posted on December 4, 2002 03:13:23 PM new
I am a powerseller who has just been suspended I cannot figure out why. Does anyone have the powerseller support #
posted on December 4, 2002 03:31:01 PM new
Took me awhile to find it, but here it is:
Customer Service Hotline at (801) 545-2806 during business hours (6 AM - 6PM, Pacific Time, Monday - Friday).
posted on December 4, 2002 03:32:58 PM new
Hello: i have just received an email stating that my account will be reviewed, and suspended, if i dont meet meet monthly volume average...is this the what you have received? i dont mean to be presumptuous or facetious; i just didnt take the email to me as seriously as i maybe should...hope everything is okay with yours..sam, myoldtoy
posted on December 4, 2002 03:54:24 PM new
What happened was***
I sell a certain line of dresses, I had one ended about a month ago because of "listing potentially infringing items" After looking at the confusing rules about such I took the catalog pic off, and re-listed.
Everything was fine until today. I listed 3 (DISCONTINUED)dresses from this manufacturer with my own photos & descriptions. I put a link on the page to the AW hosted catalog photo. I had seen others do this with no problem. All 3 were ended today because of the "potentially infringing" content. I took the link off, now the auction only has my own photos. I just got word that I have been suspended & all my auctions (28) have been ended. I just cannot figure out what I did. All my items are genuine. They are not copies. There are still sellers with auctions up for the EXACT same dress. I cannot figure out what the difference is. if is IS the genuine article, What is wrong with selling it??? What is infringing?? The rules on this are SOOOO vauge, eBay wouldn't answer me when I wrote in and asked what I could do to rectify the situation. I got a canned "We're not in the middle, check for & remove infringing content" response
I have done everything I know to do. Any suggestions????
We pay an average of 900.00 -1200.00 a month for fees, it seems as if they would be a little clearer on these things.
[ edited by imabride2b on Dec 4, 2002 03:58 PM ]
posted on December 4, 2002 04:58:27 PM new
i have never heard of powerseller being suspended because she fails to meet the quota?demoted yes,but not suspended.
posted on December 4, 2002 05:02:49 PM new
ebay keeps track of prior warnings ,so it may think this is repeat offense.
or someone has turned you in.
are you selling name brand clothing??may be the VERO FOLKS turn you in
posted on December 4, 2002 05:17:39 PM new
It was probably another seller that turned you in, at least that is what is seems like.
I sure hope that you can rectify this. Good Luck
posted on December 4, 2002 05:28:49 PM new
Sounds like the VERO for the brand reported you...then you read what you wanted to into the definitely confusing rules...and you interpreted those confusing rules your way. Unfortunately for you, if the VERO reports you again, you have a problem....which apparantly is what happened. I'm sorry for you as this is a bad thing at any time but especially bad at this time of year. For the rest, learn that it's a wiser course of action to avoid the power(and liability) that Ebay has bestowed on VERO's(and removed from themselves). Basically, you can not win without a huge court fight. You have the burden of proof to prove in a court of law, after you sue the VERO, that you were selling a 100% legit product..in every way....genuine, legit distribution nationally and international, perfect tagging...etc.. In retrospect the wiser course of action would have been to stop listing this brand name for awhile.
posted on December 4, 2002 05:31:56 PM new
i am confused,if i have coco chanel clothes ,can i sell them on ebay and say they are coco chanel used and worn by me at one time??
posted on December 4, 2002 06:28:45 PM new
imabride2b,
As a seller who just got back from suspension, and it truly sucks, take this advice.
Call the Powerseller hotline and talk to someone there who can help you. Explain to them what your response was from your email inquiries and what you did to 'fix' your auctions to their likings. If you pay as much as you say you pay, they don't wan't to lose you. Powersellers do get better help on ebay, exploit it while you can.
As far as in the future, VeRo is a very bad beast. Just use your Powerseller 'clout' to rectify any situations in the future the moment it happens. Don't fiddle with the unhelpful email replies.
Please let us know what your results are from the powerseller help line.
posted on December 4, 2002 06:58:07 PM new
I have called ps line twice today. They referred me to rules & safety. They said that they would try to call me back within 24 hours. I explained the situation to the rep., he gave me an answer about as vague as the "reason" that I was suspended. i did point out that other auctions for the same dress were still running. A couple of them have a link straight to the dress on the manufacturer's website. Funny though, these belong to someone who "borrowed" my photos and tried to sell the same item @ the same time. i asked her to stop for 2 days before turning her in. HMMMMMM....
posted on December 4, 2002 07:22:52 PM new
One can always count on ebay to enforce its rules even handed. Looks like someone was keeping tabs on you just waiting to do you in.
Just keep after the PS support till you get this cleared up. You have to be real careful so you do not get sucked into this trap again.
posted on December 4, 2002 08:06:01 PM new
dear stopwhining...
****below this post, is a c/paste of email sent to me by powersellers last week....
you right...i supposed they[p/seller] telling me gonna get demoted...when i reread the lady with the dress's thread...it made me wonder...i didnt break any rules; i am just not meeting the volume required...and it doesnt matter that i have ebayed over $50K, YTD, it is the two months i didnt meet quota...at any rate, everyone's reply to the thread has been beneficial to me...TANKS sam,myoldtoy
____________________
begin c/paste....
Dear myoldtoy,
First, we want to thank you for your participation on eBay, and for being a part of the Silver PowerSeller Group.
We want to help you maintain your coveted PowerSeller status. According to our records, your sales are not meeting the standards for the Silver PowerSellers program. To participate in the Silver PowerSeller program, the following requirements must be met:
Keep your account in good standing
Maintain 98% Positive Feedback
(% Positive Feedback = Total Positive/(Positive + Negative Feedback))
Maintain a 3 month average sales of $3,000.00
Average 4 listings per month for the last 3 months
To maintain your status, we recommend that you use Seller's Assistant, eBay's Auction Management Software. It will help to streamline your process - bulk listing, bulk invoicing, leaving multiple feedback, and much more. Learn more.
In one month we'll review your sales. If you are within the Silver PowerSeller standards, your membership in the PowerSeller program will continue without interruption.
We would love to help you keep your PowerSeller status. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions, or if you would like a few ideas to help you maintain your good standing.
posted on December 4, 2002 08:53:53 PM new
I know when I have sold new Versace items that I have purchased I keep the receipts until the item is purchased. I also say in my description. "I have a new Versace tie purchased by me for auction." I have also sold their scarfs and I had no problem but then again Versace might not be in the VERO program.
You know with all the crap that is on eBay you would think they would welcome nice items. Take for instance the thread that directs us to their about me page. That is discusting and should be taken off. Even some of their auctions are iffy. I also think if I was to be an eBay Police and tell them about that about me page that they would keep closer tabs on what I sell. I might be wrong about that but that is what I think.
posted on December 5, 2002 09:00:21 AM new
Libra63, you may be right about them watching you more closely if you turn in someone else.
imabride2b did say she turned someone in for using her photo's. Maybe the person she turned it did the same to her or maybe Ebay just checked out all her auctions after getting her report about another seller.
At any rate, it is a little scary to see how many people get kicked off Ebay regardless of their volume.
posted on December 5, 2002 09:16:27 AM new
I did turn someone in after asking several times to remove my pics. She used the photos that I had taken (not catalog pics) of a dress that I had up. Mine was a completely different color and size, but she used them anyway. She also claimed that that she had asked an employee to take pictures and they gave her those. I wouldn't have turned her in If I hadn't almost pleaded with her to take them off. The major thorn was that she filled in the background with black, but you could see my back ground in some spots. it looked terrible. So bad that the filled part was creeping up onto the bottom of the dress. I had several people e-mail me asking which one was the "real" dress for sale, if mine was authentic, since I said in the auction that the dress pictured was the actual dress that they would receive and someone else has the same exact pics.
The notice I got about suspension did come from VERO. I myself don't see why the genuine article cannot be sold, especially when there are other sellers with the same item. Some of which have a direct link to the manufactorer's website on their page. I'm waiting (paacing) for eBay to call me back...
posted on December 5, 2002 09:33:02 AM new
***This is what it says,
What will happen if I list or relist Prohibited, Questionable or Infringing Items on eBay? You're asking for trouble. Not only can you get suspended from eBay, but you could be sued by a rights owner and prosecuted by criminal authorities. Believe us, it happens and we don't want it to happen to you.
***When I wrote ebay after the first time asking what I could do, This is the response I received****Thank you for contacting eBay.
We value you as a member of our community and understand your concern
regarding your recently removed listing(s). We do our best to explain
the reason for removing a listing in the Item Ended Notice. We realize,
however, that sometimes there may be additional questions and we hope
the information below will assist you in resolving the matter with the
rights owner.
As you know, eBay has not inspected the item you have listed. In
addition, eBay is not an expert in the rights of any third parties. As
a result, we are not in a position to make a judgment as to whether the
item you have listed is legal or authorized.
When we receive a proper notice from a Verified Rights Owner or their
agent stating that the item you have listed is infringing, we are
required by law to remove the listing. We removed your listing because
we received such a notice from the rights owner. (Please refer to the
Item Ended Notice we sent you for the exact name of the rights owner
that asked us to remove your listing).
When a listing is removed by eBay at the request of the rights owner,
all fees related to the listing are automatically credited to the
sellers account. If you do not see the fees credited to your account,
please let us know so that we can ensure that you receive them.
To help you understand why a rights owner might ask that listings be
removed, we have encouraged Verified Rights Owners to create their own
"About Me" pages. You can view a continually updated list of our VeRO
members that have created About Me pages at the following URL:
If the rights owner that requested the removal of your item is listed on
the above page, we encourage you to review their About Me page.
We also ask VeRO members to be available to answer your questions and
clear up any errors or misunderstandings. We encourage you to contact
them directly at the email address provided in the Item Ended Notice
with any concerns or questions you may have regarding how or why they
determined that your listing infringed their rights.
eBay values you as a member of the eBay community, and recognizes that
on occasion a listing may be ended in error or due to misidentification.
If, after contacting the rights owner, they agree that your item can be
relisted, please have them contact us directly by e-mail to notify us so
that we can allow it to be re-listed.
If you contact the rights owner and do not hear back within 5 business
days, or if you have made a good faith effort to resolve the issues with
the rights owner and are unable to do so, please write back to us at
[email protected]. Please include your user ID, the item number(s) in
question, and a detailed description of your situation. This will
ensure that the appropriate department addresses your email. We will
make an effort to contact the rights owner on your behalf to resolve any
differences.
This was the confusing part to me. I am an authorized retailer for this brand. Then I called my sales rep and asked him if I could sell my display stock. He said it was o.k., but they frown upon using current catalog pics,and links directly to their website, but they didn't mind the use of discontinued catalog pictures. This is what I did.
posted on December 5, 2002 09:36:23 AM new
imabride2b: I'm confused. The letter you got from eBay told you to contact the rights owner. Did you? I don't think talking to your sales rep would count, since your sales rep isn't the one who got your auctions pulled.
posted on December 5, 2002 09:39:35 AM new
imabride2b: I'm confused. The letter you got from eBay told you to contact the rights owner. Did you? I don't think talking to your sales rep would count, since your sales rep isn't the one who got your auctions pulled.
posted on December 5, 2002 09:44:01 AM new
I would talk with the sales rep. Sounds like some confusion between you, him and the dressmaker. Is your sales rep. giving you false information?
This is probably a better time to sort things through so that in January you can start up again because of the June weddings. I hope you can get this straighened out and soon.
posted on December 5, 2002 09:50:00 AM new
I contacted my sales rep for the company. Most of the time in my business the sales reps are the ones most in the know since they talk to all involved in the company from upper management to the retailers. He in turn advised me on the company's policy. He also stated that they do check eBay for current catalog pics & links to the brand's website, so be sure not to do that. I don't know if I should have advised them that I would be selling under such & such name on eBay or what. I don't know that would have made a difference. I just wonder why they didn't pull all of the auctions for this brand? There are 14 remaining, 5 of which have catalog pictures and/ or links. I don't see why some have been pulled, others haven't when all were the same. I would be willing to burn them (dresses) in in the street while doing a naked voodoo dance right now to get this resolved. I honestly thought that I was complying with the company's rules.
posted on December 5, 2002 10:21:29 AM new
Fluffy-- What seems obvious? You have given me good advice before, I just want to try and get my nervous sleep deprived brain to understand what you are referring to. I wasn't the only one who had their auctions pulled. There were several more , but some (about half) are still left.
posted on December 5, 2002 10:39:10 AM new
imabride2b: Does the rights owner have a VeRO AboutMe page? I'm guessing the rights owner is M***** S******, and I don't see an AboutMe page for that company at the URL eBay gave you.
But eBay did also say:
"We encourage you to contact them directly at the email address provided in the Item Ended Notice with any concerns or questions you may have regarding how or why they determined that your listing infringed their rights."
Did you contact them directly at that email address?
posted on December 5, 2002 10:46:32 AM new
You got it! They do not have a page, I guess my mistake was going to the source that I use to settle whatever comes up with them, not the email address.
