New ID requirements are too intrusive

[fatnannys]

I've been using EBay for over 23 years, mostly buying and selling my own clothes. I've decided to stop using EBay to sell my own clothes because of their enhanced ID requirements which I feel are unnecessarily intrusive in order for me to prove I'm not a money launderer! Surely one glance at the account will tell you that I'm not by the value of items.

Out of principle, i'll refuse to share, and thus store with EBay, my enhanced ID data, simply to prove to you my innocence! Vinted here we come, I'm afraid. EBay really doesn't need to know that by me selling a second hand top for a tenner means I could be laundering money... it smacks of data harvesting on a grand scale. Hammer to crack a nut or something more sinister?

[direct.gifts]

You will find that Vinted will also ask for certain ID checks, if you reach a certain level of sales they will ask you for your passport or other ID documents to prove your identity.

Most online selling platforms will at some point ask you to prove your identity. There are checks in place to ensure people are who they say they are. It is not something you can escape from if you want to sell online.

[fatnannys]

... thank you for your reply... But if I am only selling a handful of items a year, and have only sold a handful of items a year for the last 20 years, I still maintain that the requirement of photographic ID is overbearing. I appreciate the time you've taken to reply to me. But I'm not a business selling clothes for a living, I'm simply a woman selling the odd dress or top!

[tressygirl]

The security measure is excellent for exactly the way you are using your account.

Many do not sell regularly, it's perfect just to pick up now and then,  to sell the odd item,  however,  it's just these dormant accounts that are sought after and hijacked,  so when there is sudden selling activity,  even for a few pieces of clothing, it raises red flags to eBay and they want to see proof that the genuine owner has returned,  hence the sometimes,  seemingly over the top requests for ID  for selling minor amounts of items or value,  it's security for you and your account not to fall in ' bad' hands.

@fatnannys 

[fatnannys]

That's very interesting... I hadn't thought of it that way I suppose. But why would someone hack my account to see something? Surely I'm in control of that account (I still regularly buy from Ebay so have regular contact with my account).

 I'm grateful to you for replying, it's very kind of you. 

[tressygirl]

You're very welcome,  but hackers don't hack accounts to see something but to use it for ' fake sales' sending fake PayPal invoices for payments, then owner of account is left dealing with many items not received , refunds amounting into the hundreds or thousands .  It remains to prove an account was hacked,  sometimes not easy.

Truly any safety measure,  is a bonus for account holders, no matter how annoying counting giraffes and helicopters may be.... that's another security measure you may one day come across !

@fatnannys 

[nigel_paul_wright7557]

I once spotted a USB oscilloscope on ebay for £12.99 with a Chinese seller.

Items similar were at least £50.

I alerted ebay but was ignored.

They went on to sell 211 items before the negs started rolling in.

After about 15 negs ebay pulled the listing.

The seller had long gone with the money and ebay would have to refund all 211 buyers.

So you can see why ebay is a bit more security conscious now.