On Wednesday 10/15, of last week, Ben (an eBay seller) received an email from PayPal, requesting additional information such as Tax ID number or Social Security Number. At that time no limitations were placed on his eBay sellers account.

Ben faxed the IRS form as requested considering he is running an existing business. Shortly after, received an email of receipt.

The information was confirmed on Friday Morning and right before lunch he received another email indicating the information was not enough and that he would have to confirm his Social Security Number. Ben provided the information requested.

Finally, on Monday 10/20, he received another email from PayPal indicating that they could not reinstate his account until further information was provided. This time they requested Suppliers invoice as well as Bank Statements with his home address. Unfortunately, PayPal and eBay placed restrictions on the accounts.

Restrictions:

eBay – Not allowed to list and all listings cancelled

PayPal – Cannot close account, accept or request money

 

What happened next left me speechless.

Even though Ben had provided all the information requested in a timely manner, had no claims and no outstanding issues and his DSR’s were 4.8 on each category, eBay e-Mailed to ALL buyers NOT to conduct business with Ben (in the last 6 weeks he had generated 200 sales).

The email eBay sent was damaging. They advised sellers to cancel their orders and file chargeback’s with PayPal immediately to obtain their funds. They advised buyers that Ben was suspected of conducting a fraudulent business.

Of course Ben is outraged and I advised him to contact his Attorney. This was uncalled for. We understand eBay and PayPal can verify your information at anytime. But to go to this extreme?!

Its gets better………..

Finally, today, Ben contacted PayPal because not only had eBay made slanderous remarks about his business they also removed all the information from his Sales Manager Dashboard. This means all sales information; such as Item Numbers, descriptions and pictures are not visible to buyer or seller.

Keep in mind this is difficult for him because he did not download the information on to his computer nor does PayPal offer him the details he would view on the eBay listing itself. When eBay removed a listing you cannot view it at all.

PayPal offers you Item Number and Title – No image of details of the description are provided.

Ben usually ships out orders within 2 business days of receipt of payment. In the last 72 hours, he received payment for items that he shipped. However, once Paypal placed the limitations on his account; PayPal automatically cancelled all withdraws to his bank.

According to PayPal, even though he shipped some of the orders for the payments he transferred, they would not release the money for 6 months!

Due to the eMail eBay sent out to ALL the buyers, it generated many chargeback’s.

Such as:

-Some for items he just shipped

-Some for items he had Not shipped due to payment only clearing the day PayPal place the restrictions and

-A few buyers took advantage of the situation and Filed Chargeback’s for orders they had already received. They noted on the claim to PayPal that eBay advised them to File the Chargeback. So they did.

 

What made this more frustrating for him; is that each Agent at PayPal offered him different information. Not one person ever provided him with the same response. After endless of phone calls, an Agent at PayPal informed him that they would NOT reinstate the account. Ben did ask for a Supervisor; and that Supervisor was not helpful. The Supervisor could not provide Ben with an explanation or details to their decision. He simply informed Ben that is was at their discretion to accept or open accounts.

The mess eBay and PayPal have caused him is in the thousands. The reputation of his online store is tarnished.

For the buyers that have filed the Chargeback claims after having the order delivered is wrong and criminal. Those buyers excused themselves behind the email they received from eBay.

Ben complied with the Policies and provided all the information in a timely manner. He does not understand what he did wrong. PayPal could not respond to his questions.

During this process, Ben learned that you cannot use a Merchant Account unless you are approved through PayPal. Even if you use ProPay you must undergo PayPal screening.

Ultimately, PayPal and eBay win. They get to earn interest from the money being withheld from his PayPal account for at least 6 months. Ben asked if they would pay him interest for the funds being held and they indicated:

“They cannot pay him interest because they are NOT a Bank. Only had he applied for a Money market Account.”

Interesting…they can demand information from you like a Bank but will not pay you interest for the money being withheld from you.

Now, I will inform you that I was on conference call with Ben and PayPal. So I heard first hand the ridiculous information or lack of.

What I concluded from this is that regardless if you have a Merchant Account of your own, you will NOT be allowed to sell on the eBay platform if PayPal does not want you too. Had PayPal provided him with an explanation, details to their determination; it would be easier to understand why they took such disgraceful steps.

This story is very similar to others shared with me.

Ben has an e-Commerce site, but has not put too much effort into it. Due to the recent drop in sales at his existing Store he decided to open an eBay account. So, now he plans to try Amazon WebStore.

My experience with Amazon WebStore is a lot better than with eBay.

 Ben was making a decent profit. The sales on eBay allowed him to meet the payment for the lease on the store. Ben was more than willing to provide them with any and all documents needed to make this work out for him. What is eBay truly up too?

~Laura