Mis-Categorised Listing

[clarry100]

We have a product which is a foot decoration for babies. Could be for boys or girls.

They are commonly known as foot flowers. Also known as barefoot sandals.

They have two loop bands that wrap around the ankle and under the arch of the foot with an embellishment on top.

We have been listing these items in Baby > Baby Shoes for some time now.

There are many sellers predominantly from China who also list the same item types into this category.

They say they should be in Baby > Baby Clothing > Girls > Outfits, Sets. Seems wrong to me. The above seems a better match.

Today we received a policy listing violation notice that says they have ended our listing and threatened to close our account if we continue to list in this category. There are still several more of our items listed in this category as they have been for some time now. So far no messages about those.

There are some 33,000+ listings in this category and possibly many hundreds of these foot flowers.

I find this totally bizarre that we have been singled out while the many other sellers still have their items listed.

This has the potential to crash our already dismal sales because it is pa policy violation.

Is there any recourse for such actions by ebay? They are clearly inconsistent in the application of the rules. Is it because I post in here? Is it because I signed the petition?

Is it any wonder we want to leave ebay when you get treated this way. Seems like just another action that says ebay wants the small time sellers out of here.

[davewil1964]

I have had success in getting a policy violation overturned. It took 6 weeks though.

Back then you could email Trust and Safety directly; I'm not sure that this is possible these days. But contacting T&S is the only real avenue you have.

I suspect a competitor reported your listing, but all you can really do is contact T&S, give your side of the story and hope that they see reason.

[*crikey*mate*]

my guess clarry - a competitor has reported you

[davewil1964]

Second place. Again

[*crikey*mate*]

Spoiler

[clarry100]

I will call them in the morning about this.

Seems that if they have ended our listing then they have to be consistent and end the 100's of other listings just like ours that are also in this same category.

I have a feeling tho I will have to insist on speaking with a supervisor to get anything other than the trained robot response.

[clarry100]

...Either that or we have to spend many hours reporting these 100's of other listings to get them taken down as well.

Might even try reporting one to see if it disappears. Pick on a Chinese seller as they are by far the biggest offender.

If I report it for the same thing it should you would think.

[davewil1964]

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@clarry100 wrote:

...Either that or we have to spend many hours reporting these 100's of other listings to get them taken down as well.

Might even try reporting one to see if it disappears. Pick on a Chinese seller as they are by far the biggest offender.

If I report it for the same thing it should you would think.

---

That's the theory.

I regularly report a particular couple of mega booksellers who consistently claim their items are in Australia, when the fine print ALWAYS states they will have to come from the publisher (in the USA). And if they DID have the advertised quantities of all their listings in stock, their warehouse would be visible from the Moon. And there would be no houses in Lane Cove.

Nothing gets done, though. All you can really do is get your decision overturned.

[clarry100]

Have just now re-listed the item into the category they have suggested even tho we believe it does not match as well.

OK. Thanks Dave. Will just take a deep breath and sleep on it overnight then do the call tomorrow and try to keep emotion out of it.

For our stuff we don't believe that buyers search by trolling down thru categories anyway. They type in some words they are looking for and click search. So it really could be in any category and the search result would be the same really.

[chameleon54]

I have had an account suspended for seven days for the same offence. ( no warning or prior offences either )  The item was a specialist new old stock part for 1920,s stationary engines & vintage tractors. It was listed in stationary engine catagory, but ebay in their wisdom decided it should be in modern car components with Holden and Falcon parts. This would not have been reported as no-one else had the part for sale then or since. I had previously sold three other identical items all in the stationary engine catagory and all going overseas after animated bidding to stationary engine enthusiests. . It was crazy stuff, but no amount of discussion with customer support ( including superviser ) helped. I have not relisted the item since. It has left me a bit concerned about the impact some of ebays "strange" decisions can have on my business and has left me feeling a bit vulnerable. I would tread carefully on this one Clarry. Good Luck.