eBay blocked my £2k and asks for my personal data

Buster_Danog

Spoonie_Turtle said:

To be fair, the ID requirement is to help prevent against fraud, so if you're refusing to provide it then they really can't quite be sure.

That's one way of looking at it. My own situation was peculiar to me in that I had done nothing wrong apart from refuse to upload ID and asked to delete the account but due to the bad advice of a CS rep I got suspended. This is nothing new. I was once advised by a CS rep that it was OK to send an item to a non Paypal address and nearly got duped by a fraudster so I should have known they give bad advice. 

I wouldn't disagree with the idea that they have some obligation to prevent money laundering / fraud. However, how much of this is down to US law or is arbitrary in how it is applied in the UK with regards to selling limits. It is their platform at the end of the day, but if I have to comply with rules created due to US laws they should be required to comply with data protection laws in the UK.

jon81uk

Buster_Danog said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

To be fair, the ID requirement is to help prevent against fraud, so if you're refusing to provide it then they really can't quite be sure.

That's one way of looking at it. My own situation was peculiar to me in that I had done nothing wrong apart from refuse to upload ID and asked to delete the account but due to the bad advice of a CS rep I got suspended. This is nothing new. I was once advised by a CS rep that it was OK to send an item to a non Paypal address and nearly got duped by a fraudster so I should have known they give bad advice. 

I wouldn't disagree with the idea that they have some obligation to prevent money laundering / fraud. However, how much of this is down to US law or is arbitrary in how it is applied in the UK with regards to selling limits. It is their platform at the end of the day, but if I have to comply with rules created due to US laws they should be required to comply with data protection laws in the UK.

The UK has plenty of anti-moneylaundering laws, this has nothing to do with US law.

RFW

jon81uk said:

The UK has plenty of anti-moneylaundering laws, this has nothing to do with US law.

True. UK financial laws tend to be more stringent than those in the US.

Buster_Danog

jon81uk said:

The UK has plenty of anti-moneylaundering laws, this has nothing to do with US law.

You might want to look at the changes in US law which came about recently here

Yes, it might be coincidence that ebay starts limiting how much you can sell without ID at the same time these laws were passed in the US, but it probably isn't.

soolin

Buster_Danog said:

jon81uk said:

The UK has plenty of anti-moneylaundering laws, this has nothing to do with US law.

You might want to look at the changes in US law which came about recently here

Yes, it might be coincidence that ebay starts limiting how much you can sell without ID at the same time these laws were passed in the US, but it probably isn't.

eBay have not started limiting what people can sell without ID at all that’s the problem- everyone regardless of whether you take £10 or £10,000 has to go through authentication. The article you link to is in regard to reporting to the IRS and is much discussed on US forums. There has been rather a tradition of staying under the wire as far as the IRS is concerned as their benefit system is complicated as is their tax system, the reporting issue is to stop tax avoidance. 

Buster_Danog

soolin said:

eBay have not started limiting what people can sell without ID at all that’s the problem- everyone regardless of whether you take £10 or £10,000 has to go through authentication. The article you link to is in regard to reporting to the IRS and is much discussed on US forums. There has been rather a tradition of staying under the wire as far as the IRS is concerned as their benefit system is complicated as is their tax system, the reporting issue is to stop tax avoidance. 

Are we talking about the same thing? Authentication is not necessarily submitting ID is it? My bank details were authenticated for managed payments but the ID requirement appeared to be something totally separate and linked to the amount of transactions or value of items sold.

I can imagine someone selling an expensive item might be asked for ID even if it is their first sale.

soolin

Buster_Danog said:

soolin said:

eBay have not started limiting what people can sell without ID at all that’s the problem- everyone regardless of whether you take £10 or £10,000 has to go through authentication. The article you link to is in regard to reporting to the IRS and is much discussed on US forums. There has been rather a tradition of staying under the wire as far as the IRS is concerned as their benefit system is complicated as is their tax system, the reporting issue is to stop tax avoidance. 

Are we talking about the same thing? Authentication is not necessarily submitting ID is it? My bank details were authenticated for managed payments but the ID requirement appeared to be something totally separate and linked to the amount of transactions or value of items sold.

I can imagine someone selling an expensive item might be asked for ID even if it is their first sale.

I am a business seller and have not had to supply any authentication documents at all , not on my business nor on my private accounts. The last time I had to supply ID was several years ago when I did reach an unspecified threshold on PayPal , but I was expecting that as I was aware there was a cumulative trigger point somewhere. Obviously you might be a huge seller whereas I am a fairly small business , but if income was a trigger for ID then why hasn’t everyone been asked? 

Anecdotally and from other threads on here over the past couple of years, those of us who switched to managed payments early on are unlikely to be asked for ID, whilst those switching in later batches having to supply it. It is linked to managed payments but it is unclear why those registering later have been targeted. 

Buster_Danog

soolin said:

I am a business seller and have not had to supply any authentication documents at all , not on my business nor on my private accounts. The last time I had to supply ID was several years ago when I did reach an unspecified threshold on PayPal , but I was expecting that as I was aware there was a cumulative trigger point somewhere. Obviously you might be a huge seller whereas I am a fairly small business , but if income was a trigger for ID then why hasn’t everyone been asked? 

Anecdotally and from other threads on here over the past couple of years, those of us who switched to managed payments early on are unlikely to be asked for ID, whilst those switching in later batches having to supply it. It is linked to managed payments but it is unclear why those registering later have been targeted. 

I am one of those who transferred to managed payments later on. My sales were in the low hundreds for about three months, which includes postage as that is also part of the sales figure and that was enough to be required to provide ID. Hardly Al Capone territory, but there you go.

soolin

Buster_Danog said:

soolin said:

I am a business seller and have not had to supply any authentication documents at all , not on my business nor on my private accounts. The last time I had to supply ID was several years ago when I did reach an unspecified threshold on PayPal , but I was expecting that as I was aware there was a cumulative trigger point somewhere. Obviously you might be a huge seller whereas I am a fairly small business , but if income was a trigger for ID then why hasn’t everyone been asked? 

Anecdotally and from other threads on here over the past couple of years, those of us who switched to managed payments early on are unlikely to be asked for ID, whilst those switching in later batches having to supply it. It is linked to managed payments but it is unclear why those registering later have been targeted. 

I am one of those who transferred to managed payments later on. My sales were in the low hundreds for about three months, which includes postage as that is also part of the sales figure and that was enough to be required to provide ID. Hardly Al Capone territory, but there you go.

As I mentioned earlier I was pushed to switch earlier and have not had to provide any ID or verification yet. My sales are higher than yours and I have triggered nothing. This seems to back the idea that managed payments have started requiring additional info that they didn’t when they initially went live. It is all immaterial anyway, if you don’t wish to supply the info then you will need to find another venue, which I know you are already trying to do . 

eddmac2

Selling small, unwanted items for small sums was the foundation of Ebay 1997.

Now too inquisitive and much too risky to give the family bank details, to a stranger, so that we can sell an unwanted item, to someone for 5 quid.