Modee's Story

[Modee]

I opened my first EBAY account in early 1999; my first PayPal in early 2000.

Over the years, I used EBAY to buy and sell items ranging from a few bucks to twenty grand. The only problem I had with EBAY was in Spring 2001 when some scammer collected about ten grand from me for a Rolex and shipped me...nothing. It was only after the FBI got involved that he got scared and returned my money to me. I was told that he was later arrested for continuing the scam with others who weren't strong enough to intimidate him into refunding their cash.

Towards 2006, I stepped up my EBAY listings with brisk sales of high end items, and at one point I was listing a $3000. item every day, staggering the listings so that one would come in the A.M., the next day in the P.M., so that there would be about 12 to 36 hours between each listing.

Then, after I'd sold about $50K of goods, suddenly I awoke one morning to the dreaded "abusing EBAY" suspension email. I really couldn't believe it and was overwhelmed. I had over 500 feedback all positive and had been a member for 7 years.

I tried hard to get reinstated and started a letter writing and email campaign to all the top brass at EBAY, and T & S, and even got some responses from top people, claiming they would "do what they could." Finally, in the end they wrote to me that they had decided that my "account would remain suspended" and said something about how I was a "high risk account."

No one ever defined exactly what this meant, but I learned over time that "high risk accounts" are suspended not because they have done anything wrong, but because EBAY is concerned that they might do something wrong in the future. For example, close auctions and not deliver.

Yeah...right...I'd like for them to show me even one account that built up $50K in recent good will and then tried to sting people. A few hundred, a few thousand maybe, but no one would risk shipping $50K for a scam operation. Especially not on an EBAY account that old that had always been gold.

I also pointed out to EBAY that I had continued to ship about $9K in goods even after being suspended, some of which was paid for with overseas bank wire, but they didn't understand or didn't want to understand the implication - that I was an honest seller.

Ironically, my certificate making me a high level Power Seller arrived in the mail right around the time that EBAY declared the suspension final.

[Modee]

Before coming upon this site and affiliating myself with others like me who had been wronged by EBAY, I created a few more accounts, but was oblivious to the linking via cookies and IP address. As a result, several more EBAY accounts of mine were linked and suspended.

Eventually I got the formula right
Modee's Game Plan - The Song Remains the Same! - Free EBAY, PayPal, Business and Law Forums - Ebay Suspension, PayPal Limited
and the final tweaking in the technique, for me, was jettisoning PayPal. I still use PayPal for sales on my own websites, but use Googlecheckout + cartmanager for EBAY. Now I have gone so far beyond my early techniques, that it is unreal what I am doing now.

Since dropping PayPal as an option for my EBAY sales, I have not been suspended. Knock on wood!

[Modee]

I went ahead and made the appeal to BBB (Better Business Bureau) only recently. Didn't bother with Attorney General, which is another way to make a complaint about EBAY - with the commercial division of your state attorney general's office. I versed the claim in terms of "breach of contract" not just whining. When the appeal is stated correctly, EBAY has to address it, and usually does offer to reinstate.

Just today, EBAY came back and offered to reinstate my old account - if I paid the back fees due.

I don't think I will be doing this. First of all, the back fees due are about a K, which is not an insignificant sum.

Secondly, - I don't need this old account. Sure, it would be a nearly nine year old account with over 500 feedback but I currently have running two accounts each one and a half years old with over a thousand feedback each, and one is approved for merchant account only.

So...as of now...I think I'll pass.

But it does prove that the Modee formula works. If you strengthen the old account's standing through my techniques and THEN appeal to outside authorities in the proper way, you CAN get back your old account.

[Modee]

I have a spare minute here so let me go ahead and post what I suspected all along, that the reason for my suspension two or three years ago was as I always suspected, just because EBAY did not like my looks (This, from their recent BBB response where they offered to reinstate my account if I paid the fees):

"This suspension was a high risk suspension. A high risk account is one that demonstrates traits that are common with fraudulent eBay accounts. When we find a high risk account we suspend the account, and request specific information upon appeal. We understand that a high risk account may be entirely innocent, however we must take immediate action by way of suspension to prevent the possibility of fraud."

So...do we execute a murderer because he "looks" like a murderer, or we are worried he might grow up to be a murderer? Do we punish people for what we THINK they might do or what they HAVE done?

In a just society we take action only for what someone has done, not what we think he might do.

Evidently, at EBAY things work differently. I knew they had suspended me for no reason at all and now I have that proof.


Ironic that now that EBAY offers to reinstate me I don't even need the account back anymore. At the time that it happened it seemed like the end of the world.

[emanon]

There's a unit of eBay T & S called Precrime.

There must have been a minority report.

[Modee]

Well one thing I was thinking about on this one was that about a month before I was suspended, some cop from Massachusetts sent me a message inquiring about some item I was selling. Everything was legitimate, and the cop was not inquiring as a cop, he was just some potential buyer who happened to be a police officer.

Anyway, after a few email exchanges I didn't like his tone and told him I was going to report him to his commanding officer, and of course he sent me some final real nasty email, which I then turned around and reported to EBAY, and EBAY actually took some sort of action against his account because the last message he sent me was really out of line, the stuff of whackos (as we know, police officers CAN turn out to be whackos - take a look at Drew Peterson).

Anyway, I always thought that maybe he went ahead and contacted EBAY as "law enforcement" and made some bogus claim against my account. It is just a theory I had.

However, the tone and sort of response I got from EBAY T&S after requesting reinstatement seemed more like I just "fit the profile," not that anyone actually made a complaint. And after all, all my business was legitimate.

Right now I have so many EBAY accounts to choose from, all running, and have not been suspended in so long (about two and half years plus now), that I don't really even need to reinstate my original one, but someday I might if I am willing to pay the $1000. or so in old fees they claim are due.

[tiredofebay123]

Sounds like my first ebay account. I had sales of 450,000 a year, and over 75,000 feedback, 99.8 feedback rating and woke up one day to a closed account, no explanations, other than high risk account.

[Modee]

Update to Modee's story - All is well!

It's years later. I haven't had an Ebay account suspended in so long, that I don't even worry about it any longer. Sure, in the back of my mind I think that maybe just maybe it could happen again, but today I know so much about Ebay and PayPal, and have created enough accounts using my Short List that I have more backups than Facebook has backup servers, lol. Well, maybe not THAT many backups, but plenty - and enough.

Today I run Ebays with PayPals, and Ebays with merchant account only status.
Integrating your NON-PayPal credit card processor DIRECTLY into Ebay checkout - Free EBAY, PayPal, Business and Law Forums - Ebay Suspension, PayPal Limited

I also utilize alternatives to Ebay, such as Ubid, iOffer, Amazon, Craig's List and direct sales off my own websites. Not bad when you consider that internet sales are a side line for me and not even my main business.

I have developed superior techniques to get accounts reinstated as well; techniques based on information I gleaned from subpoenas of Ebay and PayPal records.

The key to internet success is to understand HOW behemoths like Ebay and PayPal operate, and how to work around them to make them happy so that they won't molest you.

All is well!

[ebayvic92939]

That never ceases to amaze me over the years reading about so many sellers doing big numbers and eBay literally just doesn't even seem to care they'll discard you ... BAM .. I understand if your software and employees identify some sort of red flags or potentially troublesome patterns of behavior but they don't even seem to bother looking into the simplest of misunderstandings many times

. Of course can you believe the numbers and the stories on the internet ¿
Well once you've seen enough similar ones for enough years I THINK SO

What baffles me into total perplexity is the fact that in all of these nearly twenty years no alternative has overtaken them
I'm just AWED at that

I myself have some most interesting ebay stories I could tell but I've yammered on enough I suppose
. But I have quite a few

[Modee]

Feel free to post your stories in a new thread of your own, too. Thanks!