Ebay withholding money and suspended my account!
Summary: arandora initiated a discussion expressing concerns about Ebay withholding their money and suspending their account. sandypebbles, davewil1964, and countessalmirena responded to the issue. Later, arandora followed up on the situation, prompting further engagement from padi*0409, who conversed with both twyngwyn and springyzone about the ongoing issue. The thread reveals community members' shared interest in the matter, although specific resolutions or advice shared in the conversation aren't detailed in the discussion content.
I have been an eBay member for many years and 5 months ago I began selling some e-bike conversion kits.
eBay withheld my funds and I called them to ask why, after several frustrating correspondences with eBay where they were vague about my restrictions
they finally asked to provide evidence that I purchased and sold the kits, which I did and still they did not release
my funds….finally they said they will release my money once all items have been sent….. I waited for all
my items to be sent and yesterday I contacted eBay to ask for
my funds (over $3000) to be release and instead I received a message saying I have been permanently banned from selling….. I have no idea what on earth is going on, as far as I can tell eBay has stolen my money and I need to go lawyers. Can anyone help?
arandora
OP1 year agoThanks for the replies:
Yes I have set up managed payments
Also with regard to the items I have been selling, there are no issue with them, I never sold batteries as stated above due to safety issues which may arise.
With all the correspondence I had with Ebay both on the phone and via messages for the past 3 to 4 months not once have they said why I was restricted and they continued to allow me to sell items. I never had or have had a warning that anything I was doing was wrong as a matter of fact the last correspondence was “when all items are delivered at there final destination, my funds would be released” - Still I didn’t received my funds, so I emailed eBay telling them all items have successfully been delivered and the reply was I have been banned from selling…..
I’m still in shock that this has happened with no explanation from eBay, all my buyers have received there items and I am $4700 out of pocket.
Have contacted ACCC and waiting for a reply, but if anyone here is able to help further that would be appreciated.
padi*0409
·1 year agoRubbish, the kits you were selling INCLUDED batteries.........
Edit. And if you weren't supplying the batteries why are they shown in the listing ?
twyngwyn
·1 year agoSorry, padi…. where does it say/show batteries? I can’t see it?
padi*0409
·1 year agoI assumed the second picture in the gallery was the battery Twyn...............maybe not.............
springyzone
·1 year agoI think you need to contact ebay, get a call back, whatever.
Actually speak with someone.
Don't get into a side argument about being banned from further selling. It sounds as if they have made that decision and the rep is probably just going to dig his heels in. I have not heard of many people being able to reverse that decision. So accept that part of it.
Your focus has to be-how can you arrange to be paid. If the rep goes off on a tangent about you being banned, bring it back into line to say okay, I am banned now, but I am talking about my sales prior to that and I want you to look at the messages I had from ebay then (and show them the one where you were asked to supply buyers with their item.)
Mention that you are now out of pocket and expect them to fulfil what they promised, that they would release funds, because you were never told you could not sell those items, you were given the go ahead, so you expect payment.
Obviously I have no idea why you were banned, but in my opinion if ebay is not going to release funds, or is to ban you from selling again, you deserve some explanation.
sandypebbles
·1 year agoThere is still the issue of you being registered in Australia but your items show as being shipped from China
Which is, I am guessing what trigged the issue
countessalmirena
·1 year agoI am usually sympathetic to dilemmas where an inexperienced seller is detrimentally affected by some unwise decisions due to their lack of knowledge or experience of how eBay works.
I’m struggling to feel sympathy in this case if you are (as the evidence indicates) dropshipping these unbranded, rubbish quality, dangerous, Chinese-churned-out cheap conversion kits, with batteries that are clearly non-compliant with Australian standards.
“There are regulations that apply to the supply of electrical equipment and appliances. The requirements set out in the regulations must be followed. A failure to do so is a criminal offence.”
“Regulations and Standards apply to all electrical equipment sold or offered for supply in Australia. Certain types of equipment are classified as prescribed. These pieces of equipment must go through a certification process which ensures the equipment is compliant to the relevant safety standards before being offered for supply in Australia.”
“Regulatory Compliance Mark (RCM)
Prescribed electrical products must have an RCM on the appliance or an Australian approval number to show that the product has been certified.
This mark is currently recognised by all States and Territories of Australia.”
As pointed out, the news is full of reports of battery-related fires, especially referencing e-bikes – causing deaths.
YOU as the seller are responsible for going through and paying the (very costly) required amount for the testing and approval process. Have you done that?
And as far as the 3rd party fulfilment is concerned, you should have read and been fully aware of the T&Cs contained in the relevant policy page (linked by sandypebbles in reply to you).
The reason why I am being tough here is because this is potentially so much worse than an eBay policy violation. People’s lives are at stake.
Know what you’re doing; don’t cut corners; there’s no such thing as a free lunch; etc.
But as for your money, while you could try to claim it through the courts or legal avenues in Australia, you may be facing legal action if what you’ve sold to buyers has not been certified as required, if any damage or injury resulted from the use of these kits, and so on. The fines you may face will probably dwarf the profit you currently don’t have, and as it’s a criminal matter, gaol time may be a consequence.
I hope that you will at least think about this, and learn this mantra: a Chinese seller/factory owner/manufacturer will tell you what you want to hear, and that includes flat-out lying to you, but ultimately you’re responsible under Australian law. If it looks too good to be true… you know the drill.
davewil1964
·1 year agoIf you are drop shipping from China, there are several issues you would have had to address.
As the importer, have you obtained certification that the kits are compliant with Australian Standards? There are almost weekly reports on the news of bodgy batteries causing significant property, and sometimes human, damage.
Have you, as mentioned, signed up for Managed Payments?
Did you 'post' the items when required to?
While I sympathise with your financial loss, I feel that you have tried to game the system and have been rightly caught out.
sandypebbles
·1 year agoFirst thing that comes to mind is because your completed listings show the sold items were being sent from China and you are registered in Australia
So using a third party/drop shipping/items being listed that were not in your possession at time of listing being frowned upon by eBay
That is what it looks like in any case
Anything here?
Third-party fulfilment policy | eBay
As an aside, did you fully complete sign up to Managed Payments and be verified to sell first ?
Folks here are not lawyers, so if that is what you feel you need to do, do so