eBay

tylerb_2026 · ‎24-02-2026

Hello good people!

I previously posted about eBay suddenly asking me for photo I.D to verify my account. Basically I have no such thing (my passport and provisional driving license expired many years ago) and due to ill health I can't just pop out anytime soon to have a photo taken, so I asked for my account to be closed, which was granted and was told it would take up to 60 days. I then read online that if you don't have photo I.D they may accept some documents. After speaking to an agent I was told a birth certificate and a utility bill should work. Because I changed my name legally about 10 years ago, instead I uploaded the legal document showing my name change, along with a recent council tax bill, both showing the same name as my eBay account.

My first two attempts were quickly rejected. I thought they just weren't accepting what I was providing. But after taking better photos, I also noticed that I needed to enter my birth date and something else while uploading the documents. Later that evening I received an email message saying that my seller privileges had been restored, which I took as a good sign. But that could also have been because I had asked for my account to remain open the day before, I'm not sure.

As I still wasn't sure whether I was verified or not, or the process was still ongoing, I contacted an agent this evening who told me that I was actually verified now, and I don't need to stress about it. But I haven't received any email from eBay saying the verification was successful as I would expect. I was just wondering is there any way to check if your account is actually verified and all is good? I want to post one or two items for sale, but I guess I'm still afraid any funds will be held without seeing actual proof that my uploaded documents were successful, despite what the agent told me a few minutes ago.

Thanks for anyone who reads the above, I know it's quite a long post!

theelench · ‎25-02-2026

I'm no expert so perhaps there is a better way of checking that others may know of.

If your bank details have been verified previously with a couple of micro-payments being credited and then withdrawn, your account should be OK to accept payments from any sales.

If as CS said your personal details have now been verified with the documents you uploaded you should be OK to sell. So I'd try doing a a trial listing, I'm sure ebay will stop it going live if it isn't happy about you being verified to sell.

One other thing you might find. If you closed your selling account and then re-opened it you might fall foul of the "New or Returning seller" security. New sellers or those returning after a break will often have their payouts put on hold until tracking confirms delivery, plus a few days in case the buyer opens a return case. If that happens the payment holds will automatically be lifted after a few of your sales are completed without any problems.

tylerb_2026 · ‎25-02-2026

Cheers for that.

I did just speak to another agent who confirmed my account was successfully verified, so although it would have been nice to see this with my own eyes via email confirmation or something, I guess I'll just take their word for it! I did also do the micro-transactions to my bank recently before I uploaded documents confirming my name and address. I wasn't too happy about it as I'd already sold about 10 items over the last 12 months, so it seemed pretty random and out of the blue.