eBay Employee Reveals Practice of Secret Seller Limits

[bigbrickshop]

An eBay employee has posted some interesting info on the US boards in response to a complaint about seller limits.

http://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Selling-Standards/m-p/23358986#M387798

• There are several types of limits that sellers may experience when selling:
  • Site Wide Limits (SWL, referred to as “selling limits”)
  • Silent limits (limits placed on an account that can’t be seen by the seller)
  • URC limits (User Risk Code, limits reduced or placed on an account due to concerns)
  • Category limits
  • BTAC limits (Building Trust by Reducing Counterfeits, for branded items)
  • Hot item limits
  • Multi-Account limits
  • Velocity limits
  • feedback limits

When

• All sellers on the site will experience at least one type of selling limit when selling on the site.
• These limits are in place to:
  • Reduce fraud and circumvention on the site
  • Ensure sellers can successfully manage their sales
  • Ensure sellers are increasing volume at a manageable pace
  • Ensure sellers can meet the expectations of buyers.

Why

• Although there are several types of limits, the questions members ask are usually the same:
  • Why do I have limits?
  • How many items can I list?
  • How can I remove (or increase) these limits?
  • How/when can I list more items?

• LVIS (Listing Violation Inspection System) is the most effective tool in determining the type of limit the member is experiencing.
• Please see the information pertaining to their particular limit to determine qualifications for an increase or potential removal

http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abn/y14/m12/i09/s01

http://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2014/12/1418064225.html

[sueken4812]

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@character_parties_aus wrote:

A few months back  I had an abandoned order on my website with some weird name on it very soon after I placed eWay on there alongside paypal as I was sick of people paying by bank transfers as they assumed they needed paypal account ( even though we stated you didnt in a million places but as we all know consumers often dont read whats in front of them) . Upon checking the IP addresses of the abandoned order they referred back to eBays servers!!!

Since almost that very day my sales on eBay have dropped around 40% and I've changed almost nothing.

No joke.

SO I have no doubt eBay seeks to silently punish those who don 't tow their line.

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So the moral to this story is, when we do our web sites, have a different name to our ebay store.  

Which is exactly what i wasn't going to do.  But now I'll have to think about it.

[character_parties_aus]

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@sueken4812 wrote:

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@character_parties_aus wrote:

A few months back  I had an abandoned order on my website with some weird name on it very soon after I placed eWay on there alongside paypal as I was sick of people paying by bank transfers as they assumed they needed paypal account ( even though we stated you didnt in a million places but as we all know consumers often dont read whats in front of them) . Upon checking the IP addresses of the abandoned order they referred back to eBays servers!!!

Since almost that very day my sales on eBay have dropped around 40% and I've changed almost nothing.

No joke.

SO I have no doubt eBay seeks to silently punish those who don 't tow their line.

---

So the moral to this story is, when we do our web sites, have a different name to our ebay store.  

Which is exactly what i wasn't going to do.  But now I'll have to think about it.

---

I take your point but one great thing about eBay is that it does direct traffic to my website whether they like it or not and I am breaking no rules in the way it is done.  So for that I guess I should be thankful for the fee free transactions!! Onya eBay keep em coming.

[liisa*sx]

There have always been secret limits and exposure.... Google "Ebay rolling blackouts" they were very prevalent some years back and quite a lot of us did very extensive and thorough research and found that Ebay was indeed limiting and in fact blatantly hiding huge swathes of sellers listings on some days selected both by country and state, it was extremely obvious once we knew what to look for, and then came best match to further obfuscate any means of getting a handle on how it all worked.

Despite what Ebay say regarding seller performance lists and fraud protection yada yada, beyond the smoke and mirrors it is actually all about their profit via your hard earned income, the amount of money Ebay is making on the short term money market across the many Ebay platforms by holding funds is staggering.

Sadly anyone who attempts to make a living on Ebay these days is pushing uphill all the way as it has only gotten worse and will continue to do so as corporate greed perpetuates these underhanded tactics.

[digital*ghost]

It's a very disturbing thing, and typically vague.

Velocity and hot item limits? o_O And the catch-all for whenever eBay just feel like messing with a seller's success, the "silent" (but deadly, I presume) limit. 

😞

[bigbrickshop]

Hi Liisa 

[bigbrickshop]

Exactly d*g.

All sellers on the site will experience at least one type of selling limit when selling on the site.

I can understand limits to reduce fraud etc but if we're all subject to some type of limit why aren't we told what that limit is?

[colic2bullsgirlore]

See the thread link below to where ebay is heading wiith their secret limits.... long time seller accounts from last century are being shafted and banned for life because

http://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/I-just-got-banned-by-ebay-Can-I-reopen-my-account/m-p/23351433#...

...... well just because.........

( I suspect that the sellers are being shafted becasue their sales are inhibiting ebay reaching targets promised to bigger sellers)

"What I don't get is why sellers are getting banned for life. It's as though the people who call the shots at eBay aren't satisfied to be strict. They have to be mean as well. Or, maybe they're just utterly indifferent. Either way, I don't understand these people at all. How do they sleep at night?"

"

100% and all 5s... he ain't the only one. Suddenly not meeting "global standards"... even if you do NOT sell overseas and state such- can get you banned.

Your track record doesn't mean squat if eBay decides you have to go."

" I encountered a buyer who always leaves a (+)

always leaves... 'as described'...

always leaves... a 3.... in as described...

all the other stars are either protected... or... he ignores them...

Yep... got a real nice CS Rep who confirmed...

he leaves a 3... for EVERYBODY...

what's a ... 3.... a DEFECT...

what can eBay do... NOTHING.

... when we finally 'figure it all out'... we die... this way, we are prevented from sharing 'the answers' with 'the rest of the class'... "

regardless of the "contract" you agreed to consider below

http://www.australiancompetitionlaw.org/law/rot.html

Reasonableness and legitimate interests

All agreements in restraint of trade are void unless:

• they are reasonable in the interest of the parties (onus on party relying on restraint);     and
• they are reasonable in the interest of the public (onus shifts to person seeking to strike down restraint to demonstrate they are not reasonable in the interest of the public)

When assessing reasonableness the courts will first consider whether there is a 'legitimate interest' or interests that require protection and, if so, will assess whether or not the restraint does not more than is necessary to protect that interest;

if the restraint goes beyond what is necessary then it will not be considered reasonable.

I wondered how anybody would consider reasonable that all sellers will experience at least one type

of selling limit?

jaknox@ebay.com wrote:

• All sellers on the site will experience at least one type of selling limit when selling on the site.

[liisa*sx]

Good to see you too BBS

[tall_bearded01]

When it comes to Australian consumer law, if eBay were in fact manipulating search results to exclude certain listings, then they would, in my opinion, leave themselves open to prosecution for engaging in, or facilitating, uncompetitive conduct, without the prior approval of the regulator – the ACCC.

Here in Australia, when it comes to goods advertised for sale on a site such as eBay, the consumer is the buyer, and that consumer has a right, let me repeat that, A RIGHT, of access to every item listed, so they, the consumer, can make the most informed decision as to which item to buy, and if any site, for any reason, restricts a buyers access to any relevant listing by excludng it entirely, then that, in my opinion, would amount to facilitating uncompetitive conduct for the purposes of the relevant legislation (the TPA).

That is, there is fundamental difference between ranking listings so that one receives more prominencein search results than another, and removing a listing entirely form the search results.

[van_werkhoven]

 "It doesnt matter how much or how little effort a seller puts in, they still sell almost exactly the same amount each 3 months"

I keep hearing this, but does anyone have actual numbers on this so I can compare myself to them?

Also, does the 'limit' rise when you go from a $20 to a $50 store?