EBAY IS A SCAM - DO NOT SELL FROM HERE

[hanona96]

Do not sell your items here.

I am having to post this on my partners account as conveniently eBay has indefinitely suspended my account. Please if you was like me an honest customer that had a hobby/ passion for selling luxurious items as a little side hustle - think carefully I would not sell anything here. Firstly, read through your User Agreement CAREFULLY. If eBay feel you are doing something THEY consider as breeching their security (which by the way could be you simply forgetting send an invoice of a purchase) they will indefinitely suspend your account and HOLD any sales that you've made on to that account. I am heavily pregnant, currently renting and now that eBay has suspended the account I can no longer pay for my bills next week, I was rushed to hospital last night as all the stress the company caused me it nearly led to be have an early birth of my first child. Not only this I have stressed my mental illness I currently suffer from to numerous advisors that hang up the phone on me.

This company is vile. I am writing this message with tears rolling down my eyes because I am about to be homeless. They are refusing to give me my 7k from a sale I made and was approved by EBAY last month. They have said this sale could be held for up to 170 days or more. If you type into google indefinite ebay suspension you will see a list of customers that have gone through this exact experience. They will not tell you why your account was suspended but simply suspend it. I am having to call everyday send messages/ emails every other hour to fight for my money to be released. They keep saying they are holding my money as it's part of their process. They do not tell you how long the money can be held for just that they are holding it and that's final nothing you can do about it. Bearing in mind your account is suspending so they have already come to a conclusion, so really they are investigating nothing just holding on to your money. And they can do this because you would have signed in the user agreement to allow them to hold your funds. I am a honest seller, I would never sell an item that is fake. I take pride in doing immense research and only buy for legitimate places. there was nothing illegal from what I done. It was simply that I was a new seller that made a lot of money in short period of time.

My family need this money, we could be homeless it's extremely serious. I am begging for my own money at this rate. If you read this, please please think twice before you use this platform to sell.

[hanona96]

just noticed they are deleting my review, but that's okay. I will continue to post it each time it's been deleted. I won't stop until someone takes me seriously and helps me get my money which is mine NOT eBays

[hanona96]

I will also join the 2pm chat to add this review, and will join every week if I have too. I will continue to call every day - eBay do not understand the severity in what they are doing. They are not protecting their customers, They are unlawfully taking your money, 7k is alot of money. That is money that you are taking from an unborn child, you are making an unborn child homeless. I won't stop till this is looked into. 

[hanona96]

I have had nothing to eat since Monday, I am pregnant spent the night at a hospital - how do these people sleep at night it is pure evil

[4_bathrooms]

Your only real option right now is to file a complaint with the Financial Ombudsman Service. They won't be able to force eBay to release your funds immediately but eBay's managed payments are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. If the Ombudsman decides eBay have breached their obligations to you they will (eventually) decide what to do.

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@hanona96 wrote:

Please if you was like me an honest customer that had a hobby/ passion for selling luxurious items as a little side hustle - think carefully I would not sell anything here.

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Anyone selling luxury brands via eBay (or any other online platform) needs to be very, very careful. Most luxury brands do not want their items sold via online marketplaces at all unless it is a clearly used item being sold by a private seller or a new item being sold by a business the brand recognises.

Also, £7,000 is a lot of money for a single item. The 180 day hold is eBay protecting themselves from a possible future payment dispute being filed by the buyer which they can do up to 180 days from the sale in most cases. Were you selling as a business or did you otherwise have a history of selling such items via eBay? If the item you sold is anything except a private vehicle it would attract Capital Gains Tax for a private seller which may also have attracted attention.

[hanona96]

I think if that's the case eBay should never have approved the sale - see that's my issue. The sale was done on my business account I would never sale an item at that value on a personal account. Once the buyer and I approved the sale I sent this item to eBay it has to go through an authenication check and eBay send the item out. So everything was approved I followed the process to the tea. So to be in this position is beyond me.

Which is why i believe it was a scam. They allowed me to sell it to only wait for the buyer to send th money to then hold the funds and suspend my account. 

[btr.style]

.aaaaaaaaaa

[hanona96]

That is not the case. The account was suspended due to the an issue with the proof of merchandise. All customers use eBay on their business account to make profit. That's why its a BUSINESS account. 

I sold it on a Business account I purchase don my Business there was nothing I done on a perosnal account/ private which I have clearly outlined in my intital message. Hopefully a smiliar issue will not happen to you, but I am sure if you log onto ebay now you will see alot of items on sale at a high price. If eBay had any suspicions they should not have approved the sale and sent it to the customer. It is pretty simple. 

[hanona96]

170 days is to protect the buyer and eBay but again WHERE does it say that in their policies? does it say it anywhere before a purchase is made and sent? no. so again unlawful

[4_bathrooms]

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@hanona96 wrote:

I think if that's the case eBay should never have approved the sale - see that's my issue. The sale was done on my business account I would never sale an item at that value on a personal account. Once the buyer and I approved the sale I sent this item to eBay it has to go through an authenication check and eBay send the item out. So everything was approved I followed the process to the tea. So to be in this position is beyond me.

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Given the item was authenticated by eBay's authentication partner and forwarded to the buyer I don't understand eBay's position either now. Just some questions:

Was the item sent to the authenticator within your stated handling time?

Had eBay previously asked for anything from you such as supplier invoices or tracking information?

Has anybody you know ever had a problem with their own eBay account?

Something that might be worth doing is submitting a Subject Access Request (SAR) to eBay. It may or may not contain any useful information. 

[4_bathrooms]

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@hanona96 wrote:

170 days is to protect the buyer and eBay but again WHERE does it say that in their policies? does it say it anywhere before a purchase is made and sent? no. so again unlawful

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Actually...you have a perfectly valid point. I've checked eBay's User Agreement, their Payments Terms of Use (which supersede the UA in case of any conflicting terms) and their "Payments on hold" policy. Nowhere does it state eBay can withhold funds for up to 180 days - that used to be PayPal's "gotcha" where the Ombudsman was concerned!

In your shoes I'd head straight to the Ombudsman to get the ball rolling.

[btr.style]

Changed my post as it was regarding business selling but on a private account. I see from another post now on this week's chat that you were indeed business registered so kudos for that, it's entirely the right and legal way to do things. 

The amount on hold can only be because of relatively new account and high value sale.  

Lots of checks go on, especially when the account you are selling this expensive stuff on was created in August 2023 and has a 5 feedback score. Sure they take a while to release the money but people can't just join eBay and sell some high value goods without question or further checks. It would create a fraudsters paradise. 

I guess once the checks are completed and money released, it means in future you won't have to go through the same thing again.  

[iew-signed-books]

I would definitely try emailing eBay's UK CEO.

[hanona96]

everything was done as per their process, the watch would not have been able to be sent to the customer if it did not pass all necessary checks. Which is why I have resulted to posting this as a potential scam from eBay it is absolutely crazy I have NEVER received customer service like this. Resulted in me spending days in the hospital and they don't care. 

No complaints from buyers, I actually received positive feedback from the sale I am waiting for the funds - this is beyond me. I think I do need to reahc out to Ombudsman as eBay are doing nothing

[hanona96]

Yeah that's it - I have no interest using eBay ever again in my life. and if you do on a business account I would tread lightly this has happened to thousands of users I am not alone. It's why they removed PayPal as an option so they can legally keep the money - if the timeframe is 170 days that should be in the policy pack point period blank. 

Customers should know the risks. and how long it could take for a seller to get their money 

[hanona96]

do you have an email address?

[btr.style]

There are various terms mentioning about payments being paused and delayed for extra checks. 

The problem is someone could quite easily open an account on eBay, be new to the platform and try selling a 7k watch. On the balance of probabilities, it's more likely that a fraudster who's selling stolen goods or is going to list something they don't have, gets the money and do a run for it will be a new(ish) member with minimal feedback. That's a big reason why these checks exist. 

It has nothing to do with what you are selling but more the amounts involved. eBay have various risk assessments to do especially with higher value items. They have to comply with these checks as it's the law. 

We aren't talking about customers should know the risks. We are talking about if someone comes onto eBay and does a £7000 sale within 3 months of being a member, then additional checks will happen before the money is released. 

One of their terms shows as:

"Compliance holds: eBay maintains policies and procedures to protect buyers and sellers while complying with applicable laws."

The watch would have been able to be sent to the buyer as it's nothing to do with payments. A buyer pays, you send, payment is processed through eBay. 

It sounds like they've had it flag up where a 7k sale happened with a new eBay account and so have several checks to perform before they release the money. 

[hanona96]

Appreciate there being several checks but is that not part of the authetnication process when the watch is sent to eBay prior to it being sent to the buyer? 

I'm sorry but I don't agree checks should take 170 days. 30 days is reasonable. 170 days is ridculous. When you purchase an item UNLESS you purchase with warrnaty is the standard timeframe not 31 days? 

Also, the reason why the account was suspended is still inaccurate, if they needed me to send more documents to confirm or they had to do was ask. To not offer a customer an opportunity to correct this simple as oh i sen the reciept maybe I should ahve sent the bank transfer but to susepend indenfitnely just because they nly sent the receipt and hold onto the funds for nearly 7 months is beyond extreme and makes no sense. There is a risk with this process that they are treating INNOCENT customers as if they are cirminals which is wrong. 

[reservoir_dogs_74]

🤔Take care there is not the slightest of any dirrect link between your partners account and your suspended account 🤐 Good luck 🍀 and hope you get your money owed shortly

[4_bathrooms]

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@btr.style wrote:

One of their terms shows as:

"Compliance holds: eBay maintains policies and procedures to protect buyers and sellers while complying with applicable laws."

The watch would have been able to be sent to the buyer as it's nothing to do with payments. A buyer pays, you send, payment is processed through eBay. 

It sounds like they've had it flag up where a 7k sale happened with a new eBay account and so have several checks to perform before they release the money. 

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The OP hasn't had their funds held whilst eBay completes MLR due diligence checks nor have they been held inline with any of eBay's published policies for holding payments. Rather, their account has seemingly been indefinitely suspended by eBay and their funds withheld for (I assume) 180 days for what appears to be no reason at all. 

A few years ago I was in a similar position with (then eBay-owned) PayPal. They closed the account without giving any reason other than some perceived "risk", decided they were withholding a 5-figure sum for 180 days and there was nothing I could do about it. When I spoke to them they advised opening a new Paypal account - registered to the same company with exactly the same details (which they let me do!) - but there was nothing they could do about releasing the PayPal balance as it was written in their User Agreement that they could hold it. I complained to the FOS who agreed PayPal should have explained their reasoning for closing the account but adjudicated that as PayPal's UA stated they could withhold a balance for 180 days they were therefore perfectly entitled to do so.

However, nowhere can I find where eBay states they can withhold a seller's payout for anything longer than 30 days. The 60 days mentioned in the PToU is as a rolling reserve which wouldn't apply to an "indefinitely suspended" account.