May 7, 2010
When You Drop Off eBay's Screen
When You Drop Off eBay's Screen By Cliff Ennico www.creators.com #147;I am a small book store owner. I have been doing business online through Half.com (owned by eBay) for the last 15 months or so. My business through Half.com has steadily increased and I was very happy to gross over $100,000 in the last year. About two months ago, I was notified by Half.com customer service that I was in violation of eBay regulations for #145;category gouging#146; and that my account was suspended. Then, I was told to remove any and all online inventory that was in violation of this policy. Promptly, I made the corrections and requested reinstatement of my account. However, Half.com still refuses reinstatement of my account, stating that I am still in violation. Can you please advise what I should do to get my account reinstated? Is there anyone I can get in touch with and file a complaint? I have lost thousands of dollars as the result of the suspension, and am happy to do whatever is necessary to get back into eBay#146;s good graces.#148; When you start selling on eBay, you agree to be bound by the terms of eBay#146;s #147;user agreement#148;. This document #150; a contract like any in the #147;brick and mortar#148; world #150; can be reached via a link at the bottom of every page on the eBay site. As part of this contract, you agree to be bound by a number of eBay #147;policies#148; #150; in effect, eBay#146;s private legal system for ensuring that buyers have a decent experience on the site. Finding these isn#146;t always easy, but if you click on the #147;Help#148; tab from any page on the eBay site, then click on #147;A to Z Index#148;, you will find most of eBay#146;s policies listed under #147;L#148; (for #147;Listing Policies#148;) and #147;P#148; (for #147;Policies#148;). Just as in the offline world, #147;ignorance of the law is no excuse#148;. While eBay offers a number of services to help its sellers do more and better on the site, it is not responsible for teaching you how to comply with its policies. It is up to you to learn what eBay#146;s policies are and ask questions before you violate them. #147;Category gouging#148; is not defined as an eBay offense, but I suspect what you did here was violate eBay#146;s #147;categorization#148; policy (for details, see pages.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-categorization.html). Basically, you are supposed to list your stuff in the proper category #150; you don#146;t list Hummel figurines in the #147;toys and games#148; category, for example. eBay gives the following examples of #147;categorization#148; violations that specifically relate to books: #147;a cookbook should be listed in the books category, not in sports memorabilia#148;; #147;a book about Royal Worcester china should not be listed in the category for Royal Worcester china#148;. The first one makes good common sense, but I can sympathize with a lot of eBay sellers who foul up on the second one. If you#146;re selling a collector#146;s guide to antique mechanical banks, why shouldn#146;t you be able to list it in the #147;mechanical banks#148; category, as many inexperienced collectors might not even be aware there is a guide to their hobby they can find in the #147;books#148; category? Still, it#146;s eBay#146;s rule, and you gotta play the game their way. The fact that you#146;re not getting a response from eBay#146;s customer service team means one of three things: they#146;re still not satisfied that you understand the #147;categorization#148; policy; you are violating other eBay policies in your listings (for example, you are listing adult-themed books in the #147;books#148; category instead of the #147;Everything Else: Mature Audiences#148; category) and they don#146;t have the time or inclination to tell you what you#146;re doing wrong; or you haven#146;t tried hard enough to make contact with a human being at eBay who can solve your problem. You can call eBay#146;s customer support team at 1-800-717-EBAY from 6am - 9pm, Pacific Time, 7 days a week. You can also contact eBay via e-mail, by clicking on the #147;Live Help#148; link on the eBay homepage and then clicking on #147;Account Suspension#148; (in your case), but I wouldn#146;t use e-mail. Clearly, in the words of the immortal late Steve McQueen, #147;what we have here is a failure to communicate#148; #150; you need to get hold of a human being that speaks English and let them know how important this issue is to you. And do a little soul searching: if you sold over $100,000 last year on eBay, they made a ton of money in fees off of you. eBay is a very rational business, and I strongly doubt they would kick you off the site, blow off your phone calls, and cut off that revenue stream without a really good reason. Might you, just possibly, have been doing other icky things on the eBay site that got them really angry? Just a thought . . . Cliff Ennico ( cennico@legalcareer.com ) is a syndicated columnist, author and host of the PBS television series 'Money Hunt'. His latest books are 'Small Business Survival Guide' (Adams Media, $12.95) and 'The eBay Seller's Tax and Legal Answer Book' (AMACOM, $19.95). This column is no substitute for legal, tax or financial advice, which can be furnished only by a qualified professional licensed in your state. To find out more about Cliff Ennico and other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit our Web page at www.creators.com . COPYRIGHT 2007 CLIFFORD R. ENNICO. DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC. Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com.

Posted by Staff at 1:51 AM