I need to start practicing some weird faces for the tumbnails of my Youtube videos....