Is eBay cracking down on new sellers? Let’s tackle the question. If you’re thinking about starting a flipping business or you’re a new seller, this might affect you. A couple people we know have had their eBay accounts restricted so we wanted to dive into how to prevent that from happening.
eBay Changes Impact New Seller Accounts
From what we’ve been able to tell, this impacts new people and new accounts more than already established accounts. New accounts will be under more scrutiny with eBay because eBay’s trying to limit the amount of fraud, scammers, or people who are getting stolen items and then selling them on eBay. eBay doesn’t want to facilitate that sale, so that’s why they are cracking down on some of the new sellers coming in.
eBay is also under more pressure with the Informed Consent Act from the FTC so they have to inspect sellers more carefully.
One thing we have noticed with eBay lately is that eBay has sided more with the sellers in our community on disputes. We have had several instances where they’re swinging more toward the seller on disputes. It’s a lot better than it used to be.
Right now we have two people we know going through a dispute because their shipping company went bankrupt. eBay is doing the right thing and refunding the buyer and not making the seller process a refund. It wasn’t either party’s fault that a business went bankrupt, but eBay is taking care of this.
Avoid Red Flags On New Seller Accounts
eBay is basically monitoring new seller accounts more to make sure there are no red flags. Start selling smaller priced items and get through those before you list items for $1,000, $2,000 or $5,000. We love higher profit items and that is our business model, but eBay may not like seeing you have those right off the bat as a new seller.
When you’re a new seller you have limits on your account and you have to make sure you don’t exceed those in the beginning. eBay wants to make sure you’re legit and you’re going to fulfill what you sold.
When you open an account, eBay has limits on your account that you can list $500 worth of items or 10 items. Stay at that threshold. You want to be selling $10, $20, $30,or $40 items. At this point if you mess up, you won’t be out a ton of money. You want to run into snags on smaller items and build the foundations with those smaller items.
If you jump right in and list a $2,000 item, eBay might flag it to do an investigation on the item. Is it a fraudulent seller?
If you want to save yourself time and effort and really do it the right way, start listing the lower priced items first, get the sales, and get your account built up.
Once you’re making sales and building your account, you can ask eBay to increase your limit via a phone call to them. They’ll look at your track record and base a decision off that. We’re now up to being able to list half a million dollars of inventory.
Keep Records Of Your Purchases
This isn’t something we’ve been asked for, but if you’re dealing in higher profit items, you may be asked to provide a proof of purchase so eBay knows you’re a legit seller. We buy a lot of stuff from the flea market, so you can get a receipt book and write down your purchases, the date, and ask the vendor to quickly sign. If they want a copy of the receipt, I give it to them. I write, “I bought a lawn mower on this date.”
eBay has never asked us for receipts, but we do know some people who have had that happen to them.
Try to keep a record every time you go to the thrift store, flea market, or yard sale. You can also screenshot your conversation if you buy something on Marketplace or OfferUp where you agree for a price.
That is just a good business practice to help you in case you do find yourself in a bind where eBay wants to see a receipt.
Don’t be scared of jumping into eBay, just make sure you’re doing it the right way so you only get green flags.
Show Notes
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