fees

[frasehemingway-ihl0]

I had an item listed for auction and received a bid on it, however before the payment could go through, ebay removed the item (a ww2 german helmet) for violating their hateful items policy and deleted the listing. I have since been charged an insertion fee of $100.

This seems utterly ridiculous for me to be charged by ebay for an item that sold and they then removed before I could finalise the sale. 

Do I have reasonable grounds to not pay this fee? I understand the item was "sold" on their system but they were also the ones who removed it and blocked the sale..................

[bimberiretrosystems]

There are tons of mein kampf books for sale  it seems that some sellers are more equal than others.

Ebay macht frei.

[pancaket52]

Did you have Best Offer activated on your Listing? 

Ebay have been activating Best Offer on listings - sometimes without a Sellers knowledge.

The fact that the item is in your sold list looks like the 'offer ' has been accepted and  that it has been bought by the bidder.

Ebay would automatically remove it from sale if the offer met your threshold.

If the buyer is not responding - try opening a Non Paid Item case ( Drop Dowwn Box on Right of Page) to get your fees back.

[padi*0409]

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@pancaket52 wrote:

Did you have Best Offer activated on your Listing? 

Ebay have been activating Best Offer on listings - sometimes without a Sellers knowledge.

The fact that the item is in your sold list looks like the 'offer ' has been accepted and  that it has been bought by the bidder.

Ebay would automatically remove it from sale if the offer met your threshold.

If the buyer is not responding - try opening a Non Paid Item case ( Drop Dowwn Box on Right of Page) to get your fees back.

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The helmet you're seeing pancake was an auction back in March, so I'd say that's not the helmet the OP is referring to.

If it is the item in question the the time period for a UPI dispute has well and truely past.

[anotherpancake52]

You're right Padi - that  listing had already been removed once by ebay - (written in description) - and he'd obviously relisted.

Thought he may have just got his April account for the Fees.

I can't see any other listings for this item - removed, sold or otherwise.

[countessalmirena]

@frasehemingway-ihl0,

You have of course violated eBay's policy in listing the helmet. (Ours not to reason why; I don't consider that uniforms etc. are so hateful that their possession or sale is a matter for outrage, but on the other hand I could certainly understand that someone who has been through imprisonment, degradation, punishment, deprivation, and/or loss of family/friends under the hands of any particular group or military unit, etc., would feel the bitter after-effects on seeing some items and uniforms which would remind them of that trauma. It is a vexed question as there is historical value and insight in the paraphernalia of any such group, while we acknowledge the possibility of a traumatic flashback or other negative mental and emotional response to those items by people who lived through the times associated with those paraphernalia.)

Anyway, the point is that you haven't sold the item, and should therefore not have to pay a final value fee. If you're being charged an insertion fee of $100, that is another thing altogether. I cannot find any reference to an arbitrary after-the-fact insertion fee being charged if someone lists what is classed as "offensive material". eBay have the right to remove your listing, and of course to charge you the usual insertion fee for the category in which the item was listed, but unless eBay have specifically informed users that listing "offensive material" will result in an insertion fee of $100 being charged, as well as the item being removed, they have no right to charge you the fee.

Are you sure it's an insertion fee? It's not a final value fee?

At any rate, were I you, I'd contact eBay directly to clarify and seek a reference to where in eBay's policies or UA it states that such a fee will be charged. Be ultra-polite and courteous, and don't lose your cool. Be prepared to repeat your position over and over again, without any hint of exasperation. Don't hang up until it's resolved to your satisfaction. eBay's "Have us call you" option is by far the best way to get in touch with eBay. (Emails are useless, for a number of reasons, but primarily because the responses, when they are finally sent, are bot-generated. eBay chat is also not what I'd recommend for any tricky issue, as the responders are low-level CS reps without the power to make decisions.)

eBay say: We'll call you at the phone number registered to your account, or you can enter a different number.

We’re available from 8am to 10pm AET, 7 days a week.