Proving my age without a credit card!

[heiya-safari]

I see others have already asked this question (“I do not have a credit card, is there any other way to prove my age to eBay?”), but received little relevant response, with all manner of ‘real world’ suggestions (from joining porn sites, to showing your driving license!), none of which relate to the exclusive eBay setup.

 I can only assume the answer to be ‘No’.

so much for living in an ‘inclusive’ world.

[heiya-safari]

In theory, yes, but like most big companies, they don’t really want to talk to you and do their utmost to avoid it.

The jokingly named ‘contract us’ link merely sends you in circles. I have attempted, on several occasions, for various reasons, to contact them, but to no avail. I end up sending frustrated rants via any route I can find, only to find it is an unmonitored address.

[boolve]

Please do as I explained, and you will be speaking with a person in 4 minutes. 

[tressygirl]

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@heiya-safari wrote:

In theory, yes, but like most big companies, they don’t really want to talk to you and do their utmost to avoid it.

The jokingly named ‘contract us’ link merely sends you in circles. I have attempted, on several occasions, for various reasons, to contact them, but to no avail. I end up sending frustrated rants via any route I can find, only to find it is an unmonitored address.

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You may be prevented from listing an item, because you have not fully or correctly registered with eBay's Managed Payments.

You need to provide eBay with details of a bank account and have this account verified.  The usual method here, is for eBay to send 2 micro deposits into that nominated bank account for you to receive,  and confirm to eBay.

Once this is completed,  you will be able to list items for sale,  and receive payouts from those sales.

This will show you how to register for eBay's Managed Payments.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/help/selling/getting-paid/introducing-managed-payments-ebay?id=4795

If there is an issue with the registration contact eBay Customer Services,  who have full access to your account,  and can see where the issue lies and explain the steps you now need to take.

Contact them this way.

This is the easiest and quickest way to contact eBay Customer Services, for a Call Back option.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/eua?id=5275&mkevt=1&mkpid

Lines open 8 a.m. - 10 p.m. on weekdays.

9 a.m. - 6 p.m. on weekends.

Automated agents will be available on chat outside of the above hours.

I recommend contacting CS first thing in the morning as there's more chance of Dublin answering.

@heiya-safari 

[hotrod-mopar-power]

Been with them for over 20 years and i do not have a credit card it's stupid so time to go elsewear.

[recycle-power]

.....and a 16 year old couldn't be using their parents credit card for age verification?
C'mon, this debit versus credit card rule is daft, some common sense needs to be applied by eBay here. I am 57 years old, have had an eBay account for 22 years, I was shocked today when I wanted to buy a Dewalt Jigsaw BARE UNIT that doesn't even come with any blades and I couldn't buy it because of this stupid Blade rule that shouldn't even apply to the listing. I'm more angry about the  Credit Card debacle because I don't have one nor do I want a Credit Card but lack of foresight by eBay for this scenario is causing Sellers and Buyers problems that needn't exist. 

[lacey1927]

Spot on!

[futurusticwoodworkin]

I did just that (see my own post) and basically got a "computer says no" response. it's a silly and inflexible approach which will only drive both vendors and customers elsewhere. no way do I want to buy from A****n but it seems that it's the only option I can use

stupid, stupid ebay

[futurusticwoodworkin]

and if you were under 18, that would render the whole asinine policy invalid

[hotrod-mopar-power]

Purchased saw blade from elsewear same price & faster delivery so won't be using eBay much anymore, i've had 2030 postive feedbacks & it's all 100% almost all from purchases over the last 22 years if my maths is correct that would make me over 18  eBay's loss elsewears gain.

[cableman53]

bought of Amazon lost business for ebay

[sjnjan20]

Surely this crafty sixteen year old could buy a knife easier than from eBay and furthermore could also read the parents credit card, surely?

[jonatjonatjonat]

If they buy it elsewhere, it’s not eBay’s problem but wherever they are legally buying it should have age checks in place.

if they are using their parents account and their parents credit card, eBay has performed what they deem due diligence because as far as eBay can tell, an 18 year old has made the purchase. These items should also be shipped with an age verified service e of course and shouldn’t be handed over to anyone who looks under 18.

im not sure what point you are trying to make? Is it why bother? Because they’ll find a way to get a knife anyway?

[cableman53]

I am a 72 year old male , have a passport , driving licence, ebay also have
my National Insurance number



* I have been using e-bay since 2003 (22 years)
* Same address bank details PayPal account
* Registration date

Jun 19, 2003 02:03 PM



I have no need of a credit card , why pay interest on my own money

I owe nobody anything

surely eBay can put something that shows that I am over 18

or at least offer another method of age verification



eBay / supplier loss bought from Screwfix





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[insidethe93]

recycle-power wrote: "...that doesn't even come with any blades and I couldn't buy it because of this stupid Blade rule that shouldn't even apply to the listing. ...Credit Card debacle because I don't have one nor do I want a Credit Card but lack of foresight by eBay for this scenario is causing Sellers and Buyers problems that needn't exist. "

Oh I agree, the situation's ridiculous, on eBay and rival large shopping platforms. All it needs is a tweak in the software. I suspect it's the AI or some blunt unaware software tool that reads "blade" in a product name or description, so if eBay doesn't want to lose sales its programmers should add in a few lines of code allow for the situation where "blade" is mentioned but doesn't exist, to program in "flag this with a human supervisor".

I know eBay's not alone in such inadequate software. On another platform I once bought an empty sheath to fit a victorinox multitool but because it mentioned "knife" it came up with warnings galore, but as my default payment method was a credit card I was OK. If you do manage to get someone to sell you what you want, be prepared in case the courier driver expects to be shown proof of age too, as I had to do with the empty sheath i.e. the courier firms want to cover themselves too.

As for eBay's insistence on only a credit card being acceptable, other organisations (e.g. banks, insurers, councils) who're arguably more important than a shopping platform accept other forms of ID. There's a wide choice of government-issued proof-of-age ID that's available, and a wide range that's _PHOTO_ ID (see example list*) yet eBay in its 'wisdom' has decided not to be even a tad flexible.

Perhaps I'm being too idealistic to expect a commercial firm like eBay to have the same standards of non-discrimination as elsewhere.

* example list of government-issued photo-ID: valid UK passport, UK photo driving licence, EEA or Commonwealth country passport/ID card, UK Biometric Residence Permit, HM Armed Forces identity card / Veteran Card (these are accepted when voting! way more important than shopping), Ministry of Defence ID Card, photocard bus passes funded by the UK Government, PASS card, etc.

For banks there's even the regulatory framework known as Consumer Duty, overseen by the FCA, which compels banks to accept certain alternative ID if a customer can't produce the normal one(s). 

[lacey1927]

Quite right matey!

[lacey1927]

The issue is, have alternative ways of proving your age! Not everyone has
or wants a credit card!

[jonatjonatjonat]

Yeah I agree? That’s nowt to do with what i was responding to though!

[sjnjan20]

It is clear to me that eBay considers the number of lost sales to be
insignificant that are derived from people who , like me, have a debit card
but have chosen not to have a credit card, as is well known therd are other
ways to check a buyers age, it strikes me that owning an account for 20
years would be a simple start, what say you?

[jonatjonatjonat]

The age of an online account is not due diligence in the eyes of the law eBay have to adhere to.

Providing evidence of either a valid driving licence or passport would be, but generally, this would cost eBay per age check.

as you say, eBay clearly don’t believe the additional revenue the sale of bladed items would bring in are worth the work to implement a more expensive ID system.

[sml192]

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@sjnjan20 wrote:
It is clear to me that eBay considers the number of lost sales to be
insignificant that are derived from people who , like me, have a debit card
but have chosen not to have a credit card, as is well known therd are other
ways to check a buyers age, it strikes me that owning an account for 20
years would be a simple start, what say you?

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It is the age of the purchaser that eBay needs to verify not the age of the account holder.  They are not necessarily the same person.

As you say there are other ways of checking a buyer's age, including with a debit card, but those methods cost more so, unfortunately, eBay has currently chosen to only accept the cheapest method.