Registered business restricted due to not adding tracking number on 2 items!?

[the-furniture-trader]

I have been running eBay stores for various business and I have started a store for my own business.

I sold 2 items, sent them off and customers were very happy with there items.

Due to it being furniture we use our courier to deliver it to our customers, and then I contacted them to make sure it arrived safely - it did.

eBay then restricted my account for not adding a tracking number.. Never in my life have I had to add a tracking number for things ive sold.

Then I had to provide the following information for my restriction to be appealed:

A readable copy of your driver's license, front *and* back, or other government-issued ID.

- A copy of a recent credit card statement, bank statement, or utility bill. Your name and billing address should be visible, and consistent with the information registered to your eBay account.

- Documentation that shows that you purchased the item(s) recently listed for sale on eBay. Documentation that will help us verify your items can include either manufacture invoices or receipts.

- Who the supplier / company is from which item is purchased

- The price and quantities of items purchased

- The dates in which items were purchased

- If from a third party supplier, the name of the purchaser and address (to verify you are the one purchasing the items for sale)

- Proof of payment

I have asked numerous times where in the terms and conditions does it state that I have to provide this information for a registered business for over 20 years to sell on eBay, but no body can give me an answer.

We have 3 aches of furniture, and over 50 suppliers, how on earth can I provide this information?

This is against business confidentiality!

Has any one been in the same situation?

[kopenhagen5]

It is because this account is new and all new accounts have restrictions unless you have another you can show eBay which is your account with a long history of sales on it.

eBay restrict new accounts to list a maximum of 10 per month to the value of around 2,500.

And Paypal put a hold on funds for up to 21 days if you cannot show delivery online with tracking.

BTW, not much point having an eBay store until you get some sales on this account and limits are lifted. Best to close it for now.

Usually only viable with 100+ listings or if you are selling high value items consistently and you cannot do either until limits are lifted.

Limits - http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/sell/sellinglimits.html

[the-furniture-trader]

The account is linked to all my other account which have 5 years + of sales history, including ebay stores that sale 500+ items each week. eBay deleted our selling limit, and could list as much as we wanted, and we did not have funds on hold with PayPal.

[digital*ghost]

I have only heard of eBay requesting that kind of information once or twice, quite a long time ago now, so I don't know how much help that will be. In one case I believe it was related to a buyer claim of counterfeit goods, which doesn't seem applicable here.

The other I can't really recall the circumstances that prompted eBay to request the info - it may have been nothing at all - but the seller was able to eventually get eBay to relent after numerous complaints. I think the ACCC may have been involved, or at least contacted by the seller, as detailed supplier info the nature of which had been requested is unnecessary, and ebay really don't have a right to sensitive business info.

[the-furniture-trader]

Thanks for the reply!

It could be possible that they are asking for the information to make sure that it is our own goods we are selling, and not re-selling a competitors companies furniture. However they have taken it to the extreme, and I am only offering them some of the information they have requested, and if they are not happy with that then I will be getting the ACCC involved.

[digital*ghost]

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@the-furniture-trader wrote:

Thanks for the reply!

It could be possible that they are asking for the information to make sure that it is our own goods we are selling, and not re-selling a competitors companies furniture. 

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If that were the case, in my opinion you would have even more cause for complaint.

Even if your furniture is a brand that only authorised sellers are able to retail, it is up to the brand (not eBay or other retailers), to police and enforce that, which - ideally - would start with private contact from the brand and your status as an authorised seller established with them, or from / with a wholesale distributor, which wouldn't compromise any confidentiality since an authorised seller would be dealing with those entities anyway.

Or (worse case scenario) a report to eBay under the VeRO program, which itself would not result in the request for info and selling restrictions you're currently experiencing (registered VeRO members are taken at their word 99.9% of the time, the offending listings removed, and the seller issued with a warning but as far as I know, not any other sanctions or restrictions, unless they continue to try to list the items). 

As kopes mentioned, other new sellers will experience listing limits and fund holds, but they are not subjected to that level of scrutiny - your association with other established IDs may be playing a part in whatever instigated this, but verification of identity should be sufficient (unless there are other factors in play that are currently not disclosed; which I don't mean to suggest you're withholding info 🙂 just that occasionally some detail which appears unrelated and/or insignificant can be more important than it appears, like if you're using the same PayPal business email, credit card info etc of other accounts).

[the-furniture-trader]

I have supplied them with documentation from our suppliers stateing that we are the authorised sellers of the furniture listed, and have been working with the suppliers for 15+ years. The information also gave the suppliers contact information and how often we receive containers from them with the exact dates and quanities of furniture, as well as the proof of payment to our suppliers. So hopefully eBay will appeal the case and I can continue working towards being a top rated and honest seller. I believe selling on eBay will benefit the business as well as eBay itself.

All accounts that I have been working for have been under the businesses name, with different address information and payment information, however I am recorded as the main user of the ID - which I have openly told ebay. Plus all accounts are very successful and are top rated sellers - so there wouldn't be any issues with myself or user IDs being a scammer ect.

Thank you for your advice and information, much appreciated.

[kopenhagen5 · Accepted solution]

In this case I think it is eBay looking for more validation based on having only what I can see 3 recent sales totalling nearly $3,000.

Even though this account may be linked, I suspect auto flags have gone up based on $ value on a new account.

You sound professional and logical however that is often not what eBay is but persevere communicating with eBay even though it can be frustrating, you should eventually get a result.