Changes in eBay

eBay has made some changes in the last few months with the way things are listed. If you list something wrong they will not send you an email telling you to fix it. They will just pull the auction.

Some things that they notice more now or new changes.

1- in the subject/listing line you can not put 'like new or like-new'. They said that it has always been this way but recently they have started to pull auctions for it. Their reasoning is this. If a buyer does a search on eBay. Say they want a new computer. If they type in the words 'computer, new, Apple' on a search they will get everything that is Like-new too. So, it makes sense but is a pain. An alternative is to put EUC which means excellent used condition.

However, In the description part where you type more details about the item you can still put like-new.

2- Not sure why but a friend had an auction pulled recently. In the description part of an auction my friend put ' will take checks, money orders, Paypal or cash' and eBay pulled the auction.

He was told by eBay that auctions are not allowed to be listed saying that someone will take cash.

Go figure!

3- Fake items. There have been quiet a few lawsuits going on with companies suing eBay for counterfeit items being posted. So, eBay is on the look out for them. I've had a few auctions pulled for purses that were fake. All of them looked and felt real to me but I guess someone from the purse company checks the auctions and notifies eBay. Even NICE purses from mulit-million dollar houses have fake purses! You can not guess who would or would not by seeing how they live.

4- Offensive or hate items. This is where things get blury and do not always make sense. For example. things that are from WWII and are German will be pulled because it is offensive to people what Hitler did. So a German military uniform, a swatzka, a lot of things with German writing and simiar things will get the auction pulled. You can NOT list them item and just not mention it and not show the offensive item and say 'please email me for photos'. If it is implied that there is more. eBay will pull it.

However, things of this nature that are photographs (even of burned, mulitated bodies or gas chambers are okay. Same with books and coins.

If you do an eBay search with keywords like K - three times (without spaces- I just put that so that it will not come up on a Google search as easily) offensive, racist, hate, etc. you will get about 100-200 items. I've seen photos of cross burnings and a family standing in front of a tree with an empty noose hanging from it and other horrible things and it is okay since they are photographs. There are more but I will not waste my time or give audience by going into more details.

I've emailed eBay about this. Asking why a uniform is more offensive then these photographs and they have not replied to me!

So, you can try to read their guidelines for this but it doesn't always work.

If you get an auction pulled eBay will refund your listing fees BUT it is a 'ding' against you. Too many and eBay can put you on a restriction for a probationary time or even refuse to let you list on eBay.