Bad Bot Has Hidden A Listing

[fractal369]

Earlier today I was reviewing stats for a listing and was trying to follow the prompts for "things to do" in Selling hub.

I decided to enable ebay promotion to try and get more views, and republished listing and everything was fine.

I returned to seller hub and it was suggesting there were 4 item details missing so spent time going through the list of details and kept finding more.

But still kept getting told by ebay that there is more details I could add.

After trying to check my listing changes it has been hidden.

A bad bot is telling me I have broken ebay policy because I have added personal information and am trying to sell or buy outwith ebay.

This is inaccurate and untrue.

I have rechecked my listing and can not see how or why there has been personal information shared, there hasn't.

How do I get a competent human being to review my listing and help me get it relisted?

This is second listing that i have had where messages with potential buyers have been deleted by bots or admin with no reason or notification.

Earlier in the week I had a message from buyer who was asking about scratches they thought they could see but wasn't sure because of my not so great photography.

I replied trying to give them confidence there were no scratches but also reminded them they could make an offer a little less than buy now price to get postage and a cup of coffee to try and hasten sale.

No personal info was shared by me or potential buyer.  No attempt at selling anything not listed on ebay was offered. 

This is my third item listed on ebay and second to cause issues with the bots and mods. 

All I did today was spent time trying to follow the "advice" in ebay selling hub to try and get more views and more potential buyers to see my listing.

I now have to spend more time posting here because the automated system has wrongly accused me of acting outwith ebay policies.

There is nothing I can change in my listing that will help appease the automated system and need a competent human being to help me out.

One of the listing details that was changed was "personalisation"  as the controller i am selling is highly configurable by software and highly modular meaning it is physically highly personalisable.   But noticed p&p section had limitations set for buyer regarding returns or something.

 

 

I will try to get screenshots of the "personalisation" section of "details" drop down list ebay bot was telling me I should try to add more info in, to help my listing reach more potential buyers.   Irony is the ebay bots has hidden my listing so nobody but me can see it.

[/badbot]

[kidmore_kats · Accepted solution]

Not being able to see the listings, I can't really help on why these listings have been hidden.

The only thing that occurs to me is that your sold items include links to the manufacturer's web site.

If the items that are being hidden also contain similar links, that may the reason

The eBay bots may see this as an attempt to do an off site deal ?

Having looked at the message they sent you more closely, it does say that you can't include URL's

[fractal369]

I can't share URL to point potential buyers to official marketing, support, drivers and software that the hardware i am selling are dependant on?.

I guess the problem is the humans programming the bots. Not the bots.

That is a form of restriction not protection.

[*vyolla*]

One of your sold listings has a link to it for a manual available at a third party web site, if you're putting in those sort of links eBay will pull your listings for breaching policy. 

Could that be it?

[fractal369]

Revising description for hidden listing i changed

 so that the urls in description were removed.

 and after making sure there were no urls to anything in description then republished listing which seemed to go public fine but when I go back to seller hub I still get

 

[fractal369]

Is it coincidence that I messaged a potential buyer in reply to their question and reminded them they could make slightly lower offer has disappeared from my ebay inbox and now my listing has been hidden?

I should not even be having to post here to try and work out what has triggered the automated system to hide my listing.

[fractal369]

 

Okay, I learned no urls are allowed and seller hub should refresh soon.

[the-nutwood-collection]

You could put in the listing that full details of the official marketing, support, drivers and software that the hardware is dependent upon will be supplied after the sale is made.

You can then include all this information on a printed info sheet in the package.

Maybe that will get past the bots.

[fractal369]

Thanks for the suggestion.  

I will also leave feedback asking for the bots to be better programmed.   Too many annoying "features" like the "recommended" pricing suggestions- completely lowballing real value of sellers items to get "quick" sale.

The "things to do" for sellers is just forcing sellers to think they need ebay to advertise their items for quicker sale and am having to rely on manufacturers website to share accurate information for the item specifics which are supposedly "optional" criteria yet the automated system is telling me i need to do and regardless how much extra optional info i enter the bots keep telling me more info is needed.

Ebay just want a 10% cut of sales.  I switched on ebay promotion for this listing today as it has had only 22 views after a couple of weeks.

Ebay tells me similar items are selling at £38 after i visited and saved a seller who has sold 14 of exact same controller for £75 which is half price of new.  This is without the led Crystal pack upgrade which costs £40 new and is considered a hardware upgrade as the joysticks are a newer and better version compared to the joysticks the controller originally ships with.

Badly programmed bots are killing the ebay seller and buyer experience.

When I first started using ebay in about 2014 everything I ordered was 1st class royal mail which meant next day delivery.  Now I need to pay twice as much and need to wait a random amount of days depending on courier.   Evri are very unpredictable.

So much wrong with ebay it ain't no laughing matter.

Badly programmed bots are bigger issue than scammers imho, it almost like ebay doesn't want private sellers on their platform anymore.  Just well established businesses seem to be "sponsored" which is not what i think ebay was created for.

/2c

[fractal369]

I just spent a Sunday afternoon and eveningvwaiting on yet another delayed Evri delivery for an item i bought on wednesday and trying to appease the automated system.   This is my third listing and all three had urls in the descriptions and it was when the automated "things to do" for seller thing told me I had to enter more item specifics was my listing hidden.

Even the restriction on editing time in these forums are rattling my cage adding to the frustration....

Nuts.