I got my account restricted [MC011] and someone else got their account restricted because of me

[leawinter84_seller]

First and foremost, hello fellw eBayers, this is actually my first post here. Most of the time I usually just read through everyone's posts here but this time I think I really need some advice on what to do as this situation is quite peculiar. Also I have to apologise for the wall of text in advance!

So..., just some background information about my account, I've been a member since early 2013 and most of the items I've sold consist of laptops/gadgets/games and PC parts. 

Now, my account's performance is excellent.

- My current seller level is Top Rated 

- My transaction defect rate is 0.49% (only 1 out of 204 transactions)

- Late shipment rate is literally 0%

- Cases closed without seller resolution is also 0%

- My return rate is 1.49%, which is 3 out of 201 transactions. 

With that kind of performance, the last thing I thought I would get from eBay is a restriction but here I am, getting restricted for some reason. 

My eBay account got retricted (MC011 - I can still buy things but I can't sell) on 6th of September 2019 and eBay emailed me this:

A review of your eBay account has raised some concern that your use of services may not meet the guidelines in eBay's User Agreement. As a result, we've taken the following action on your account:
- Selling privileges have been temporarily restricted. You won't be able to list new items. You're also not allowed to register a new account.
- Some or all of your listings may have been removed. A list of any removed items will be listed further down in this email..
- We have credited all associated fees except for the final value fee for your listing(s).

To help you be a successful seller and ensure a safe experience on eBay, we sometimes restrict selling activity, end active items, or suspend accounts until additional information can be verified or obtained. These actions are not necessarily meant to be a reflection of your account's activity, but rather a preventative measure.

To learn more about eBay's User Agreement, go to:
http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/policies/user-agreement.html

To appeal this restriction, please review the following guidelines:
-- Provide proof of delivery for all of the items sold on your eBay account. This may be in the form of feedback left from buyers. If you prefer, you can submit tracking numbers for each of the items posted. This will help show buyers more of your selling history and will also allow us to confirm that your items have been posted.

If you'd like to fax the tracking information, send it here:
eBay
Attention: SRM Appeals
(801) 880-7018

To upload tracking to my eBay:
1. Go to My eBay. You may need to sign in.
2. In the "Activity" tab, click the "Sold" link..
3. Select the item(s) for uploading.
4. Click the "Add tracking number" button.You'll be redirected to the Add/Edit/Delete Tracking number page, where you can enter tracking numbers for the selected carrier.
5. Enter the tracking information.

If you use Selling Manager Pro to manage your orders:
1. Go to Selling Manager Pro > Sold.
2. Select the appropriate item(s).
3. Click the "Add Tracking Number" button.

When you submit the tracking number, it will be displayed below the item in My eBay "Sold" (for the seller), My eBay "Won" (for the buyer), and the View Order Details page (for both seller and buyer).

So, first of all, right after I got this email from eBay I replied to the email on that very same day and I've attached 4 Australia Post postage receipts along with my email as proof of tracking number/postage of my items. However, this was more than a week ago (on 6th of September 2019) and I still haven't got any reply or update ever since. 

I've already contacted another eBay representative 2 days ago (on 12th of September 2019) asking them for an update and after waiting for another 2 days I called them today and I've sent them another email asking for a follow up and I've attached another proof of Australia Post postage receipt that I have. 

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Now, as if it's not bad enough, an acquaintance of mine who has a completely different eBay account somehow got restricted today as well. I talked to him and apparently after he asked eBay on why his account got restricted, it appears that eBay restricted the account because his account is somehow related to my eBay account. 

This isn't true AT ALL because his eBay account:

- is under a completely different name

- has a different phone number associated with it

- it's associated with his home address/email address which are completely different from mine

- is associated with a different PayPal account. 

However, we used to live together years ago and maybe that's why his account got restricted as my eBay account was still under his address? I don't know...., I remember that I changed my eBay account's address right away after I moved out. 

Now I've called eBay again just recently asking them to find a supervisor who can call me back but at this point I don't know what else I can do 😞 

Is there anyone who's been through similar situation? Any advice will be appreciated!

[*tippy*toes*]

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@davewil1964 wrote:

Only for mugs. Sensible people would buy at BIN for a guaranteed price.

Back when I did auctions, I was often bemused by the prices I got for not particularly rare or desirable books. Often more than the same books were available at BIN. I was happy for the results, but it didn't make the buyers astute or sensible.

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I haven't bought anything for bleams, but most of the stuff I buy is auctions, because that's pretty much all there is. If I like the look of an item, I'll add it to my watch list. I will put a note under it of the most I am willing to pay for it. If it's still under that as it's coming to an end, I will bid my maximum in the last 2-5 seconds. If I win, great, if I don't, then someone was willing to pay more for it. By bidding late, I'm not giving shillers the chance to bump up the price any further. 

I have seen people that have to win at all costs. They will keep bidding way over what the item is worth, because they don't want to lose. I have been known to add a few extra bids to increase the price more. I guess that could be shill bidding, but without the seller knowing! 

Mr Tippy only BIN's. If there's a collectable he wants at auction he gets me to bid on it. No idea why!

[davewil1964]

 No idea why!

He's not a mug?

[*tippy*toes*]

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@davewil1964 wrote:

 No idea why!

He's not a mug?

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Yeah, he is. I think because once he bid on an auction and forgot a decimal point. I told him I always bid obscure amounts, like $26.86. He wanted to bid between $50 and $60 and ended up with a bid for something like $5882. He ended up paying way more than he intended because bidding kept going until the end. I think it was close to $150. He paid it. Thankfully it was a collectable, which are increasing in price, so I've forgiven him.

[brerrabbit585]

My biggest concern is whether their shilling is an indication of other deceptive practices they may indulge in. Like the person who boasted a few days that they gain the trust of their PO staff and then slip a 520g satchel through as 500g. Do they treat their buyers the same as they treat their PO?

[countessalmirena]

What an individual does when no one is looking is an indicator of that person's integrity.

Integrity can be developed; I do believe that. Dishonesty is not only an innate "seed" or potential in human beings, but also it's learned behaviour and learned attitudes, which (in my view) means that integrity, which is also a potential, can be developed. However, it's a little like rolling a stone up a hill and then letting it roll down a hill. The potential (±)integrity is high when there's a downward slope awaiting someone, and work has to be performed to increase integrity by the moral equivalent of rolling a stone uphill.

Re shill-bidding... in some cultures it is not illegal and not regarded as dishonest. I am seeing in my mind's eye a dusty day in Mesopotomia, where elegant pots from Egypt, filled with fine oil from the Land Between, and silks from the eastern trade routes cover the surface of brightly coloured stalls in the marketplace. Grains and spices and meats and so on are also sold, and men and women come to buy their goods, as well as luxury items. One cunning-eyed merchant shouts out, "Freekeh! Buy your grains here! Only one shekel for three measures!"

A crowd hurries to buy from this merchant, for that is a good price. None of them spot the sharp-eyed merchant's false weight which makes it seem that the buyer is buying much more than is actually the case...

A few stalls away, another clever merchant is shouting out, "Fine, wondrous silks! Oh, the travails of the journey which these silks took - let me tell you of the monsters which the caravan encountered, and the tale of the desert thieves who attempted to make off with whole skeins of my silks, and of my son, the brave Mikhel, who discovered their plot and fought them off... and how the caravan made its way through the terrible Anamenh Pass which is guarded by the Hittites who killed the garrison guarding the pass... all for the sake of these silks, brighter than the sun, finer than the weaving of a spider, delicate as the blush of a maiden... Oh! You will not find finer or more beautiful silks anywhere in the world!"

A richly robed man cries out, "Oh, these are certainly fine silks! The colours, the weight and flow... I must have several lengths!"

Another figure, a slightly stout woman this time, casts her enigmatic dark eyes upon the silks and shouts, "It is indeed wondrous fine! I too must have some lengths, so that I may sew a beautiful robe for my husband, and make for myself a robe the colour of lapis lazuli!"

Drawn by the merchant's mellifluous voice, the magic of his tales, the endorsement of these two buyers, as much as by the promise that these silks were finer than any other, both men and women hurry to crowd around his stall to buy silks... while a silk merchant five stalls over looks on, disgruntled, with silk of exactly the same quality.

Later, of course, the richly robed man and the dark-eyed woman are well-paid by the merchant. "We have done well," murmurs the merchant, counting his gold.

There does seem to me a difference in kind between these two examples. The false weight is unambiguously cheating. The use of stooges or shills to make an item seem more enticing and more in demand may be morally questionable but it's not the same sort of cheating as the false weight; it's more in shaping other people's perceptions by making something seem to be in higher demand than it actually is.

Perhaps the buyers who are drawn to the silk merchant are the same sort of people who are easily persuaded by scams... or are caught up in auctions to the point of bidding far more than an item is worth... or are susceptible to advertising tactics...

These are just some points to contemplate. I'm not passing a judgement.

(My view on shill-bidding on eBay is not shaped solely by shill-bidding in isolation, but shill-bidding in an eBay context. That means that the fact that it's prohibited by eBay affects my view on shill-bidding on eBay.)

[brerrabbit585]

I've seen far worse shill bidding at livestock auctions, the difference there being that it's the buyers who determine the starting price, not the seller.  At least on ebay the sellers have the ability to set the starting price at what they want to get.

Your tale of false weights reminded me of a little story I heard.  I may have told it before but I can't remember.  A dairyfarmer used to sell his butter to the local baker.  One day the baker came to him and complained that his blocks of butter weighed less than they should have.  The farmer insisted they were the correct weight.  In the end the baker took him to court.  At one stage in the proceedings the baker got out his scales to prove that the butter was under weight.  The farmer said he didn't have any weights for his scales.  When the judge asked how did he weigh his butter the farmer replied, "I use one of the baker's 1kg loaves."  

I know a few people who think it's okay to steal from big corporations but not from individuals, but every time something is stolen someone else has to pay for it.  When I worked as a door lady at Big W I used to get people telling me not much would be stolen.  Yeah, right.  They used to steal DVD players and video recorders, not to mention all the small stuff.  We're all paying more because of the thieves.

[springyzone]

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@davewil1964 wrote:

Only for mugs. Sensible people would buy at BIN for a guaranteed price.

Back when I did auctions, I was often bemused by the prices I got for not particularly rare or desirable books. Often more than the same books were available at BIN. I was happy for the results, but it didn't make the buyers astute or sensible.

---

Not so sure about that.

It can actually be a bit of fun to buy at auction and can give you a sense of achievement if you feel you bought at a good price. (speaking here as a buyer though I am sure it did the same for you as a seller when you got high prices by people going mad.)

A buyer is only a mug if they pay way too much and they regret it later. There are times at auctions where a buyer may get something for quite a bit less than they expected to pay.

I get a bit of the same feeling of satisfaction when I see something as Buy it now or best offer and I make an offer and get it a fraction cheaper.

As for integrity, I have most confidence in those sellers who treat buyers the way I imagine they themselves would like to be treated.

Not special treatment as such, but just dealt with honestly, fairly, with respect and no cynical little games trying to gouge money from them under any false pretenses.

[digital*ghost]

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@countessalmirena wrote:

There does seem to me a difference in kind between these two examples. The false weight is unambiguously cheating. The use of stooges or shills to make an item seem more enticing and more in demand may be morally questionable but it's not the same sort of cheating as the false weight; it's more in shaping other people's perceptions by making something seem to be in higher demand than it actually is.

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Yes - one is a physical deception, the other is a psychological deception.

To downplay the severity of it compared to other types of deception, or to cast judgement / blame on the people who are susceptible to it seems a bit off-colour to me. (And I'm not saying that's what you've done, I'm just using your post / quote as a springboard for what I wanted to say). 

[countessalmirena]

I know what you mean - and agree that someone who's been fooled by a deception is not culpable. It seems horrible that we should learn to be wary, that advertising is a cynical manipulation based on the idea that adults can sort-of see behind the techniques (even though children are acknowledged not to be fair targets for the sort of manipulation because they cannot distinguish between fact and advertising)... 

I don't have sympathy with the view (and I'm speaking generally) that because someone can be fooled, it's okay to fool them. In my view, we ought to be as honest towards others as we expect or want others to be honest with us. I do believe that we ought to be vigilant against these sorts of deceptions - for our own sake, because we can't rely on the universal morality and empathy of others (in particular those who are engaged in sharp practice). 

With shill bidding, I suppose the best guard is for a buyer to have their own invisible maximum. Sometimes it's extremely difficult to be sure that shill bidding is happening. When in doubt, I would walk away...