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Banned from eBay, and kind of forgot about it

DaveK
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Reading the eBay radium ban thread reminded me of how my career in spending freely on eBay was very short lived. About 5 or 6 years ago I made my first purchase of a nice little watch for about $80. The sale went smoothly and I left positive feedback for the seller. A month or so later I submitted an offer on a Buy it Now offering with a Make an Offer option. The seller accepted and when I went to complete the transaction… I couldn’t. This was some time ago so details are fuzzy, but I was directed to contact eBay customer service where I was told I was banned indefinitely. When I asked why, they said they couldn’t tell me, it was a trade secret. Well. WTF, really? Yah, if we told you why you might find a work-around. Are you sure my account wasn’t hacked and that lead to my being banned? Nope, we don’t think so. I tried calling a few times for a review or reversal. Nope. I enjoyed a number of conversations about duration of the ban: the ban isn’t permanent, it’s indefinite. Great, it’s indefinite, what do I do to get it reversed? You can’t, it’s permanent. Indefinite and permanent kind of mean two different things, yah, whatever. Well, WTF. Though this was maddening and frustrating, I have to say that I’ve probably saved a lot of money by this involuntary reprieve from impulse shopping. Anyone else gone through this?
 
gbesq
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What i find fascinating -- and incredibly irritating -- is that eBay can find the time to ban you without ever telling you why or to threaten to ban another person for selling a few of the thousands of radium dialed watches on eBay, but when multiple complaints are filed about a listing that is blatently fraudulent WITH bids, they do absolutely nothing about it. eBay is all about getting their fees and the selective application of their policies, but very little else.
 
Pastorbottle
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Whats to stop you from opening another account using a different user name and email address?
 
gbesq
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Pastorbottle Pastorbottle
Whats to stop you from opening another account using a different user name and email address?
His IP address, his home address, his telephone number, his bank account information, his credit card information, all of which eBay likely has.
 
DaveK
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gbesq gbesq
His IP address, his home address, his telephone number, his bank account information, his credit card information, all of which eBay likely has.

Yah, I figured I’d be wading into fraudster territory if I went down that road
 
sheepdoll
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More likely the MAC number. IP addresses are pooled by the ISP. Or at least the version 4 ones are. They ran out years ago. IPv6 is more flexable. Much easier to code an IPv4 dongle.

Most people do not really know how the net works. Some of it is more of a concept than something tangeble. It basically grew out of a defence from the bomb. So it can not really be shut down. As long as one is close enough to a neighbor packets can still get routed. By design. Of course the nameservers make things easy. The whole thing is designed so coms can happen if entire cities and countries are destroyed.


What happens when there are more than one person in a household?

Multiple accounts violate the TOU.

I got blocked by a parts seller. Nothing I can do about it other than save money, and eBay gets no fees. I reported abusive seller practices a few time. High volume 100% feedback seller who pays for listing slots. (so eBay is making money on unsold items.) It is completly random, which is what happens when one has billions of users. Small percentages are significantly large numbers.
 
Pastorbottle
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DaveK DaveK
Yah, I figured I’d be wading into fraudster territory if I went down that road
open another bank account, you cerdit card details will've changed when a replacement card was issued and you could set up an alternative address easily enough, use a mate's temporarily then do a change of address, they won't have a clue or really care much.
Given to amount of dodgy traders on ebay that they don't do anything about and even then if they do the same bastards just reappear under a new account
 
DaveK
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Pastorbottle Pastorbottle
open another bank account, you cerdit card details will've changed when a replacement card was issued and you could set up an alternative address easily enough, use a mate's temporarily then do a change of address, they won't have a clue or really care much.

Hmm, I do have a mailbox separate from my home address. I’ll look into it.
 
JwRosenthal
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They did you a blessing. I would be living in a much larger house, with a much better car, with a huge nest-egg in the bank- but now I have these fυcking watches.
 
JwRosenthal
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Seriously though- I had a friend who was a gun collector and was banned from buying any firearms in our state after years of collecting. One day at a shop he was told that the state police had refused his application to purchase. He contacted the police and they said that someone with the same name as his had been convicted of a felony and thus he was blocked. He sent email after email showing his license and birth certificate and they just said no- sorry.
He no longer lives in this state.
 
Pastorbottle
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JwRosenthal JwRosenthal
Seriously though- I had a friend who was a gun collector and was banned from buying any firearms in our state after years of collecting. One day at a shop he was told that the state police had refused his application to purchase. He contacted the police and they said that someone with the same name as his had been convicted of a felony and thus he was blocked. He sent email after email showing his license and birth certificate and they just said no- sorry.
He no longer lives in this state.

Do they know that people sometimes move house?
And that the new resident is a different person?
Dumbarses!
 
DaveK
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JwRosenthal JwRosenthal
They did you a blessing. I would be living in a much larger house, with a much better car, with a huge nest-egg in the bank- but now I have these fυcking watches.

Honestly. I am conflicted about wanting an eBay account again. It represents an investment of time and money to have access to the matrix. Do I really want that?

Watches have been incredibly healthy for me. They have given me this community, which is super important.

Watches are also a hobby which is interesting expands my world view. I never did well in school, didn’t have much direction in life, I’ve been homeless for a short stint… Somehow I ended up as a university administrator. And a nice watch - while not being my identity - makes me feel like I belong in the room, it gives me a measured bit of swagger when walking into a meeting.

This hobby has also brought me into leatherworking, providing a creative outlet and self-funding revenue stream for both hobbies.

I still need time and money for all the other great things life has to offer. Do I want eBay back, or do I want to just continue to happen upon my next watch while on vacation so it is a touchstone for great memories, or to get a watch from a trusted member of this forum so it has that good energy. Maybe things are fine just the way they are ☕
 
sheepdoll
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etsy?

I have noticed a lot more people listing watch parts.

In reality, Only Amazon will be able to sell product in the near future. Much like The Buy 'N Large shown in Wall-E. (and other Pixar films as Easter egges.)

This is monopoly control. It is also what the old Sicilian families did across the night. Or as George Orwell put it, organized local government. Keeps people happy. And according to Heinlein, polite.
 
JwRosenthal
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DaveK DaveK
Honestly. I am conflicted about wanting an eBay account again. It represents an investment of time and money to have access to the matrix. Do I really want that?

Watches have been incredibly healthy for me. They have given me this community, which is super important.

Watches are also a hobby which is interesting expands my world view. I never did well in school, didn’t have much direction in life, I’ve been homeless for a short stint… Somehow I ended up as a university administrator. And a nice watch - while not being my identity - makes me feel like I belong in the room, it gives me a measured bit of swagger when walking into a meeting.

This hobby has also brought me into leatherworking, providing a creative outlet and self-funding revenue stream for both hobbies.

I still need time and money for all the other great things life has to offer. Do I want eBay back, or do I want to just continue to happen upon my next watch while on vacation so it is a touchstone for great memories, or to get a watch from a trusted member of this forum so it has that good energy. Maybe things are fine just the way they are ☕
This almost made me cry- Dave, you are an inspiration to us all!

Everyone- I say we all shut down our eBay accounts and go back to a simpler way of engaging with this hobby and our community! Who’s with me?!!

Anyone….hello…hello…
 
sheepdoll
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Wow there are some really good deals on eBay since everyone left 😗
 
Evitzee
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Sounds like eBay operates on the same principles as The Rolex Forum, they can ban you permanently.....just because.
 
pdxleaf
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EBay agreed to pay a $3 million criminal penalty for an August 2019 harassment and intimidation campaign targeting a Massachusetts couple in retaliation for their online coverage of eBay, and for its obstruction of the investigation that followed.

@DaveK , ebay owes you money! You just have to prove you were saying bad things online about ebay.
 
wagudc
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Your ban seems egregious and arbitrary to me @DaveK. I have bought a few watches off ebay, but my best watch purchasing experiences have been through other means. Buying from friends on OF is the best way to go. That and from a barbershop. 👍
 
DaveK
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sheepdoll sheepdoll
etsy?

I have noticed a lot more people listing watch parts.

In reality, Only Amazon will be able to sell product in the near future. Much like The Buy 'N Large shown in Wall-E. (and other Pixar films as Easter egges.)

This is monopoly control. It is also what the old Sicilian families did across the night. Or as George Orwell put it, organized local government. Keeps people happy. And according to Heinlein, polite.

I sell on Etsy, and it’s a pretty good platform for many people. But…now that there are shareholders to please and management without much vision for life that includes humans, there are problems. Etsy is, by its rules, for vintage and handmade goods. Buts since their healthy cut of sales is all importnst, a lot of new fake watches and other items are listed and they don’t seem keen to thwart them. A lot of AI storefronts on Etsy as well that “make” custom tshirts, mugs, paintings etc.
 
DaveK
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wagudc wagudc
Your ban seems egregious and arbitrary to me @DaveK. I have bought a few watches off ebay, but my best watch purchasing experiences have been through other means. Buying from friends on OF is the best way to go. That and from a barbershop. 👍

Ah, you remember the barbershop story 😀

What can you get other than a haircut?

IMG_0743.jpeg


one of these ::psy::

IMG_5397.jpeg
 
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