In this article, we propose solutions for resolving a suspended eBay account. eBay sellers have successfully used the proposed practices many times. Moreover, we describe the reasons for the suspension and how to escape it.
How To Reinstate A Suspended eBay Account
The dropshipping business is a unique business model where the online store is responsible for a dropshipper while producing goods, and their delivery is the responsibility of the manufacturer. The customer orders on the online store and does not the manufacturer.
A dropshipper can have several suppliers for the same position from different locations and even with different qualities. To make the business model work, the process of order distribution and tracking of delivery should be performed on an excellent level. This task, in addition to the online store management, is the main responsibility of the dropshipper.
The dropshipper can open an online store on a separate domain or the existing marketplace. Because of a lack of supervision of product quality and unknown product origin, many marketplaces can ban your account, especially if they find that you simply resell goods from one marketplace to another.
eBay and Amazon are the most popular e-commerce platforms for dropshippers. In this article, we will discuss the reasons for eBay account suspension, how to avoid it, and how to reinstate the account if this has happened.
What suspension means
Suspension of your eBay account is the limitation of your activities. You may be limited in selling, buying, bidding, contacting suppliers and customers, replying to eBay messages, updating your listings or information on the account, and many more.
For all sellers, you have restrictions for payouts, but eBay still charges you all fees using your payment method on file. You can’t perform your normal online store activities. Suspension can be temporary or permanent, and there could be many reasons. eBay does not perform suspensions automatically; they study your account manually after their bots see suspicious activities.
The notification regarding suspension should always come from eBay’s official account. When you receive such an email, please check your eBay account; a copy should be received there as well. If there are no copies, the email in your email box is fake; disregard it. There are many scan attacks when you are redirected from your email with a fake link to third-party resources. You may be asked to provide your contact details or pay for the account reinstating. If you have doubts, please get in touch with eBay by phone, live chat, or email. All contact details are available on eBay’s official website.
Reasons for eBay account ban
eBay seller accounts can be restricted or suspended for several reasons, such as to protect eBay customers and the community. Your account can be suspended even if you listed only one product. Do not consider account suspension as a personal act; it can happen to anyone.
When you receive an email from eBay regarding suspension, you need first to read the reason for the suspension and check the suspension code. The key to the success of the reinstating process is to understand the reason for suspension.
For the most common reasons for account suspensions, we provide the eBay codes, while for the rest only description:
- Incorrect registration of the account, eBay needs to legitimate your account.
- eBay considers you are not a real person and needs some verification (ID and age verification, address proof) (initial verification suspension MC011).
- Use fresh static proxies instead of residential ones while connecting to eBay (also, you are considered a scam).
- Non-payment of eBay fees and other payments (MC067 and MC197).
- Make violations (selling trademark products illegally, using copyright descriptions, images, and videos, VERO).
- Multi Listing of the same items with the same descriptions and photos.
- Selling prohibited items contradicts eBay policy (MC045).
- Security reasons of unknown nature, normally eBay writes regarding suspicious activity on your account or being hacked (MC113).
- You did not answer eBay’s call for verification of your ID (also can be MC011).
- Selling of high-risk products and goods with expiration dates.
- Suspension is caused by poor customer service, slow delivery time, or unapproved vendors.
- Lack of proofing documentation proofing the source of the products per eBay request (invoices)(MC999).
- Lack of history if you are selling a huge volume of products.
- The possibility that the Third Party hacked your account.
- Too many sales the previous month compared to your average activity.
- Complaints of an angry customer(s) that didn’t receive a product in time or with poor quality.
If you are permanently suspended, you can no longer sell or buy on eBay, and your new accounts may be suspended as well. Your payment method will be charged for all fees, and all listings will be available for you from the suspension eBay email. Unfortunately, you can’t open any new accounts from the same IP address, so you need to use residential ip proxy or VPN.
How to get your eBay account back?
Based on the ban issues listed above, we can provide you with some workable solutions. There are no common guidelines for all suspension codes; all cases are individual, and communication with eBay should be personalized.
Do not search for the templates of emails to eBay; also, do not use the same email from other cases. So you need to read the email in the details; for temporary suspensions, eBay provides the list of actions to be performed. Unfortunately, the email does not include the reason for the permanent suspension.
Please follow our tips how to deal with different suspensions:
- If your account has been suspended, you first need to contact customer service. You need to contact the eBay team via email (if this function is still available to you), which deals with accounts in the section account holds, restrictions, and suspensions. We recommend writing an open email, which may not be very frank. Normally, within a couple of days, you will receive a response to your contact email address. Please do not forget to check your email box regularly. In the response email, eBay will ask questions about future purchases, payments, your selling activities, and order fulfillment methods. You should respond to all of them, especially the ones regarding your future dropshipping activities, without actually mentioning the dropshipping business model. It is essential to mention the price of the selling gods, which should be no higher than $100. In most cases, your account will be reinstated shortly after your reply. We recommend starting in all cases with contact with eBay customer support.
- The suspension could be for a short time (7-15 days) or longer. For short-time restrictions, we recommend waiting until the end of this time and relaxing. You will spend much time exchanging emails, and you can unblock the account close to the end of the suspension time.
- You can also try to reach eBay via automatic assistance, but normally, such help can’t support account suspension questions. You may try to find the phone number like that but to succeed; you need to indicate another reason for contacting a real person. You may choose the option to receive a return call. Within an hour, somebody from eBay will call you back. The feedback for the email you should expect within 24 hours.
- If your account is suspended because of a lack of verification, you need to contact eBay customer service and provide them with all the necessary documents. MCO11 suspensions will require the swift provision of more documents proving your legal selling status. It could be verification of your residential address, ID card, or proof of delivery of your products. Some permanent suspensions may be connected to verification; we strongly recommend finding an eBay phone number and verifying your identity.
- For serious violations, when your account is terminated, the main step is to contact customer service as soon as possible and find the phone number. This is required when you have no option but to respond to a suspension email, where your account is permanently closed.
- To resolve MC067 and other payment issues, you need to pay all fees or change your payment source. In some cases, you also need to write to customer service to inform them that all payments were made. However, your account will normally be reinstated automatically after successful payment.
- You may find some paid services for account reinstatement on the Internet. We can’t recommend this option, as you never know if the person is a scammer. Normally, such a person introduces himself as an eBay specialist and asks for money for the account to be reinstated. Such specialists can be in Facebook groups, but the result is not guaranteed.
- In the most complicated situation, when you fail to resolve the issue with numerous eBay specialists, the last solution is to open a new eBay account and open a new store. You can open the account at the same time as any of the listed actions. To start large sales on a new account, you need to warm it and fulfill all eBay requirements to increase your limits. Please do not lose time, and work on that when you receive a permanent suspension.
If you get your account back, we recommend checking if your online store on eBay is working. With permanent suspension of the accounts, eBay normally suspends online stores, so you need to check this issue. If you resolve the issue with the account, you need to contact customer service in case your online store has problems. Also, if your account is reinstated, you can’t access your fund within 21-90 days. You will have access only to $15 for your purchases on eBay. To unblock a larger amount, you need a history of successful transactions and some time.
As you can see, the only workable method is to contact eBay in case of problems, suspensions, restrictions, questions, or strange messages about your eBay account activities.
How to escape from eBay account suspension
The best advice for eBay accounts is to avoid suspensions at all. To escape from any account suspension, it is recommended to organize your online shop precisely in the beginning and follow our recommendations:
- Automatic dropshipping tools (for example, Easync, AutoDC, Dsers, etc.) help to fulfill orders neatly. By communicating with your customers, you can create good review statistics, and proper marketing creates stable cash flow. Such tools also offer a tracking system that improves customers’ experience.
- Remember that eBay has rules for dropshippers. You can’t sell directly from other marketplaces; you need to source them from wholesale supplies, and you should fulfill the delivery terms set by the platform.
- All product descriptions should be unique; we recommend using AI tools to change the stock descriptions in bulk. You can also generate new photos from existing stock photos. You should organize your store to look like a normal online store, not a simple resale one from Chinese suppliers.
- You should regularly check the health of your account and available permissions and limits. Do not try to grow too fast.
- Do not mention to eBay employees in phone calls or emails that you are doing dropshipping. You need to behave like a reseller in your warehouses. Even though dropshipping is not forbidden, eBay does not appreciate this business model. Still, we recommend being frank as far as possible, as you are still connecting with real people.
- In some cases, before sending a suspension, eBay informs you about unusual activity or wants to call you and ask for specific details about your business. You need to check your email box and phone number indicated in your contacts during eBay registration. If you have any questions regarding this red flag, you need to contact eBay. They will be pleased to explain what you are doing wrong.
- Take care of your customers, try to make their experience pleasant, and ask them to leave positive reviews. To attract long-term customers, personalize and customize the packaging and include some presents with the ordered product. Some source marketplaces, like CJdropshipping, even offer branded packaging for all types of goods.
- Follow eBay’s rules, especially limits. Do not try to overrun them. Every month, you have the right to contact eBay to review your account and increase your limits. You should not request to increase them significantly; eBay may consider this suspicious activity.
Unfortunately, some suspensions of eBay accounts are not possible to change. If you can’t provide documents to prove your position, eBay will not bring you back into the game.
Most such cases lead to the loss of eBay dropshipping possibility forever. You still register new accounts via proxies and VPN, but you are at high risk with the same documents for new account suspensions. You can’t be a partner in a new online store on eBay as well. However, most dropshippers never come back to eBay and open a new store somewhere else. The good news is that you have plenty of choices on Amazon, Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce, and much more.
Conclusion
Suspensions are normal practice for eBay accounts. You should not be afraid of them; you should learn from these cases. eBay needs to protect the platform from suspicious suppliers, as Buyers do not associate the online store with dropshippers and suppliers; they consider that eBay rules the overall platform.
And in case of any defects in goods, slow delivery, or poor customer service, they will change the marketplace. If you decide to open an online store on eBay, you should value their rules and follow them. Wherever you consider them to be too strict, it is better to open an online store in a separate domain. We do not recommend opening an online store on Amazon in this case, as their rules are even more complicated.
For those who experience an eBay account suspension, the main solution is to check the reason and contact eBay. Meanwhile, we recommend opening another account with an online store if your first one will not be reinstated. Be careful with registration forms and use proxies; your accounts should not be associated with each other.
This article describes suspensions and how to reinstate them. We hope it will help you in your dropshipping journey. We recommend organizing your eBay service correctly using numerous online automation tools.
Eugene Stepnov – Head of Marketing at Gologin. Formerly, He was the COO of Flatlogic and the co-founder of Kuoll. His main expertise is in promoting complex web SaaS products that lead in mar tech, affiliate marketing, dropshipping, cyber security, and web development.
