posted on July 9, 2001 08:28:37 AM new
I am curious about something.
1. Does ebay look for TOS violations or just rely on requests to investigate?
2. Is it their policy to warn a seller for violations, or simply pull the plug?
I recently had 9 listings cancelled abruptly with no warning(which were coming along nicely) because my picture hosting ad was too big and my Bidpay logo was flashing. I didn't rig them, I used their html, I assumed it complied with ebay standards. This was obviously an innocent mistake that I would have gladly corrected. What do I care about a few extra pixels? (Lucky for me they chose to yank them on free listing day. I have now removed all banners except PayPal, including BillPoint, which they didn't seem to have a problem with.)
I talked with another seller who got off with a only a warning becuase of stating there was a 3% charge for PayPal.
What gives? Why a warning for them and not me? And was ebay on the hunt for violators or was I reported?
posted on July 9, 2001 08:47:46 AM new
I am pretty sure they act only on complaints. Your problem has arisen before. Apparently different folks at ebay have different standards and can unilatorily do what they wish, such as warn or terminate. IF you weren't warned before, you shouldn't have been just terminated, imho. We need to get ebay to clarify these procedures.
posted on July 9, 2001 09:58:56 AM new
I don't think they have a set rule for warning or terminate.
I have been warned to change some wording in my auctions without bids, but they left the ones with bids complete.
I have been warned (asked) to change the wording describing something I listed (instead of tortise trimmed I had to say FAKE tortise trimmed).
There may be general guidelines they follow, banners vs. words, amount of selling you do, or it may depend upon who get the complaint and the mood they are in that day.
Yes, I am almost certain you were reported because that's the only way they notice.
posted on July 9, 2001 10:32:16 AM new
A notice was posted by my auction mangagement site(auctionflow) that ebay would begin enforcing "innapropriate links" rules on May 31. This is what my terminations were classified as.
I really hope that that is what happened to me. I would hate to think someone complained. The infractions were so small it would really take someone on a mission to notice.
I'm not complaining about ebay. I take my lumps when I'm wrong. It was just annoying since it wasn't intentional- and when they yank the listing, it's gone without a trace- I had to do all new descriptions and re-measure everything. Not to mention it could make me look shady to bidders when the plug is pulled.
After giving it some thougt, I think they are going after violations that affect their own bottom line, not so much the ones that hurt bidders. (I probably should have posted under a different name).
Quick, someone check my listings and tell me if I have any no-no's.
posted on July 9, 2001 10:43:12 AM new
Yes, they refunded the listing fees, thank God. But I had a lot of bids, and I think I didn't do as well on the second round. I think it scared some people off. When they yank an auction they send scary messages to bidders saying the auction was terminated becuase seller was in violation of ebay rules, but they don't tell them why. For all the bidder knows, it was for selling illegal or fake stuff.
posted on July 9, 2001 01:26:41 PM new
I have also heard on good authority that ebay will shut down auctions if a competing seller who gives them more business complains about you. I was selling for over two years in a category that had almost no competition. Suddenly they shut me down. They told me that my link to c2it was more than ten words. I fixed it and relisted. They shut me down again. This time they said I was guilty of keyword spamming because I mentioned the name of the camera my batteries fit even though I wasnt selling the camera. I went through a several week back-and-forth with them, pointing out that every auction for a battery or part must mention what it fits. I cant very well list "battery for unknown item." Eventually, they agreed and I relisted. They shut me down again. This time they said I couldnt mention that C2it was giving $10 back. Why hadnt they mentioned this before? Someone here suggested that I was probably turned in by a competing seller. Guess what? There was suddenly another seller, offering the same item (at twice the starting price) who had much higher feedback. Coincidence?
Well, that other seller's items closed without winning bids. He stopped listing. I went back and suddenly, ebay has no problems with my auctions. Coincidence?
posted on July 9, 2001 01:37:19 PM new
Keyword spamming is abused a lot, but that example is rediculous. It would seem the kind of camera the batteries work with is completely relevant. I can imagine the rash of emails you would recieve without posting that info.
posted on July 9, 2001 02:46:29 PM new
Pretty soon we won't even be able to say what brand item we are selling. Is it ok to mention brands in the about me page?
. I have now removed all banners except PayPal, including BillPoint, which they didn't seem to have a problem with.)