selling limit - fraud and false advertising by ebay

[eheemann]

Since ebay introduced their offer of 30 free listings per month I have been using it; yesterday (3.1.2013) I wanted to upload twenty items with turbolister; only ten were uploaded, for the rest it said that I had exceeded my monthly limit; never heard of this before !!! Checking on ebay etc I could not find anything execpt general information; following ebay's instructions in these to find my limits ( all selling -> account limits or on the sellerdashboard) there were no links or information re my limits to be found anywhere. Complete blank. At the bottom of my 'all selling' page there is a reference to the 30 free lsitings, simply stating "used 10, left 20". Even trying to relist an unsold item results in the same message re account limit displayed. I phoned ebay this morning, just to be told some general bla bla about them updating and reviewing, which really meant nothing to me. received an email later saying " ...the current limits will not be eligible for appeal until after 30-Jan-13. You are welcome to write back on 30-Jan-13 for another review. This should provide enough time for some recent sales to be delivered and feedback received. At that time, we'd be happy to review your account and, if possible, adjust your selling limit to allow additional activity to take place. In the meantime, we encourage you to continue to build a positive selling history on eBay and to follow all selling policies. You can also monitor your performance in your seller dashboard to ensure that you are maintaining your excellent service to buyers, and keeping your account in good standing."

Ebay is advertising and promoting its first 30 listings per month FREE OF FEES ! So what happened to that  ???? I can list only ten items, let alone get to the 31st item to pay the listing fee for !!!! THIS IS FALSE ADVERTISING  ! ebay just turns around and says "no"; I actually have to contact ebay on 30. January to appeal and get at least the limit of the first 30 listings free! WHAT KIND OF CON IS EBAY RUNNING HERE ????

[phorum_junkie*]

Most sellers who have not sold a lot recently are at first restricted to 10 listings, it has nothing to do with them being free, that restriction can often be increased by having a credit card on file, having automatic fee payment set up or by having another id with a consistently good selling record.

If you have been restricted because of the type of item you sell then it may well take a lot longer for you to be allowed to list more.

It will not be helped by your ridiculous terms and conditions or your DSRs, it is pointless being able to list more if you are only going to sell such a small percentage of the items you have listed.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

Is it possible, just a little bit possible, that some potential buyers may have reported you to eBay, thereby giving them cause to restrict your account?  I'm not saying this is what has happened, but when I looked at one of you listings this was the first thing that came to mind.

What I am talking about is the bit in the listing that said you only transfer PayPal funds into your bank account between the 1st and 3rd of each month AND that you do not post until the funds for an item are in your bank account.  This means if I buy something from you today (4th Jan) and pay with PayPal that you will not post it until the 4th of February.  Maybe eBay are concerned about the possibility of fraud due to this process you have.

I also looked at you "me" page where you state "Note, please, that I do not have a paypal account, nor do I want one. The 'paypal' email address which ebay forces me to provide is a non-existent fake one".  This may also cause eBay some concern.

I'm not having a go at you about all this PayPal stuff in your listings and 'me' page, I'm just throwing it out there that this may be a reason for the restrictions you are currently experiencing.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

oh, something I forgot to mention, I hope for your sake that the fake email address you supply to buyers never becomes a 'real' or 'live' email address controlled by someone else.  If it does, then your PayPal payments will go to someone else entirely.

If I was a troublemaker, I would buy something from you just to get the PayPal address and hope it is a hotmail, gmail or yahoo address or some other address that is open to anyone on the net.  I would then open an account with that email address and take any payments meant for you.  Good thing I am not a troublemaker, but then again, I think the statement you make about it being a fake address is in conflict with you stating that you transfer funds from PayPal to your bank account at the start of each month.

[alanawent3133]

I'm surprised you are still on ebay after this last posting from you in another thread

Do what I do:  high shipping cost necessary to protect yourself for payment with paypal (registered, very well packaged etc etc) ; fake paypal address with your listings, so buyers cannot pay you using ebay checkout and/or by making their own invoice; if buyer is prepared to pay high shipping cost provide them with correct paypal address and ship/send item(s) only after you have transferred payments into your bank account, so paypal does not have it anymore; paypal says they will 'debit your bank account only with your authorisation', but I would not hold my breath on that one.

What a way to do business

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

already hard to beat . . . . . and it is only the 4th January 😉

[eheemann]

Thanks for the various replies; however:

1. When I phoned ebay (for some 35 minutes) I was not given the slightest hint of any reason why ebay put a selling limit on.

2. re paypal:

a) you cannot state in the listings themselves that you do not accept paypal; so I accept it only under the clearly stated conditions, which of course no buyer is likely to accept; I formulated this wording with ebay at the time !!!

b) Whilst I have a proper registered paypal account with the appropriate email address (as ebay requires it), this account remains unused, as no buyer so far has wanted to make use of my conditions.

c) There are tens of thousands people who have a gmail, hotmail, etc address with their proper paypal accounts; so anyone could hijack these as well and open an account. I do not know how much that is really possible.

d) If you read my 'me' page, I have had plenty of those experiences of being ripped off like the one I replied to in this forum (where a seller got ripped off by a buyer and then by b[aypal), and it added up to a considerable amount of losses.

e) It is for all the above reasons that I take the steps described in order to protect myself, and not totally waste so much time with paypal nonsense/problems.

[carly2579]

i am also ona  10 a month limit  it doesnt worry me too much  but i hope  one day it gets   more

[Anonymous]

Hate to tell you this OP but PayPal can still reach into your bank account if there are insufficient funds in your PayPal account when a dispute against you is lodged.

If you have insufficient funds in your bank account you can then be suspended from selling while it's all sorted out.

You can't even close the linked bank account unless you get authorization from PayPal.

Yes it all sucks but the system is designed to 'restrict' fraud.

[kopenhagen5]

Carly, do you have a credit card linked or auto debit for ebay fees?

That may lift your limit. 😉