To protect the platform’s reputation and customers, eBay account suspensions are on the rise. For sellers, this means disrupted sales and a whole range of other issues. Unlike on Amazon, suspensions are relatively hard to get on eBay, which is why, when they happen, they should be taken seriously by the whole eBay community.
Was your account suspended? Find out what’s wrong, and how to fix it, fast.
Different types of eBay account suspensions
After your account’s been paused, you can’t sell, bid or contact customers. In fact, you can lose sales because shoppers can retract their bids, and even get your eBay seller account suspended indefinitely.
But some account suspensions are worse than others. Listed below are the three ways anyone trying to sell on eBay can be suspended.
1. Account holds
If your account has been put on hold, don’t panic. This is usually a sign of a minor slip-up.
Holds are often caused by payment issues or the need to verify your account information. As soon as you fix the problem, your account will be reinstated. You’ll be back up and running in no time.
2. Account restrictions
If your seller performance metrics aren’t up to scratch, eBay may implement selling restrictions on your account.
This can prevent you from selling certain products or obtaining eBay’s Best Match position. These restrictions aim to limit your sales until your metrics and service standards improve. eBay doesn’t want to ban you completely, but it doesn’t want too many shoppers at risk of late shipments or cancelled orders.
Sellers should consider this a wake-up call. If you don’t up your game, your account may end up suspended completely.
3. eBay account suspended
eBay may implement account suspensions for seven, ten or 30 days – or even indefinitely. A full suspension is usually the outcome of a serious violation of eBay’s rules and policies.
This can also happen if you consistently underperform when trying to sell on eBay. Most often, eBay takes this step after issuing a few warnings. However, sometimes, one case of horrendous customer service is enough to warrant suspension.
Depending on the seriousness of your rule-breaking, your listings may end early, and sometimes, fees are even forfeited.
One account suspension can also lead to eBay shutting down other accounts associated with your household. If you have a history of receiving warnings or restrictions, this may be your last chance to turn things around before you’re suspended from eBay indefinitely.
Why did eBay suspend my seller account?
If your account has been suspended, the seller is usually notified by email. In most cases, when you get suspended, they will provide details on what you did wrong and how long the suspension will last. Sometimes they’ll even tell you what you need to do to get your account back. (If you didn’t receive an email, check your messages on My eBay or get in touch with eBay directly.)
Reasons for suspension vary from forgetting to pay your fees right through to serious breaches of policy. Just recently, eBay suspended hundreds of accounts for price gouging during the Coronavirus pandemic, and many were forced to go to the lengths of creating a new account.
Below are seven ways you might bear the brunt of an eBay suspension, and how to get your eBay account back:
1. Outstanding payments
If you owe eBay any seller fees or customer reimbursements which they sent out on your behalf, you can get your account suspended.
You may need to make a one-off payment to settle your accounts. Alternatively, you should double-check that your automatic payment method isn’t out-of-date. Check your eBay messages if you’re unsure, or get in touch with eBay if the answer still isn’t clear.
2. Late shipment of orders
Late shipments are a big no-no if you want to sell on eBay, and can cause the platform to suspend your account. If you send an item after your stated handling time, or it arrives after the estimated delivery date, this will be a mark against your account and could lead to a suspended account on eBay.
eBay will tolerate up to 7% of your orders being late. So be realistic when you state delivery times and follow best practices for eBay shipping.
3. A high Transaction Defect Rate
Another performance metric you should watch carefully is your Transaction Defect Rate, which must be kept at or below 2%.
This metric isn’t related to defective products. It actually refers to the number of transactions a seller has cancelled due to stock shortages or other issues. Do your best to keep listings up-to-date and don’t cancel an order if you can avoid it – eBay sends warnings about this, so do heed them.
4. Failure to resolve buyer complaints
When customers raise an issue in the Resolution Center, be sure to address it promptly and politely – even if it seems unreasonable.
If they end up referring the problem to eBay and you’re deemed to be responsible, this can really hurt your performance metrics. eBay allows just 0.3% of cases to close without a resolution. Having an excellent customer service strategy can keep this metric to a minimum and avoid unnecessary complaints to eBay.
5. Manipulating metrics
If you manage to keep your metrics in good shape, you’ll have a lot of happy customers and you may even become a Top Rated Seller, regardless of whether yours is a relatively new account or not.
However, you shouldn’t do anything crazy to get to this point. If you try to manipulate your metrics, this could lead to suspension. Never badger a customer about changing or leaving feedback. Instead, check out our guide on removing negative eBay feedback.
6. Listing prohibited items
This may seem obvious, but sellers might not realize their products aren’t allowed. eBay has a long list of restricted and prohibited items, including:
- Drugs and alcohol
- Most live animals
- Hazardous, counterfeit and substandard products
- Recalled items
7. Putting the wrong content in your listings
Offensive material or hate speech are never allowed on eBay. Neither are stock photos or copyrighted materials.
Sometimes it’s easy to get caught out. For example, lots of sellers have been suspended for using the trademarked word ‘velcro’ in their listings. Luckily, this isn’t likely to lead to long-term suspension.
My eBay account is suspended, how do I get my account back?
Before taking action, you’ll want to confirm that your suspension notification is the real deal. If it’s out of the blue, it could be a fake, or someone using a stealth account.
Watch out for scam emails
To ensure it’s truly from eBay, go to your account and check your messages to see if you received a notification there as well. You can also check your status by clicking ‘Account’ within My eBay.
If it’s a fake, you can report it by forwarding the email to spoof@ebay.com. If it’s real, follow these three steps to fix your suspended account.
Un-suspend your eBay account
Step 1: Find out what happened
Read your notification carefully. eBay isn’t going to reinstate your account just because you make an angry call.
Instead, you should breathe and take a moment to assess the situation. As we said, eBay often provides details on why you were suspended. If you believe there’s been a mistake, you can appeal the decision by replying to the notice and providing evidence of the error. Otherwise, you can move on to the next step.
Additional note: If you have an Enterprise or Anchor subscription, support is part of the service, so reach out to your account manager for guidance.
Step 2: Fix the issue
Once identified, you should deal with the problem head-on.
If it was a case of using copyrighted or stock photos, remove the offending material. If your metrics were the problem, follow the above advice and change your way of doing business.
Step 3: Get in touch with eBay
Once you’ve made amends, call eBay with your user ID and account suspension reference on hand. They’ll be willing to listen to your request for reinstatement if you can show you’ve taken action.
Even if your suspension isn’t cut short and you have to wait it out. At least, you’ll have a structure in place to prevent it from happening again.
However, in the case of indefinite suspension, eBay probably won’t listen to your appeals for a long time. Instead, it’s best to focus on building sales using other marketplaces before getting in touch.
If, after taking these actions, your account still hasn’t been lifted, you need to be persistent in your contact with eBay.
If I have a restricted or suspended account, should I just open a new eBay account?
Honestly, no. This is a last resort. If you’re having issues on eBay, there are ways and means by which to sort them out, and losing your seller ratings is not a smart idea. Doing business on eBay can seem convoluted, but once you get the hang of it, even if you have an eBay suspended account, there is always a way to get your account back. Account suspensions on eBay are not the end of the line, and even if you have done something that contradicts the platform’s guidelines, you can go back on your actions and claim all the eBay fees you are owed. Your account can be suspended or permanently suspended, and these are two very different sets of circumstances.
If you fall into difficulties, contact eBay via eBay messages and tell them all they need to know about account problems and/or account suspensions you may be having – this is an easy way to get in touch with the platform, to let them know your account got suspended, and eBay will send you a message back. They are obviously in the know about suspensions and will be able to help you with any questions you may have – and, contrary to what you may think, they will not cancel an account for no reason. Getting your account suspended is one thing, and they may put your account on hold, but you can get your account reinstated, as long as you can prove that you are being completely legitimate, whilst running a business on eBay.
You may also get an email from eBay once you contact them, to confirm that your account hasn’t been compromised, or isn’t being managed by what’s known as a stealth account – which in itself can be a reason a suspension is often placed on your account.
To make sure your account is reinstated as quickly as possible, so that you can once again start selling on eBay, just keep all lines of communication open and be responsive. This is the case even if you’re account has been previously suspended – the form of action that eBay will take against an account is unaffected by this.
Final thoughts on suspended eBay accounts
Having your account suspended is never good, but it may provide the motivation you need to improve your performance. Reasons for eBay account suspension are fairly varied, as we’ve discussed here, and it is true to say that you might have a problem convincing eBay that your account being restricted or suspended is unjust, but if you contact eBay customer service, your account can be put back on the straight and narrow, so you can get back to eBay business as usual.
Yes, having your account suspended can lead to more serious consequences – but by and large, your privileges to sell on eBay will be lifted, and suspension of your account is temporary, as long as you follow the guidelines, as stated here.
Going forward, you can avoid the stress and drop in sales that come with account suspension by simply focusing on great service.
