topic Re: How eBay Ruined My Business in Business Seller Board

How eBay Ruined My Business

gwynn59 — Sat, 21 Mar 2026 11:38:20 GMT

Before I get into a rant, a little back story will probably help. Last year the company I used to be employed by went into administration. As a hobby, I have spent many years repairing electronic devices, so thought ‘I wonder if I could turn my hobby into an income’. So, made the decision to set up as a sole trader repairing computer hardware and selling it on eBay. Spent several thousand pounds on equipment and stock, registered my business with HMRC, took out a business insurance policy and then setup an eBay business account. Got an email from eBay ‘Welcome, your in! Thanks for coming to eBay’. Ten minutes later, get another email confirming set-up of my direct debit for payouts. Happy days I thought….

Now for the rant…

3 days later (18th Feb), I receive an email at 00:50. MC081 NOTICE: eBay Registration Suspension (shown below). The email requests I provide 1) Proof of name, 2) Confirmation of you registered address, 3) Proof that the item/s you listed are in your possession. Number 3 is an odd request, as I have yet to use the account, so have nothing listed.
The email then goes on to state that details of acceptable documents and how to upload them can be found by clicking this link:

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/account/verification_request_documents.html

This link actually takes you to a page about Phishing…..I did wonder if this was some kind of bad joke.

At 00:52, I receive the following email stating that the account has been permanently suspended because of activity that was putting the eBay community at risk.

So, I reply to the first email pointing out that the link provided on how to upload the requested documents is incorrect and could they clarify how to upload the requested documents. 6 minutes later I get the following response.

Later in the day (after I’d calmed down), I used the online assistant thingy to request a call back from an agent. The agent explained that there is nothing I can do, the suspension is permanent and I cannot appeal the decision. She basically read out the previous message from Shiba H.

I then found this thread – Account Suspension . In post #4, roger_roger_over_and_nowt gives a link to request personal data. So I decided to give it a try. A week later (25th Feb), I get this:

A few hours later I then receive this:

Closely followed by this:

The nightmare is over, or so I thought….

On 8th March, I receive this.

Clicked the link to download my files, but I’m taken to a page of check boxes on what data I would like in the report. I tick all the boxes and click submit. On 11th March, this arrives:

Followed on 18th March by this:

You may be noticing a pattern emerging 🤔
Unfortunately, I was unable to click the link to download my files as a few hours after this email arrived, I got this one:

Closely followed a minute later by this:

Hmmmm, they look familiar….

So, I decide to try requesting my data again via the link provided by roger_roger_over_and_nowt. This morning (21st March), I get this:

To clarify, the only documents I provided were at the time of the first data request on the 19th of Feb. I was not asked to provide any documents for the second data request.

So there it is, after 20 years of trouble free use of eBay as a private buyer/seller, it all comes crashing down. In some ways, I consider myself lucky that this happened before I managed to get the business off the ground. I’ve read many horror stories of poor sods who have this happen out of the Blue with well established businesses.
It’s somewhat ironic that all of this is probably due to an over zealous IT system, considering the business I was trying to set up. It would appear that the top people at eBay have never heard of the Royal Mail Horizon scandal and how over reliance on IT systems can royally shaft innocent people.

The real kicker in all this is not knowing in what way I have endangered the eBay community. It's like being arrested by the Police and not being told what the charge is. The only thing I've done is create the account. I haven't listed a single item. In the brief time that I was able to actually login, I did notice that the currency shown in the seller hub was $, which set alarm bells ringing as I'm in the UK. I'm convinced that there has been some kind of glitch during the account setup process, but trying to get anyone at eBay to investigate this further is impossible. The customer service agents just read out what a computer tells them to.

Thanks eBay, thanks a bunch.

Re: How eBay Ruined My Business

moonlight-rhapsody — Sat, 21 Mar 2026 16:02:40 GMT

Hi gwynn56

First of all, commiserations. As you say, it’s a real kicker, all of it, and so stressful. I don’t know what’s going on with ebay but situations like this seem to have cropped up a lot on the forum recently.

All I wanted to say was, I hope when the dust has settled you’ll continue with your business aspirations, even if it's other than in the way you envisaged. I know it might not seem so at the moment, but it might be a blessing in disguise as computers are particularly vulnerable to online scammers and as a seller you’d have very little protection as ebay nearly always side with the buyer, so you could lose a lot of money very easily. And think of all those fees for a shop, promotions, sponsorship etc that you’ll save, that could go into your promoting own business instead!

Anyway, whatever you decide to do, I hope it works out well for you.

Re: How eBay Ruined My Business

the_book_seekers — Sat, 21 Mar 2026 16:23:48 GMT

Wow. Thank you for taking the time to post the entire interaction with ebay. I think you're right about the glitch during sign up. It must have triggered ebay's security bots. Then to be told you've been reinstated only to be suspended again, that's just awful.

Re: How eBay Ruined My Business

gwynn59 — Sat, 21 Mar 2026 20:09:30 GMT

Thank you both. What is really annoying is that my Dad warned me not to go self employed, "It's a fools game, just get a regular 9 to 5 job and take the money". He got made redundant back in the 80's, ironically at the same age as me, went self employed as there was no other work around. His words are now ringing in my ears. I hate it when he's right 😂

I take my hat off to people who have successful businesses on eBay. When I chose this path, I thought the most difficult bit would be repairing the computers. Never anticipated that eBay would be the bigger issue.

My hope is that anyone who reads this takes away one piece of advice. If you do have a business on eBay and it is your only source of income, think what it would do to you if you went through what I've been through.

Re: How eBay Ruined My Business

sheba-knows-best — Sat, 21 Mar 2026 20:29:37 GMT

I'd request another callback from a human. I am presuming that the account that is having these issues is not the account you are posting under? You are posting under a private account but you say you set up a business account?

Did you consider upgrading this account to a business account?

Whilst AI-gone-rogue affecting my livelihood has always been a fear of mine, I can't help feeling that given you say you had never even listed an item - and your posting account is not suspended - there is yet hope...

Certainly, given your opening post suggests you had already invested quite a bit in your new venture, it seems worth at least trying to speak to a human. If you ring at 9am Monday morning you may get a Dublin representative who will be best able to help.

Re: How eBay Ruined My Business

therenewalworkshopltd — Sat, 21 Mar 2026 20:33:05 GMT

Sorry, but your Dad is wrong. Possibly the thoughts are coloured by his experience.
But it really isn't that bad at all and can be extremely good.
it may seem that nothing will work right now, but if you have the skills to fix the computers etc, then there is plenty that you can do without Ebay. Lots' of other places to sell and you might want to consider something like a market stall, or if you can afford it, a small workshop that can have a retail side as well.
People are always wanting what your selling and the personal touch can make a world of difference.
Just don't try to run before you walk.

And good luck with it. Don't give up.

Personally, unless I had absolutely no choice about it, I would NEVER work for someone else again.
Being your own boss can be very hard work at times, it very much has it's benefits too.

Re: How eBay Ruined My Business

moonlight-rhapsody — Sat, 21 Mar 2026 20:50:51 GMT

Whilst I'd agree with not writing off ebay until you've spoken to Dublin again, I'd also not be so quick to write off being self-employed. It's swings and roundabouts of course, but being your own boss is unbeatable IMO, although admittedly it's not for everyone. One of my friends tried it but soon gave up because he missed being part of a team and having lots of people around. Even people who've got staff can find it lonely at the top. But the rewards, and not just financial, are worth it IMO.

You said you've been repairing electronic devices for years - is that for other people as well as yourself? Could you develop that by promoting your services locally and see where that leads?

PS. Crossed post with therenewalworkshopltd, but I wholeheartedly agree with what they've said.

Re: How eBay Ruined My Business

moonlight-rhapsody — Sat, 21 Mar 2026 21:05:46 GMT

I should add that when I first set up my business (real world, not online), every month I had what seemed to be a major problem that seemed insurmountable. But after a few months, I realised that all the seemingly impossible problems had been overcome, and I started to have faith that future insurmountable problems would turn out to be surmountable after all. So what I'm saying is - running a business does mean that you will have setbacks and problems along the way, but if you are up for the challenge of overcoming them, then self-employment is very rewarding. It can be hard work, and the learning curve is pretty steep at the beginning, but I've never regretted taking that step into the unknown.

Re: How eBay Ruined My Business

gwynn59 — Sun, 22 Mar 2026 08:41:10 GMT

I originally tried to post using my business account but was unable to due so due to the suspension.

I did consider upgrading my private account to a business account, but decided to keep them separate to keep a better track of payments.

When my private account was unaffected by the suspension, this also made me even more convinced there has been a monumental *bleep*-up somewhere during the business account creation process. The suspension message makes it quite clear that all accounts linked to me would be suspended, but this has not happened (yet), although I open my email browser now with trepidation...

I'll wait to see what the data report contains, then give customer service a try again.

Re: How eBay Ruined My Business

gwynn59 — Sun, 22 Mar 2026 08:51:51 GMT

No need to apologise, he's normally wrong 🙂

Thanks for the advice. I'm not prepared to give up just yet. I expected the first year to be hard, just didn't expect the main challenge to come from eBay.

Re: How eBay Ruined My Business

padanpcparts — Sun, 22 Mar 2026 10:21:02 GMT

I would always say, upgrade an existing personal to business. Then open a new personal account.

There are various reasons for this, you already have some selling and buying history which will help with buyers and with E-bay. E-bay used to have selling limits that were every strict for new users (I don't know if they still do it was many years ago when I started on this path), so having some existing history may help you along this path as well.

Re: How eBay Ruined My Business

fatbobfan — Sun, 22 Mar 2026 17:21:53 GMT

If you have faith with what your doing and know it works, keep with it.

Dont let the platform doubt youself because of its processes. Its a not uncommon, from experience a poor admin process, your frustraion understandable, AI/Staff and time spent getting nowhere happens all too often. Record SR numbers (call logs) and battle through, but dont let this process take you away from the importance of doing the important bit that makes you money. Keep working whilst on hold/queuing, it can be timely.

It used to be/may well be trying to call AM business days to get Europe, if its changed I hope the forum posters correct me.

Accept this as the downside of selling on platforms, (not just this one), dont let it stress you, it can be AI based and not the most helpful of processes.

This forums has sellers have decades of experience, often easier/less frustrating than getting answers from CS/Mods so come back after youve cracked this.

Good luck in your venture

FBF

Re: How eBay Ruined My Business

gwynn59 — Sun, 22 Mar 2026 19:45:24 GMT

You could not make this up.......

I don't know whether to laugh or cry. I'm completely confused.

Firstly, "Thanks for getting back to us with the information we requested about your selling account." I haven't been asked to provide any information and therefore have not provided any information. I'm guessing this email is just a standard template, but is obviously different from the response I got when the account was reinstated the first time.

Secondly, "If you have any questions or concerns, just get in touch." Oh I've definitely got some questions and concerns and I will certainly be in touch.

Thirdly, "We appreciate you being part of the eBay community." Really!! Permanently banning someone (twice) is a great way to show appreciation.

So, my plan of attack now is not to even try logging in to the account before I've managed to get some form of reassurance from customer services that whatever is triggering these account suspensions is investigated and dealt with.

From what I have read in this forum, permanent bans normally mean permanent. I gather it is actually quite rare to get a permanently suspended account reinstated. As I've had 2 permanent bans and reinstatement's in the space of a month, do I get some kind of prize?

Post your guesses here as to what date you think ban no. 3 will happen on.

I would like to thank you all for your understanding, encouragement and excellent advice. It has helped greatly to focus my mind back on track and make this business venture work 👍

Will keep you all posted with any developments.

Re: How eBay Ruined My Business

moonlight-rhapsody — Sun, 22 Mar 2026 20:07:45 GMT

Flippin' eck! On the plus side, any problems that you have to deal after this debacle will seem like child's play 🤣

"Over the next month, you may see holds on your transactions. These will be lifted as soon as we confirm that your buyers received their orders without any issues."

They've given a link to holds - do they clarify what they mean by that? How long for? What constitutes confirmation in their eyes?

Well at least there's been some movement, keep the faith!

Re: How eBay Ruined My Business

the_book_seekers — Sun, 22 Mar 2026 20:14:45 GMT

As I've had 2 permanent bans and reinstatement's in the space of a month, do I get some kind of prize?

You're certainly in a class of your own. I can't remember another seller having a double permanent ban and reinstatement. It seems to confirm your thoughts that there is a glitch in the process somewhere.

Re: How eBay Ruined My Business

moonlight-rhapsody — Sun, 22 Mar 2026 20:23:23 GMT

"From what I have read in this forum, permanent bans normally mean permanent. I gather it is actually quite rare to get a permanently suspended account reinstated. As I've had 2 permanent bans and reinstatement's in the space of a month, do I get some kind of prize?"

I've seen other people say that they've been reinstated as well. It's possible that it used to be the case that permanent bans wouldn't be reversed, but maybe there have been so many mistakes lately caused by AI that bans are more likely to be reversed than was the case before AI got its sticky fingers on everything.

Re: How eBay Ruined My Business

sheba-knows-best — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 08:26:04 GMT

Vey pleased for OP.

Seriously though... for us business sellers who are already earning our daily bread on this platform... random chaos like this from AI gone mad is terrifying.

I had an issue with the double billing on listings and tried to sort it by messages and CS - in the end I took the hit and lost £30 or so (I wasted over an hour on the phone with CS who didnt even understand the concept of stagnant listings and sell-similaring). Then I just kept getting random messages. When I replied to them, they replied to me within the hour, always a different name, always a cut and paste useless reply. I had no idea if it was AI or bored CS. It was soul destroying. eBay got what it wanted. I lost the money. I just couldn't face ringing again for £30 even for Dublin.

I dread something properly serious now Concierge was cut off for most of us.

Re: How eBay Ruined My Business

gwynn59 — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 09:42:20 GMT

The link takes me to this help page - Payments on hold . On this page is another link where I can actually check what payments are on hold, but this means logging in to the account, which I'm trying to avoid for the time being. There shouldn't be any payments, as I haven't used the account yet.

Basically I tick all the boxes for having my payments placed on hold (new business seller, previously suspended seller, high priced items), but I'm OK with that, it makes sense to do this.

Re: How eBay Ruined My Business

sheba-knows-best — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 09:21:44 GMT

So it's not just eBay...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yve4w2wv1o?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-gb

To be fair, ebay has humans... well kind of... sometimes... if you're lucky.

Re: How eBay Ruined My Business

therenewalworkshopltd — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 10:28:30 GMT

I've had issues with them as well. Unless it's on something that your actually paying for, it's nigh on impossible to get a person.
Though I can understand an automated process for standard personal (free) accounts, (though not really), you would think that they would have some sort of human intervention for a business account, where it is literally someone's earnings and usually where they are actually earning money!

I get why companies are embracing AI, but that really does seem a little over the top, to have zero human interaction on something so important. Hopefully as time passes, this kind of thing will be realised and they will roll back a little.