How to upload birth certificate and address proof to ID verify page when no photo ID

[iancw]

Hi folks

eBay asking for identity verification to continue seller eligibility.
I do not have any photo ID. 
Live Chat told me birth certificate and government letter with proof of address OK.
But this option not offered on verification page.
The above were not accepted when chose one of the photo options as presumably the auto scan of docs to verify does not recognise them.
Any experiences of how to upload these.

Thanks.
David

[fargvs]

Currently, only a (single monthly payment)  Credit Card entry to confirm your age is acceptable to eBay if trying to buy anything with sharp edges --- nothing else will do !! --- an everyday use Debit Card will not be accepted ---  Ask family or friend to purchase on your behalf perhaps ?.

[tressygirl]

A Community manager posted this statement below,  for members being asked for ID for seller verification,  hope this will help:

We accept an National Photo ID card, UK Passport, UK Driver’s License. If you don't any of these documents, you can submit a UK birth certificate along with a proof of address (electricity/internet bill or similar) that is no older than 3 months, instead of a photo ID.

@iancw 

[jonatjonatjonat]

Not everything in relation to verification is to do with blades products.

[indiannasmith]

"Submit a" ... what is involved in submitting  documents? Are original docs sent to an address to be verified, or copies sent via email? 

[papso22]

Ebay should tell you how to submit docs if they need them.

[theelench]

But ebay STILL doesn't make this easy to do, after so long that this has this been a problem for those that don't have ebay's preferred option of photo I.D.

WHY IS THAT if, as we are told these verification checks are required by legislation ?

It's not that long ago that ebay was saying that ONLY photo I.D was acceptable, which was never true.

Now they grudgingly accept that there are other (non photo) ways  to verify and even tell sellers about them.  But still make verification as tortuous as possible without giving ebay what it really wants, photos of sellers. 

As these have now proved to be un-necessary, the only reason for ebay to continue making life difficult is because it gains something by doing so.

So what is this really all about?  Site security OR handing ebay yet more info. that it can exploit (sell) for its own benefit ?

[leadhills_scot]

Amazon require exactly the same photo ID as ebay do. They also make it extremely difficult for you to use any other method. In my case, as a business seller,  they wanted a letter from HMRC and the bank, a utility bill, a copy of a full birth certificate (not the short one), and marriage certificate.  Over the years I went through verification twice, however when they decided to verify me for the 3rd time I pulled the plug on them.

[jonatjonatjonat]

It’s KYC and nothing else. Loads of financial institutions need to do it. Amazon need to do it. And generally, passport and driving licence is what is suggested because MOST users will have this. So it makes eBay’s life easier if you can provide this. There is a way to provide a birth certificate and you can, you just need to jump through more hoops as you are an outlier. Most people will have what eBay would prefer.

to think eBay are for some reason doing this to data harvest your passport photos for some nefarious purpose is a wild, wild reach.

[iancw]

Thanks for comments.

Pleased to report that our eBay seller restrictions were lifted overnight.  One Live Chat made the suggestion to upload birth and bank docs using the 'Government Approved ID' option on the eBay Verify page. As there are likely a variety of ID types they are possibly checked manually when an eBay rep would realise what they were to approve.

Had tried the passport and driving licence option before but more likely auto-scanned to check the right format and quickly received an auto-email rejecting them.

After uploading it was about half a day before verification success email but gather can be longer.

Will post on separate solution thread for folk in similar circumstances to spot with a search.

David

[theelench]

Is it ?

As amazon doing the same has been brought into the conversation I'll just quote an amazon exec. from years ago.

"Amazon is a data collecting enterprise that just happens to sell books."

Just like ebay just happens to sell all sorts of stuff for others, but lately it could be said that ebay has lost interest in selling anything and is more interested in advertising revenue and data gathering.

[jonatjonatjonat]

 I will leave you to your beliefs on this matter.

[mus-755617]

If the verification page is only offering photo ID options, it’s likely because the system is set up for automated document scanning.

Documents like a birth certificate or government letter often can’t be verified through the automatic process. In cases like this, the usual option is to go back to eBay support and ask them to manually review the documents or provide an alternative upload method.

Sometimes they can send a secure link or guide you through a manual verification process.

[marco@ebay]

Hi all,

Glad to hear this is now resolved for the OP. However, I want to jump in to clarify a few bits.

First one is that I've seen multiple people asking where to or how to upload a birth certificate when you have no valid photo ID, and for that you'd just need to upload your birth cert with a utility bill with your current address and the bill cannot be older than 3 months. Also, the name on the birth cert have to match the one on your bill and eBay account, otherwise it will not pass verification, and where to upload it or how to, you'd need to do that the same way you'd for your passport or license, the only difference is that instead of uploading a photo of your passport or license, you'd upload a photo of your birth cert and another one for the utility bill.

If after this the system will not recognize your documents, you can contact us, and depending on each case, you might get a different link where you can upload your documents for further review. However, this is something I've only seen once or twice in all my years here, so it wouldn't be common for it to happen, as the documents are normally accepted straight away as long as they meet the correct criteria.

Second one is the reason why we ask this, this is just to be in compliance with local laws and regulations, this is not just because we want to do it this way. 

Hope this helps for future readers,

Marco

[essw3673]

Hi so if I take a photo of my seventy ## year old flimsy bit of paper that looks like a doctor's prescription writing format practice sheet will be accepted ! as opposed to my only photo card ID that is a Bus pass that is acceptable throughout England that , clearly shows Name address & date of birth ! is not acceptable, can I ask which planet goes your organisation stems from. a clear answer it would appear welcome for many users and enlightening to your own representatives

[jonatjonatjonat]

Put simply, under current due diligence rules for Know Your Customer Anti Money Laundering checks (not eBay’s rules this btw) the bus pass is not an accepted document.