Tech support says :messages to upgrade from a private to business account have been sent by mistake

[notstopbuying]

I had a message yesterday on my private selling account and an email, to say that I needed to upgrade from a private seller to a business account, I called eBay this morning to ask about various things with regards to upgrading to a business account and the tech support person said....No need to, the emails have all been sent out by mistake.

I asked will I receive an email to confirm it was a mistake, they said no, but they are currently working on the issue.

The tech support person did say, if I received a 2nd email to say I needed to upgrade to a business account, then it would be best to call back and confirm if I do need to upgrade, but the 1st email as been sent out to many, many private sellers and they have no need to upgrade to a business account.

[notstopbuying]

Thank you for that Dave, but the strange thing is that customer services confirmed it was sent in error, they checked my account and they said my private account was just fine with no need to upgrade to a business account. 

Plus I have had contact with another private seller, who also called today who had the the "upgrade to a business account" and was told the same as me... Tech glitch sent out in error. 

Please can you detail why ebay customer services are stating that to people? 

[british-ceramics-and-paintings]

Hi Dave,

Are these sellers being offered incentives to upgrade to a business account ?

[notstopbuying]

Yes they are, no seller fees on all categories until December the 31st midnight, free 6 months featured shop. 

I can send a screenshot. 

[notstopbuying]

Please see attached screenshots

[dave@ebay]

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@notstopbuying wrote:

Thank you for that Dave, but the strange thing is that customer services confirmed it was sent in error, they checked my account and they said my private account was just fine with no need to upgrade to a business account. 

Plus I have had contact with another private seller, who also called today who had the the "upgrade to a business account" and was told the same as me... Tech glitch sent out in error. 

Please can you detail why ebay customer services are stating that to people? 

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Hi @notstopbuying 

Ive spoken to the team responsible for these emails and it is definitely not a tech issue.

I don't know what happened when you spoke to Customer Support but Ive reached out have the calls reviewed. That will be handled by the CS team directly so I cant wont have an update on any findings.

Thanks,

Dave

[notstopbuying]

Hi Dave, thank you, they told me, the issue would be fixed in 48 hours, they looked at my account and said no need to worry or to upgrade my account. 

[aj_swift]

Wow, these people get everything. eBay should be kicking them off not paying them to behave. 

[papso22]

There is no legal requirement under any legislation to have an ebay business account 'if you want to sell large quantities', but that would explain the emails to sellers of collections. 

[sweetconfection]

I've had the email and the pink banner demanding i upgrade. I've only ever sold 1 item and just clearing out my old plus size clothes from my wardrobe after losing weight. Most got donated ti chairty but the better stuff i was going to put on ebay, only got 5 or 6 things and now evidently i am a business.

The page says there's an appeals process but when you click it takes to an unrelated page and when you phone just given the run around and put on hold. 

I guess i won't be selling on ebay anymore, i'm not going to falsely proclaim myself as a business because ebay randomly say so! Absolutely no help for the sellers who are affected and the appeals process does not exist. Shame on you ebay. 

[notstopbuying]

If you have time, maybe call up customer services and ask to speak with the seller team, see if they tell you the same thing, email sent out in error, I mean if you have only sold 1 item and they want you to become an business seller,  seems like a glitch to me and accordding to eBay customer services seller support too, I've called, another person I chatted to called and was told the same thing, eBay glitch...ignore it, the tech team are working on it.

Based on a quick look at your account.....why would you need to be a business account....most confusing.

[dch2112011]

Ah so the deluge of phone calls  initiated the get of the phone response  'it's a tech error'  well that will work temporarily.

As for existing business users - well ebay have revised the feedback  reasons for removal - just haven't told us quite what they are and have responded to business users reporting -  wait for the fee increases to pay for the freebies ! 

[notstopbuying]

Hmmm, I am not so sure, did you see the reply above from the seller, who has sold 1 item and has 5 other items listed, they have had a must upgrade to a business account message too, strange one.....

[pg_kicks]

Thanks for this, yet another kick in the nuts for anyone who was correctly registered.

With regards to customer services telling you it was sent out by mistake, if somebody from customer services tells you its raining outside theres a great chance its 45 degrees and we are about to burst into flames, they tell you whatever they like to get you off the phone and the next time you ring you a new person have to deal with the issue, you can complain and they will say a manager will listen to the call but they dont tell you the outcome of the investigation and the issue happens again each month.

[4_bathrooms]

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@notstopbuying wrote:

Please see attached screenshots

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 There is so much that is wrong in that email:

"Exclusive eBay business sellers onboarding offer for consumer-to-consumer sellers"

A consumer-to-consumer seller is a (genuine) private seller. It should rather state something like "suspected business-to-consumer sellers masquerading as private sellers".

"If you want to sell large quantities, have items that you've made or bought to resell, or already have a business outside of eBay, you'll need to register a business account."

Selling large quantities doesn't automatically make someone a business seller nor does having a business outside of eBay. For example, a self-employed mobile hairdresser does not need an eBay business account to sell their deceased aunt's hoarded old clothes and figurine collection but would if they were selling hair care products that were purchased in the course of their usual trade. 

"This Promotion is open to all registered private sellers who (a) have been invited to take part" 

Who is delivering the invitation; Luca Brasi? Sellers who are "invited" face the prospect of a selling restriction if they do not upgrade by the deadline given.

[sml192]

Well done for losing weight, keep up the good work and keep away from the sweet confection. 

Even though you only have a very small number of items for sale, your account may have been triggered by the fact that all your items are listed as brand new and in 3 different sizes. 

[notstopbuying]

Agreed, but why did the person I chatted with today, have exactly the same response on the phone today and why is the person who posted above, with 5 items listed and 1 item sold, been told to upgrade to a business account.? .... Let's be honest, only time will tell, but most unusual. 

[4_bathrooms]

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@papso22 wrote:

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@notstopbuying wrote:

They where quick off the mark today, I was told to me almost instantly, it's an tech issue...... But as part of the deal to upgrade to a business account, they are offerring zero seller fees until December 31st 2024, free featured shop for 6 months. 

It will actually be a tempting offer for many. 

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I find this reprehensible!

Ebay are either incentivising previous law breakers to abide by the law (and kicking law abiding sellers in the teeth yet again), or they are incentivising genuine private sellers into incorrectly declaring themselves as a business, and possibly leading to all sorts of issues with HMRC, with no way back to a private account.

Who on earth thought this was a good idea!

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Agreed; they are doing both. The only sellers who will benefit from this will be those who have been breaking the law and - by extension - eBay's own policies. Meanwhile, correctly registered law-abiding business sellers are kicked in the teeth - during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday and Christmas peak selling periods - and many genuine private sellers will feel forced to upgrade unnecessarily with no way back other than to open a new account.

[pg_kicks]

The person today probably had the same attitude as the other person, I've been highlighting how delivery times have been wrong for months, we get told they are correct and we are wrong, thats happened atleast 50 times all different sellers but then the manager phoned me and admitted there was as issue. Ebay has an issue with their customer services not being trained correctly, they sit infront of a script or dont know so just give copy and paste answers. Sorry you have to find out this now but dave is more informed than anyone within CS when you phone.

I'd lvoe to know the type of accounts which have been targetted as the one who has sold 5 looks strange but thats the only one we have been able to see.

[abradley001]

Oh my giddy Aunt.  I hope this is the case with me. I spoke to them on the phone yesterday when I got the email to ask about the appeals process and he just told me its denied. I havent even put in an appeal, I was trying to find out how to fix this. 

If this is true I'm angry at the numpty responsible for sending them out and relieved at the same time as I couldn't get any sense from the American CS team member that I spoke to.  Time will tell I guess.

I was so angry and stressed that I couldnt sleep last night.

[technthread]

You won't be the only hobby seller who is thoroughly confused. 

eBay put this out months ago to try and stop panic but are now telling some Ben from London's that they have gone over a threshold and need to be a business account:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sellercentre/selling/selling-online-and-hmrc?_trkparms=pageci%3Aa175c373-f257...