Problems With Ebay-account!

[Rossi]

Hi there,

some months ago eBay suspended my account. This account was originally created in Germany on ebay.de but after I setteled down in Thailand I also changed my eBay-Location to Thailand. They didn't give me any reason for the suspension. I had 100% positive feedback (only 20 votes though!). They asked me to send them a proof of my adress in Thailand, a copy of my passport, receipts from the things that I offered on eBay and receipts from the post office. That was really annoying. Moreover it seems that inhouse delivery is quite slow - after 5 weeks they told me they got the documents! I thought they will reopen my account, but that was again wrong! Now they said that my account was in relation with already suspended accounts - Jesus! I have never had trouble with them, but they didn't care about anything I wrote them. The accounts is still dead!

OK, I thought it is easier to open a new a ccount and did so on the name of my girlfriend. I again opened it in on ebay.de and they send the activation code to Thailand. I activated the account - everything OK. I started the first auction and boooom... the account was suspended! Now eBay said they want to have a copy of her passport, prove of address and company documents. Of course there is no company existing, but can I open a personal account and then start 30 - 50 auctions a day? I didn't even started to send any documents as it wouldn't lead to anything...

Does anyone has a good idea how I can get a hassle free eBay account without having to send them thousands of letters? I can't understand why eBay makes it so hard to do a basic business. I never cheated anyone... Is it probably better to get an account in the US than in Germany?

Any help would be aprreciated,

Rossi

[Gary A]

Good luck. My account has been limited (frozen!) for three years. I has become obvious to me that there are no people who work for paypal. I have never eceived an explanation nor have I ever gotten an answer from a live person. Paypal SUCKS!

Hi there,

some months ago eBay suspended my account. This account was originally created in Germany on ebay.de but after I setteled down in Thailand I also changed my eBay-Location to Thailand. They didn't give me any reason for the suspension. I had 100% positive feedback (only 20 votes though!). They asked me to send them a proof of my adress in Thailand, a copy of my passport, receipts from the things that I offered on eBay and receipts from the post office. That was really annoying. Moreover it seems that inhouse delivery is quite slow - after 5 weeks they told me they got the documents! I thought they will reopen my account, but that was again wrong! Now they said that my account was in relation with already suspended accounts - Jesus! I have never had trouble with them, but they didn't care about anything I wrote them. The accounts is still dead!

OK, I thought it is easier to open a new a ccount and did so on the name of my girlfriend. I again opened it in on ebay.de and they send the activation code to Thailand. I activated the account - everything OK. I started the first auction and boooom... the account was suspended! Now eBay said they want to have a copy of her passport, prove of address and company documents. Of course there is no company existing, but can I open a personal account and then start 30 - 50 auctions a day? I didn't even started to send any documents as it wouldn't lead to anything...

Does anyone has a good idea how I can get a hassle free eBay account without having to send them thousands of letters? I can't understand why eBay makes it so hard to do a basic business. I never cheated anyone... Is it probably better to get an account in the US than in Germany?

Any help would be aprreciated,

Rossi

[ffm]

What ebay don't like:

1. Newly created account moving between countries.

2. Account opened on ebay.de with address in Thailand.

3. Selling account not verified by credit card.

If you open a selling account in Thailand you are supposed to use a Thai credit card. That should solve your problem.

[Rossi]

Good luck. My account has been limited (frozen!) for three years. I has become obvious to me that there are no people who work for paypal. I have never eceived an explanation nor have I ever gotten an answer from a live person. Paypal SUCKS!

Well, actually I was talking about eBay, not Paypal. But regarding Paypal I had the same expereince: After my account was frozen for 6 month I could finally withdraw the money. They don't want to keep me as a customer due to the high risk I guess even they would like to keep me, I wouldn't do the mistake to use Paypal anymore. As a buyer that might me OK, but as a vendor...

What ebay don't like:

1. Newly created account moving between countries.

2. Account opened on ebay.de with address in Thailand.

3. Selling account not verified by credit card.

If you open a selling account in Thailand you are supposed to use a Thai credit card. That should solve your problem.

Hi ffm,

all the tree points mentioned applied, so that might have been the reason... Do you know of more such cases?

Regarding the credit card, there is a problem: I can't open an eBay-Account on my name anymore, as they would easily find out an suspend this account again. If I open a bank account here and get a credit card, than the card would be on my name. Or wouldn't the find out if I open the account on ebay.com? Can I probably get one of those debit cards? The problem might be that they don't have those last tree digits (forgot the definition).

[ffm]

Hi ffm,

all the tree points mentioned applied, so that might have been the reason... Do you know of more such cases?

Yes I know of several.

Regarding the credit card, there is a problem: I can't open an eBay-Account on my name anymore, as they would easily find out an suspend this account again. If I open a bank account here and get a credit card, than the card would be on my name. Or wouldn't the find out if I open the account on ebay.com? Can I probably get one of those debit cards? The problem might be that they don't have those last tree digits (forgot the definition).

If your name is really on ebay's blacklist (have you found this out already?) then you could find a (Thai) partner whose name and credit card you can use for your business. Just switching to ebay.com or ebay.co.uk won't help in this case as ebay use global blacklists. Another solution would be to form a company and open the ebay account in the company name. If you really intend to do business on ebay that would be the right thing to do anyway.

[hercules]

eBay and PayPal are notorious for thinking any little thing bad (especially using an account from another country in Thailand, etc.) and closing your account without question and without regard to your business, etc. If you rely on them just when you get comfortable with a business on eBay they will pull the rug out from under you.

You need to setup new account in Thailand with Thailand address. Your name does not get blacklisted because many people have the same name. The things they use to track mulitple accounts are email addresses, credit card and bank accounts linked to your account. You can easily open a new account by doing the following steps.

1. Reverse your name if it makes you feel more comfortable. If you are John Smith register as Smith John. If you need to send ID it will still match as far as they are concerend. Many IDs show last name first so this should work for you.

2. Use a new email address. If you need to get a free email from the myriad of services out there. But the common ones are suspect (such as hotmail, yahoo, etc) so if you can get another regular email from your work or ISP that is preferred.

3. Make sure you use a different credit card and bank account then on previous accounts. If you attempt to use the same one it immediately links your accounts and your new account will be dead faster than you can imagine. You MUST use a credit card and bank account from the country in which you are living in and using the address for. In the past before they accepted Thailand bank account paypal closed almost every account opened from Thailand and requested documentation that was impossible to provide form Thailand (they do not study the countries they do business in very well at all).

4. Do not try to sell expensive items (or anything for that matter) on a new account. You need to establish yourself as a buyer first and get a feedback rating of at least 10. Do not bid on obvious feedback only auctions as bidding on these will also get your new account closed.

5. When you do start selling start with cheap items and slowly work up to more expensive items. Also do not list more than one item the first time and very, very slowly increase the number of items you sell if you intend to make a business on ebay.

6. Do not make more than one change to account info at a time. Multiple changes make ebay think that your account has been hijacked by a phisher and they will suspend it.

7. Do not ever, ever, ever use an anonymous proxy service to connect to ebay or paypal. They watch the online databeses of these and if you ever use one your account will be suspended within 24 hours with no chance of getting it back.

8. Do not ever do anything that draws attention to your account such as contacting customer support for ebay or paypal. If you contact paypal for any reason they usually send your account for review. When they do this they ask you for a lot of documentation and then after you provide it they tell you tough luck we do not want you as a customer and get lost. You then have to wait 6 months for any money they have frozen in the account.

9. Be prudent and careful and do not do anything that will draw attention to your account. If you sell pirate software, cd, movies your account will be suspended very quickly. They are trolls on ebay who do nothing but look at auction to report for violations of any kind.

10. Good luck. If you have any other questions ask me and I will try to answer them. I have been on ebay and paypal since their inceptions and have had many runins with them. You just have to work around the system and be smarter than them. In short, the company is run by morons who act like morons and do not understand how to treat thier customers. Everyone is considered a criminal and that is how the treat you.

[Gary A]

Ebay AND Paypal. I had over a hundred purchases from Ebay through Paypal over several years and all positive transactions. My account was started in the US. My linked bank account was in the US, my linked credit card was in the US. Last and but not least, my shipping address was in the US. There was a new computer I was VERY interested in and I saw it while I was here arranging my apartment here in Thailand and preparing to make the big move. I won the bid for the computer and Paypal limited (FROZE) my account. Neither Ebay nor Paypal bothered to listen to my explanation. Fortunately due to my positive feed back the guy I bought it from worked with me and I arranged to have a bank check sent to him. I was embarrassed and VERY pissed off. It's not as if I was trying to get anything shipped to Thailand.

I then tried to cancel my Paypal account and they refused to respond to email or telephone calls. I ended up canceling my linked credit card and instructing my bank to ignore ANYTHING from Paypal. I have NEVER heard anything from that group of morons and at this point I would ignore it if I did hear anything. I simply don't have to and refuse to do any business with a company that incompetent. Shame on Ebay.

[davidjtayler]

Ebay AND Paypal. I had over a hundred purchases from Ebay through Paypal over several years and all positive transactions. My account was started in the US. My linked bank account was in the US, my linked credit card was in the US. Last and but not least, my shipping address was in the US. There was a new computer I was VERY interested in and I saw it while I was here arranging my apartment here in Thailand and preparing to make the big move. I won the bid for the computer and Paypal limited (FROZE) my account. Neither Ebay nor Paypal bothered to listen to my explanation. Fortunately due to my positive feed back the guy I bought it from worked with me and I arranged to have a bank check sent to him. I was embarrassed and VERY pissed off. It's not as if I was trying to get anything shipped to Thailand.

I then tried to cancel my Paypal account and they refused to respond to email or telephone calls. I ended up canceling my linked credit card and instructing my bank to ignore ANYTHING from Paypal. I have NEVER heard anything from that group of morons and at this point I would ignore it if I did hear anything. I simply don't have to and refuse to do any business with a company that incompetent. Shame on Ebay.

Paypal = <deleted> !

If I have to purchase anything that requires a paypal transaction I will not purchase ....

[The Philosopher]

E bay have a verification programme with many world wide manufcaturers of sports gear DVD', watches ect, ect, ect. They do the same in Thailand as they do in many SEA Countries. They will make it very difficult for you if they don't know who you are or have any doubt about what you are selling.

Go to the e Bay Home page VeRO Protecting Link

Your previous action have obviously made them jumpy

[Rossi]

@hercules

thanks for your detailed comments. I have a couple of questions about that:

eBay and PayPal are notorious for thinking any little thing bad (especially using an account from another country in Thailand, etc.) and closing your account without question and without regard to your business, etc. If you rely on them just when you get comfortable with a business on eBay they will pull the rug out from under you.

Thats actually true!!

You need to setup new account in Thailand with Thailand address. Your name does not get blacklisted because many people have the same name. The things they use to track mulitple accounts are email addresses, credit card and bank accounts linked to your account. You can easily open a new account by doing the following steps.

I did it already. I signed my girlfriend up on ebay.de and everything was fine until I set up a seller account by entering one of my personal bank accounts in Germany. This account was new and unknown to eBay, but it was on my Name. After uploading the first item to eBay the account was suspended 5 Minutes later! I don't know the reason for this, but eBay wnated her to send a copy of her ID including her address (which would in Thailand obviously be another on than her home adress, as nobody lives at home!)and a company registration document, as I registered an account for business use (not personal). I don't know, maybe the reason for the suspension was the account type (business use), the adress in Thailand (which was the same as an already suspended one), or my name on the bank account. What to you think was the problem?

1. Reverse your name if it makes you feel more comfortable. If you are John Smith register as Smith John. If you need to send ID it will still match as far as they are concerend. Many IDs show last name first so this should work for you.

Would be possible but sounds really strange Don't you think it would be a problem, as they already have copies of ID and passport of me... if they have a database of suspended accounts they would find out quite easy...

2. Use a new email address. If you need to get a free email from the myriad of services out there. But the common ones are suspect (such as hotmail, yahoo, etc) so if you can get another regular email from your work or ISP that is preferred.

No problem.

3. Make sure you use a different credit card and bank account then on previous accounts. If you attempt to use the same one it immediately links your accounts and your new account will be dead faster than you can imagine. You MUST use a credit card and bank account from the country in which you are living in and using the address for. In the past before they accepted Thailand bank account paypal closed almost every account opened from Thailand and requested documentation that was impossible to provide form Thailand (they do not study the countries they do business in very well at all).

How should this work for eBay? I can't sign up on eBay.co.th.... I could sign up at eBay.de, but then I need a German bank account. I can only provide a German account or maybe open one in Thailand, so where to sign up? My auctions will take place mostly in Germany and I will need to offer a German bank account at least to my customers, but OK, this account can be announced to them later on, not by eBay.

4. Do not try to sell expensive items (or anything for that matter) on a new account. You need to establish yourself as a buyer first and get a feedback rating of at least 10. Do not bid on obvious feedback only auctions as bidding on these will also get your new account closed.

You mean I should first buy a couple of things before opening a seller account? Is this really necessary?

5. When you do start selling start with cheap items and slowly work up to more expensive items. Also do not list more than one item the first time and very, very slowly increase the number of items you sell if you intend to make a business on ebay.

What do you mean by cheap items? How much is expensive?

6. Do not make more than one change to account info at a time. Multiple changes make ebay think that your account has been hijacked by a phisher and they will suspend it.

7. Do not ever, ever, ever use an anonymous proxy service to connect to ebay or paypal. They watch the online databeses of these and if you ever use one your account will be suspended within 24 hours with no chance of getting it back.

8. Do not ever do anything that draws attention to your account such as contacting customer support for ebay or paypal. If you contact paypal for any reason they usually send your account for review. When they do this they ask you for a lot of documentation and then after you provide it they tell you tough luck we do not want you as a customer and get lost. You then have to wait 6 months for any money they have frozen in the account.

9. Be prudent and careful and do not do anything that will draw attention to your account. If you sell pirate software, cd, movies your account will be suspended very quickly. They are trolls on ebay who do nothing but look at auction to report for violations of any kind.

No probs with this...

10. Good luck. If you have any other questions ask me and I will try to answer them. I have been on ebay and paypal since their inceptions and have had many runins with them. You just have to work around the system and be smarter than them. In short, the company is run by morons who act like morons and do not understand how to treat thier customers. Everyone is considered a criminal and that is how the treat you.

Again, thanks fo all the info. It seems you really know their processes well.... The problem I see is, that if I do everything in the way described by you, I will need 3-6 months until I can upload 10 - 20 auctions per day... really costly, but still cheaper than another suspended account

@The Philosopher

I don't have any problems with brands.

Rossi