Well, this was an epic fail.

 

I created an eBay account to begin selling.  I used a new account so I could split my personal/buying activity from selling.  I listed my first item a few days ago.  Then I decided I wanted to sell a few duplicates of this same item so I revised the listing.  My revised listing never showed up so I figured it was an eBay search/indexing issue.

 

Then I received an email this morning that my account was suspended due to security reasons.  I figured this was because I used the same email address as my other account, no big deal, I could have them easily change that, right?  I called them this morning and they looked into it.  They said my listing was pulled because I used a stock photo.  I didn't realize that was against their policy (which is my fault for not paying close enough attention to the listing policy).  The customer service rep said my account was suspended from selling indefinitely and it was a final decision.  I'm devastated.  This was my first attempt to sell anything.  I asked to speak to the manager and they put me on hold.  After five minutes they took my phone number and said the manager would call me back.  I'm not very optimistic about the outcome.  I might have ruined my chances at selling anything on eBay in the future.  All because of an honest mistake.

 

This stings.  A lot.  I'm hoping I can get this resolved quickly.  I just don't like the uncertainty.  Has anyone else had a similar experience?  Am I basically screwed?

 

Please help.

I'm reckoning that the Macks' mean GOOD seller friendly. Buttheads and scammers will be shown the door with a boot unless I miss my guess.

 

With a seller friendly environment, more sellers are attracted, which means more competition, better prices for buyers, and lots of good sellers to choose from. I call that pretty buyer friendly and look forward to buying here.

Exactly.  No nonsense, old school eBay sort of thing.  A very nice interface that is attractive and usable.  We will verify people and ask for real photos, charge the lowest price in town and kick out the a-holes quickly.  Charge a fair price and your items will sell and you won't get killed by high commissions.  

Would the classifieds be up and running for this Christmas season?

All of your ebay and paypal accounts will be linked by name, address, ph#, bank a/c, credt card #s, and most importantly IP address. Your original account is toast or will be toast shortly. Nobody in your household or anyone that has logged into their ebay account using your IP address will be able to sell on ebay ever again. The ban is not reversible. You will be able to continue to buy however.

 

If you want to continue to sell on ebay you will need to go stealth. That is the only way.

Would the classifieds be up and running for this Christmas season?

I'm hoping the Beta will be up in October.

Seems like you are taking this very hard. You still have the one account. Just give it a few weeks and throw up a couple of listings and see how it goes. There is no point in trying to talk to them about the one account getting suspended. You are beatings dead horse and bringing additional attention to yourself. Lie low for a few weeks and let it blow over.

Well, Amazon is not that bad... but you need to fill 25 orders in any category september and october, to be able to sell nov, dec, jan

 

For a seller just starting out, Amazon is not that great, particularly around this time of year, because you're competing with much larger resellers and the only way that you can stand out from the crowd is to have the absolute lowest price and even then, you'll only get sales in dribs and drabs.  If you can withstand that for a few years, you may be able to make it work, but there is no way that I could have gotten going if I had relied solely on Amazon at the start.

Seems like you are taking this very hard. You still have the one account. Just give it a few weeks and throw up a couple of listings and see how it goes. There is no point in trying to talk to them about the one account getting suspended. You are beatings dead horse and bringing additional attention to yourself. Lie low for a few weeks and let it blow over.

Please forgive me for thinking that some honesty would help out in this situation. I figured they had all the information they needed to link the two accounts so why not be up front with them?

Yes, I'm taking it hard. I will lay low and report back. Going stealth seems like asking for even more trouble.

I'm not trying to bring additional attention to myself, I'm just looking for help and guidance. I do appreciate the support and suggestions. It's encouraging to know we have options, and come this October, those options might get better.

Please forgive me for thinking that some honesty would help out in this situation. I figured they had all the information they needed to link the two accounts so why not be up front with them?

Yes, I'm taking it hard. I will lay low and report back. Going stealth seems like asking for even more trouble.

I'm not trying to bring additional attention to myself, I'm just looking for help and guidance. I do appreciate the support and suggestions. It's encouraging to know we have options, and come this October, those options might get better.

Sit on your sets for a short period of time. I think the Classifieds will help out many sellers that have been beat up by Amazon and eBay.

Sit on your sets for a short period of time. I think the Classifieds will help out many sellers that have been beat up by Amazon and eBay.

 

Are the classifieds going to be designed to draw buyers from outside of this site? 

this whole thing suck but thanks to you others may avoid this ban hammer.  I think a different banned icon is needed for you, maybe an "e" crossed out

Are the classifieds going to be designed to draw buyers from outside of this site?

Yes. Jeff has some great ideas on this. First things first. Jeff stated to me we are in the home stretch here, basically fine tuning some small issues with his programming team and we will let the Mods play around and look for errors and obvious flaws, then release the Beta to the site's members. We won't charge anything during the Beta and when the Classifieds are running smooth and filled with sets, we will address the advertising and marketing issues.

I have a ton of sets using stock photos from brickset or eBay themselves, so I'm just as shocked. That really is ridiculous, especially being listed as new.

I still would be surprised if you couldn't just create another account with a different email and maybe use your work address or relative's. Still, the principle of why you would even have to go that route would eat at me as well.

Yeah, something sounds real fishy.  I have never heard anyone getting banned because of stock photos.  Maybe you should have been trying to sell counterfeit legos.  That seems to be acceptable.

OP was not banned for a stock photo despite what he heard from the CSR. If you are a new seller you have a very low listing limit and adding the duplicates put the OP over that limit which is a violation of the policy the OP agreed to when he created the account. All ebay sees is a new account getting ready to potentially scam multiple buyers so they ban. OP needs to go research on going stealth if he wants to ever sell on ebay again. Simply creating a new account with a new email will not work. OP needs a new identity or buy a pre-made stealth account if he does not want to set one up himself.

Please forgive me for thinking that some honesty would help out in this situation. I figured they had all the information they needed to link the two accounts so why not be up front with them?

In a fair and equitable world you would be right but that's not the world we live in. My comment about bringing attention to yourself was about you talking to eBay. The more you complain the harder they are going to look at your accounts. Time to disappear and drop off their radar.

OP was not banned for a stock photo despite what he heard from the CSR. If you are a new seller you have a very low listing limit and adding the duplicates put the OP over that limit which is a violation of the policy the OP agreed to when he created the account. All ebay sees is a new account getting ready to potentially scam multiple buyers so they ban. OP needs to go research on going stealth if he wants to ever sell on ebay again. Simply creating a new account with a new email will not work. OP needs a new identity or buy a pre-made stealth account if he does not want to set one up himself.

When I tried to list multiple lots of 10 RI two weeks ago using the eBay app for ipad a pop up appeard telling me that I would exceed my listing limit of $6,800/month. So not sure how the OP could exceed his preset limit?

In a fair and equitable world you would be right but that's not the world we live in. My comment about bringing attention to yourself was about you talking to eBay. The more you complain the harder they are going to look at your accounts. Time to disappear and drop off their radar.

 

My apologies for misunderstanding you.  You are right, the less contact the better.  

 

OP was not banned for a stock photo despite what he heard from the CSR. If you are a new seller you have a very low listing limit and adding the duplicates put the OP over that limit which is a violation of the policy the OP agreed to when he created the account. All ebay sees is a new account getting ready to potentially scam multiple buyers so they ban. OP needs to go research on going stealth if he wants to ever sell on ebay again. Simply creating a new account with a new email will not work. OP needs a new identity or buy a pre-made stealth account if he does not want to set one up himself.

 

I think you and the frog are right - I got the impression the CSR really didn't have all the information, or if they did, they only shared what seemed like a ridiculous excuse (stock photos, for example).  It sounds like they have a whole separate department for this.  She mentioned "Verification" or something.  She was difficult to understand.  In either case, I'm going to try and let this go. I'd hate to have my buying privileges revoked, too.

 

When I tried to list multiple lots of 10 RI two weeks ago using the eBay app for ipad a pop up appeard telling me that I would exceed my listing limit of $6,800/month. So not sure how the OP could exceed his preset limit?

 

I believe the preset limit was $1,000.  I didn't come close to that with my revised listing.  I wonder if the item I listed was on their radar screen for scams?  But that also doesn't make sense because a few other new listings showed up.  All with stock photos.  It probably was a combination of the similar email address and revising the listing a day after I posted it.  I guess it's frustrating because they don't tell you why.  I'm sure that's so they don't expose their tactics.  

 

Time to move on and accept this for what it is: eBay is cracking down hard on sellers.  More disturbing are the stories you read when you google this type of incident.  People with track records of positive feedback and who built a family business selling on eBay, only to have their business essentially closed over night.  That would be tough.  I, on the other hand, am just trying to fund my next Tumbler or Slave I purchase Oh, and I was trying to make my wife happy by demonstrating that I could actually sell something and make a profit.  I guess I failed in that regard.

 

I hope my story can prove to be a lesson learned for other members on this forum.  Life goes on.  I really should build one of these darn sets anyways

Are you by chance behind a firewall shared with others? My only bad run in with ebay involved being linked to "multiple accounts" while I've only had one since starting on ebay in 2000. The CS rep claimed she had "information" to prove otherwise and when I suggested my account must have been compromised and I wanted to escalate to their fraud department, she kept telling me to not use multiple accounts. Later I got an email with some ebay credits. No mention of error or fault on their end.

Next time you speak with them, it might be useful to ask them point blank what is their rate of false positives. No answer will help them since 0% is unattainable in a system that large and any non zero number is admission that there is a chance they made a mistake. And if they insist on 0%, ask them what is the probability of another customer data breach.

For a seller just starting out, Amazon is not that great, particularly around this time of year, because you're competing with much larger resellers and the only way that you can stand out from the crowd is to have the absolute lowest price and even then, you'll only get sales in dribs and drabs.  If you can withstand that for a few years, you may be able to make it work, but there is no way that I could have gotten going if I had relied solely on Amazon at the start.

 

I agree that Amazon is difficult in the beginning. I started with amazon slowly back in mid 2000's while at the same time I was going strong on ebay, which kept me going.  Now for me its reversed.  I too could not rely on amazon sales in those first three years as sales were very lean.  You do have the option of FBA that will jump start your amazon selling.  Fees are high but its something you might want to look into.  

I thought I would resurrect this thread since its been a year since this debacle took place.  I'm happy to report that I'm back on eBay and sales are picking up!  I want to thank everyone in this thread for their advice, reassurance, and support.  It turns out the best advice was just to lay low for a while and use my original account when the time felt right. I started selling on eBay in May.  The summer was slow but things started to really pick up towards the end of August.  So far I've sold a SSD, a Lone Ranger polybag, and a few sets in between. It's been fun a ride so far.

Thanks again to everyone on Brickpicker.  I would have been lost without your advice and input.  What a great community we have here.  I am grateful to be a part of it.