What to Do if My eBay Seller Account Is Blocked
eBay policies are simple and clear and most members follow them faithfully and easily. However, there may be situations where eBay has to occasionally restrict or suspend accounts to protect the community. If your eBay account is restricted or suspended, eBay will email you explaining what happened and what you need to do to get your account back. You’ll find a copy of this message in your Messages on your account was suspended or restrictedHolds, restrictions, or suspensions are usually placed on accounts for one of the following reasons:You have eBay fees to payYou need to reimburse eBay for a refund it made to your buyerYou have violated one of eBay’s rules or policiesWe couldn’t verify your account informationYou need to update your payment methodWhen creating an eBay account, make sure that all your information is correct and up-to-date with your PayPal account details. Otherwise, eBay may suspend your account and ask you to confirm your personal happens while an account is suspendedWhen your eBay account is suspended, you won’t be able to:Bid, buy, or sellLeave feedbackCreate new listings or revise existing listingsContact biddersReply to your eBay messagesAny bidders on your existing listings can retract their bids. When your account is reinstated, you’ll be able to leave feedback for any transactions you completed in the previous 30 pending on why your account was suspended, eBay may end listings early. Keep in mind that listing fees can be forfeited too, depending on the reason for account can be either completely suspended or just restricted. If the account is not suspended, but restricted for selling, you can still buy; if it is restricted for buying, you can still to have your account reinstatedGetting your account reinstated depends on the reason eBay suspended your account. The full details will be in the message eBay’s sent your account was restricted or suspended because of outstanding seller fees or a refund reimbursement, you can make a one-time payment to resolve the issue. When we receive your payment, your account will be make a one-time payment:Go to Account in My Payment methods for seller fees, select One-time payment, and follow the security reasons, sometimes eBay blocks accounts and asks you to provide or confirm personal information. A list of required documents and a download link can usually be found in My eBay > Messages. Such requests may concern proof of identity, address or some of your listings have been deleted and your account is restricted, do not list these items again. If your listings have not been edited in accordance with eBay Customer Support recommendations, they will be removed again and your account may be suspended eating a new account is not the best way to get back to work on eBay after a blocking. For fraud protection purposes, eBay keeps account related information, including the seller’s name, mail and IP addresses, PayPal account details, etc. This allows tracing the connection of new accounts to those that are subjected to restrictions or suspension. Therefore it is not recommended to create a new account immediately. However, when you solve the suspensions or restrictions, you can create an additional account or open more than one eBay Store. Many sellers do this to split up different kinds of items or keep different financial eBay community has tens of millions of sellers. And eBay understands that every one of them is a real person who can make a mistake or get into an unexpected situation. Don’t be afraid to contact eBay, find out why your account is blocked, show that you understand what went wrong, and are willing to follow the first eBay account suspension for a policy violation is usually not indefinite. However, if you continue to violate the same rules or policies after a warning or temporary restriction, your eBay account may be suspended indefinitely.
eBay thought a third party accessed my account…
I had an auction yesterday which finished and about 10-15 minutes after it ended I received this email:—–Unauthorized use of your account — Please contact us Hello parkersaurusrekz, Your eBay account has been temporarily locked due to concerns that someone may have used it without your permission. Any authorized activity, such as buying and selling, has been cancelled and any associated fees have been credited to your account. Any listings that we removed are listed toward the end of this email. We assure you that your financial information is securely stored on a server and cannot be seen by ‘ve taken steps to secure your eBay account. However, your personal email account or third-party listing tools may have also been accessed without your permission. Please change these passwords as soon as unlock your eBay account, you need to:Change your password on your personal email account and listing your eBay or set up your secret question and that the contact information and other stored information on your eBay account is stall or update antivirus are the listings we removed:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxWe appreciate your understanding and thank you for being a part of our community. —–I also noticed I lost positve feedback from my previous sales also. I called eBay on the number from the link and the first agent just made me reset my password again, then tell that is it, I got my account back and everything should be sorted… Well it wasn’t! I called again on the same number. Oh just to quickly say that I was provided a one time passcode for both calls and not once I was asked for it when calling, it just auto directed me to an agent and had to spell out my eBay id which was a pain in the **bleep** as I had to repeat letters a lot. Anyway on the second call, this agent said he was going to call the number on the account which was my home phone and if I pick up he will restore access to my account. I picked up the call and my account functionality was unrestricted. I asked about the listings that were removed and was told that I would have to relist again or make arrangements with winning bidder on my last auction. I sent the buyer a message and she replied telling me that eBay told her not to do business with me so she is not interested anymore. She also complained that she put £2500 as her final bid and was shocked when it ended at £2750 with her as winner which raised an eyebrow. Surely she entered a max bid more than £2500 otherwise someone else would of won? I moved on and relisted my camera I am selling, as my selling limits were low I put £600 in postage so the total cost would be £2000. I received a message from a buyer saying that he got an email from eBay saying I am a scammer and laughed at my postage charge. I said to myself “Well no one expects to get this camera under £2000 *bleep*”. I just ignored and stopped the listing realising it is against eBay’s excessive postage rule. I complained to eBay chat and requested them to send an email to all the bidders on the deleted auction and they refused because of privacy reasons… How rubbish is that. All I expect is that they message everyone and explain the removal was a mistake and if they wish to bid/buy on the relisted auction they may do so. If they can’t restore my removed listings, surely they can send an email out to trust & safety said they couldn’t restore my listings and told me to ring that number where the one time passcode does not even bloody yeah, thanks a lot eBay. Let the buyers think I am a scammer and don’t bother to let them know you made a mistake.
eBay Account Suspended? Here’s How to Fix it Quickly! | eDesk
In an effort to protect its reputation, as well as its 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. For this reason, they should be taken very seriously.
Was your eBay account suspended? Find out what’s wrong and how to fix it fast.
Different types of eBay account suspensions
With your eBay account suspended, you can’t sell, bid or contact customers. In fact, you can lose sales because shoppers can retract their bids.
But some eBay account suspensions are worse than others. Listed below are the three different types.
1. Account holds
If your account has been put on hold, don’t panic. This is usually the 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 listing 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. Full suspensions
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 under-perform. 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. Sometimes, listing 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 is my eBay account suspended?
When eBay suspends an account, the seller is usually notified by email. In most cases 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 back selling again! (If you didn’t receive an email, check your messages on My eBay. )
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.
Below are seven ways you might have your eBay account suspended:
1. Outstanding payments
If you owe eBay any seller fees or customer reimbursements which they sent out on your behalf, this can lead to temporary suspension of your account.
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.
2. Late shipment of orders
Late shipments are a big no-no. 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 on your listings 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’s 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.
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 they seem 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.
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.
Ensure you put the right content in your listings to avoid eBay account suspension.
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My eBay account is suspended: How do I fix it?
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!
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 If it’s real, follow these three steps to fix your suspended 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. Like 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 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.
Final thoughts
Having your eBay account suspended is never good, but it may provide the motivation you need to improve your performance.
You can avoid the stress and drop in sales that comes with account suspension by simply focusing on great service. Although reading up on eBay’s seller policies will help as well!
Frequently Asked Questions about ebay account blocked
How do I unblock my eBay account?
To unlock your eBay account, you need to:Change your password on your personal email account and listing tools.Change your eBay password.Update or set up your secret question and answer.Verify that the contact information and other stored information on your eBay account is correct.More items…
How long does eBay block your account?
Full suspensions 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 under-perform.
How do I contact eBay about a blocked account?
If you don’t see any specific instructions on how to have your eBay account reinstated, don’t make a new account. Instead, call them at 1-866-540-3229 and discuss. Explain that you received the suspension email and are very concerned. It may take talking to several people to get to the right person who can help you.Mar 2, 2021