Issue with providing identification to Ebay

cattie

I've been a long time member of ebay, probably about 20yrs. I'm now being hassled by ebay to submit documents, including photo id to prove my identity. There's an issue in that they ask for a copy of passport, which I no longer have, not having travelled for many years & unlikely to do so in the future, or a driving license, which as a non driver I do not have, or a government issued document. My payments are on hold until I can satisfy them that I am who I am.

I have sent them a copy of my DWP Pip benefit letter, which gives a lot of info about me & including national insurance number & to me this should suffice as a government issued document, I've also sent them a copy of my freedom pass, which shows a photo & I feel this should suffice too, but no, they are not satisfied. 

I've phoned ebay up today & told that If I can provide a copy of utility bill that they may accept that, or a letter fro the Home Office (I'm British born & bred so no need for any communication between me & the Home Office, or a birth certificate & marriage certificate possibly would be enough too. Anyway I've now sent them both of those certificates despite me being long divorced. I've also sent a copy of my long expired passport, which of course contains a much younger photo of me & I now wait to see if they are satisfied. If not I can't see that I can send anything else that proves that I am me & perhaps then ebay keep the money of mine they have & leave me unable to use ebay to sell on in the future.

I can't be the only person who can't provide one of the 3 types of document they would like copies of & wonder if anybody here has come up against a similar probem & got it sorted or is still struggling with it.

forgotmyname

Had a smilar issue with a Revolut account. When signing up they wanted photo ID and were utterly useless. After repeatedly
telling them I have no Photo ID, NO passport and NO photo driving licence they just came with with no passport I should send
them a copy of my photo driving licence... 

Eventually they clicked I had neither then said no problem send us a copy of your national identity card. I had to tell them I have
lived in the UK all my life and have never heard of a national identity card.  Then they asked for other stupidly named cards
citizen something or other?

Eventually I got someone that said they would accept a £20 transfer from my bank account.  Slight problem is that they would
not let me transfer £20 without verification first... More jumping through hoops where they again asked for photo ID.

Eventually they sorted it so I could transfer the money.   A couple of years later they started asking for photo ID again, so I just
emptied the account and tried to close it but got stuck on needing to supply photo ID. So it was left in limbo where I had half closed
it and emptied the funds but they kept sending messages stating I need to supply photo ID..

Think they went on for 2 years asking for photo ID before they finally gave up and closed the account formally.

Not exchanging my paper licence for a photo one anytime soon.

cattie

Oh dear, that doesn't fill me with hope!

I've been onto ebay again this morning, another phone call lasting almost 30mins. It seems the copies of documents I provided yesterday afternoon; copies of birth & marriage certificates, expired passport & latest utility statement, are still not sufficient.

I've told them that if none of the large amount of personal documents I've already provided are not good enough then we'd  hit a brick wall as there was nothing else I could send. Apparently somebody from the dept that oversees this is supposed to be phoning me back on Saturday morning to let me know if they can do what they call a manual acceptance.

forgotmyname

One option maybe get a provisional driving licence?  Seems to be accepted as ID since photocards came out.

ladyholly

But why should other poster have to pay for a provisional licence having provided half a filing cabinet of documentation. It is utterly ridiculous.

soolin

ladyholly said:

But why should other poster have to pay for a provisional licence having provided half a filing cabinet of documentation. It is utterly ridiculous.

No one can force the OP to get suitable ID, however ebay can refuse to allow them a selling account if they can’t supply information in a form they require. 

p00hsticks

soolin said:

ladyholly said:

But why should other poster have to pay for a provisional licence having provided half a filing cabinet of documentation. It is utterly ridiculous.

No one can force the OP to get suitable ID, however ebay can refuse to allow them a selling account if they can’t supply information in a form they require. 

Agreed - but given that no-one from ebay presumably ever has or ever will see what the OP actually looks like, one has to wonder about the logic of them being so fixated with needing to provide id with a photo on.

Jerry_Cornelius

I seem to be reading a few of these stories, and its always seems the same, you make a sale, ebay have the money, and they then decide to question your identity, and for no apparent reason. If ebay have a legitimate reason for thinking a seller is suspicious for some reason, why didn't they prevent the seller from listing til they had proved their identity first? I've dabbled with selling my personal items on and off on ebay for 17 years now, and i've never had a driving license or a passport. I've only recently gone over to MP and i had a few items sell last month in which the first MP funds went thru to my new bank account without hassle - and a new bank account which required no passport or driving license to set up i might add - but it worries me now I could suddenly get asked to prove my "identity", and i'd technically have the same trouble as the OP ...

cattie

Ah, sanity at last, just had a phone call from ebay to say they are now satisfied with the documentation I've provided & my funds can be released. Alleluia! 

Jerry Cornelius, watch out, I've been a member of ebay for over 20yrs & suddenly out of the blue they asked for the stated identification. When I queried this, considering the length of time I've had an ebay account, I got a response that it was something to do with them parting ways with paypal & was something they legally needed to do?

I'm pretty sure quite a few folk will be hitting the same problem I've had at some point.

soolin

cattie said:

Ah, sanity at last, just had a phone call from ebay to say they are now satisfied with the documentation I've provided & my funds can be released. Alleluia! 

Jerry Cornelius, watch out, I've been a member of ebay for over 20yrs & suddenly out of the blue they asked for the stated identification. When I queried this, considering the length of time I've had an ebay account, I got a response that it was something to do with them parting ways with paypal & was something they legally needed to do?

I'm pretty sure quite a few folk will be hitting the same problem I've had at some point.

Most sellers are already on manage dpayments, it has been running now for well over a year, it's only a few newer sellers, and those who didn't sign up in the first few mail shots that are having to still provide ID.

It looks like those of us who were moved across fairly early got away with just providing basic info, now that ebay have fewer people to move and have more time they seem to ask for more.

The managed payment mega thread is here

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/77450049#Comment_77450049

cattie

But I've been on managed payments for quite a while now, so you'd think I'd have been contacted before now to be asked for id.