Problems with new catregory (restricted items) application

[missionc]

Dear marco@ebay

community-team@ebay

I hope you're doing well, 

In January we applied online for new category approval for our CBD products via this link: https://www.ebay.co.uk/sml/new-categories-form2

newcategories@ebay.com have been in contact with us for further information over the last few months, for which we provided such as Product Information, Novel Food Listings, etc. 

We were then told we had to reach £1000 sales and over 100 orders, to become a top seller, which we have now done for our non CBD products, such as water and protein shaker bottles. 

Now that we have done this, we still havent heard anything back from the newcatgory team, despite multiple emails sent to newcategories@ebay.com  - asking for updates. 

We are getting increaseingly frustrated as we havent heard anything, if they would like any more information we are more than happy to provide it. 

We have multiple high profile listings with retailer such as Selfridges.

Therefore we have all the documentation, lab reports and certificates needed to progress this application, as we would love to continue our growth on the eBay platform moving forwards.

Please could you help us progress this with the eBay new category team?

Do you have a direct number or email for someone within the new category team so we can get some feedback?

Thanks for your help,

Look forward to hearing from you,

Qes

[roger_roger_over_and_nowt]

I'm guessing you are referring to another account as this one shows only 4 previous sales ?

[marco@ebay]

Hi missionc, thanks for your post.

Happy to help you with this one, but I also have the same question. Was the application sent from this account you're posting from? And is this going to be the account you're going to be using to sell these items? Or are you going to be using a different account?

Thank you,

Marco

[missionc]

Hi Marco, 

Thank you for your message and support with this. 

Our store can be seen here: 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/missionc?_trksid=p4429486.m3561.l161211

Is this not the account you can see?

We have received payment and dispatched 126 orders for a total of £1,437.24

All the best, 

Qes

[4_bathrooms]

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@missionc wrote:

We were then told we had to reach £1000 sales and over 100 orders, to become a top seller, which we have now done for our non restricted products, such as water and protein shaker bottles. 

---

It sounds like eBay require you to have a seller level of "Top Rated Seller". If you click on this link what is showing as your current seller level and what is showing for "If we evaluated you today"?

[marco@ebay]

Thanks for your reply, missionc. 

Could you please delete the screenshot above as it contains personal information? Thank you.

Regarding my question, I am presuming this is the account you applied from. However, I need you to confirm this is the account before I can escalate this for you.

Thank you,

Marco

[missionc]

Hi Marco, 

Thank you for your message. 

No problem I will delete the screenshot. 

And yes I can confirm this is the account we made the application from.

Thanks for your help, 

All the best, 

Qes

[marco@ebay]

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@missionc wrote:

Hi Marco, 

Thank you for your message. 

No problem I will delete the screenshot. 

And yes I can confirm this is the account we made the application from.

Thanks for your help, 

All the best, 

Qes

---

Thanks for your reply, missionc.

I've just escalated this for you. Please note that we have a bit of a backlog at the moment, so it might take longer than usual for me to provide you with an update. However, we could expect an update on this around the 22nd/23rd of July, approximately.

Thank you,

Marco

[btr.style]

To be honest with you, it's unlikely it would be resolved here. 

I raised an issue weeks ago in chat (a simple case of buyer made 2 returns, (1 with me, 1 with another seller) and when they returned the items they stuck the wrong label on each so I ended up with someone elses return and vice versa. 

I did it all within eBay's terms and rules. Asked eBay to step in and clarified all this in chat. Was told I'd done the right thing and if I needed more help, inbox the chat member direct.  

Unfortunately eBay's support were useless and rather than explain what needed to be done, "stole" the entire amount from my account to refund the buyer in full (not even deducting eBay's fees) and landing me with a defect. They claimed that I'm not protected because it was a buyer mistake and not that they'd tried to scam me sending a totally different item back (funny, they don't side with the seller even when that's the case). 

So I messaged community team. Never heard anything back and while I was waiting, pushed it further with eBay support who pretty much forced me to do a case with action fraud (why, I'll never know. It wasn't fraud or a scam, it was an innocent mistake). Still they were insistent so I did as I was told, now getting all sorts of emails off action fraud and I had a missed call off what I think is the local police force and support resolved it once I gave them the report number. 

Still to this day not heard a thing back off community staff (4 weeks, if not more after I messaged them). 

So I think clarity needs to happen on what their role is and what they can or can't do. Rather than tell someone to message them, and when it's way out of their depth, ignore the person or claim it's been passed to another department (who also never do anything)

[missionc]

Thank you Marco, I will touch base again on the 22nd of July, 

All the best, 

Qes

[missionc]

Dear marco@ebay, 

I hope you're doing well, 

Have you heard back any news please regarding the issue?

Many thanks, 

Qes

[marco@ebay]

Hi missionc, thanks for your reply.

I've just checked there for you, and we are still getting through the backlog. However, your request is still in my radar, so as soon as they get to review the escalation I put through for you, I will post back here to update you on it.

Thank you,

Marco

[marco@ebay]

Hi missionc, 

I've just got an update on this for you, and your account is currently under review. Once they're done with the review, you will receive an update via email to let you know the outcome of your application. So, you should have an update by the end of the week in your emails.

Thank you,

Marco

[missionc]

Hi marco@ebay 

That's great news, thank you for all your help it's much appreciated !

All the best, 

Qes

[marco@ebay]

Hi missionc,

I noticed that you still haven't received an outcome on your application, so I reached out to the team reviewing your account in order to get an update on this for you before heading into the weekend.

They've just confirmed that your account is still under review, and there are still chances for you to receive an outcome today. However, it is possible that review might get extended, which means that you would receive the outcome of your application in the next few days. Apparently is in the final process, so you should receive the outcome of your application soon enough anyway.

Thank you,

Marco

[missionc]

Good morning marco@ebay

Thanks again for the update!

We really appreciate you keeping on top of this for us!

Hopefully, we will hear some good news in the coming days. All the best, Qes

[missionc]

Good afternoon marco@ebay

I hope you've had a good week so far, 

How's everything going with our application?

If there's anything else you need from our side, please let me know. 

All the best, 

Qes

[missionc]

Hi marco@ebay

We received an update from no.reply@ebay.com (please see my comments in blue):

After careful consideration of your account unfortunately, we are unable to proceed with your application currently. There are several factors that are taken into consideration when reviewing each application. Unfortunately, we are unable to disclose all the criteria at this time, the criteria includes but not limited to: 

1: You MUST have an ebay business account  - we do have a ebay business account

2: You are registered to the UK  - we are registered to sell in the UK 

3: Your account is in good standing with eBay  - we are rated as a top seller on ebay

We would like to express our appreciation for your commitment to selling on eBay. 

*Please note: We will not accept applications from your account or any linked accounts, if we have previously denied your application, permissions have been previously removed or if they do not meet these requirements, circumvention of this process is against eBay policy.  

Given that we dont meet any of the three criterias listed above for rejection, are you able to find out for us please the reason why this was rejected? 

Many thanks, 

Qes

[marco@ebay]

Hi missionc, thanks for your reply.

We only escalate pending applications, so users can receive an outcome. We don't go around the process to get applications approved, or find out denial reasons. I'm afraid that at this stage, we are unable to provide further assistance, we are sorry to hear that your application wasn't approved.

Thank you,

Marco

[hk_vapes]

Hi there, I am having a similar issue with the new categories programme and have had this issue for 3 months now. I see you have CBD products listed on your store and was wondering how you got the issue resolved.