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Legal Advice Ebay- Restricted account and £2k can I sue?

Nmob
Nmob Posts: 60 Forumite
Sixth Anniversary 10 Posts Combo Breaker
Im a long term ebayer, 10 years and 100% positive feedback.
I sold A Macbook over the weekend and £2400 payout was delayed due to my account being restricted. No issue, its a lot of money.
Happily submitted ID, proof of address and receipt when I purchased the item.

This is when things went down hill, in bad English I have an email saying it was not adequate or unclear. 
I submitted again.
Then I was asked about previous purchases from months ago, all fulfilled and buyers happy.

Im entering a non stop loop and rather than address issue, they ask for something else.

I have fulfilled the item and posted it and I am out of pocket £2400.

What are my legal right here? 


Thank you in advance. 















WON:
6 Months Spotify
3 Months Now TV
Premiership Football Tickets
£150

Comments

  • JAG
    JAG Posts: 1,304 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Since you only sold it 4 days ago then eBay will most likely want to keep hold of the money for 30 days before releasing the funds due to the high value.

    I am sure the Terms & Conditions stipulate something to the effect of them holding onto the funds for a period of time before releasing them, and you would have accepted those T&C in using eBay. So from a legal point of view you would need to  wait out the 30 days.
  • DullGreyGuy
    DullGreyGuy Posts: 15,678 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    Nmob said:
    Im a long term ebayer, 10 years and 100% positive feedback.
    I sold A Macbook over the weekend and £2400 payout was delayed due to my account being restricted. No issue, its a lot of money.
    Happily submitted ID, proof of address and receipt when I purchased the item.

    This is when things went down hill, in bad English I have an email saying it was not adequate or unclear. 
    I submitted again.
    Then I was asked about previous purchases from months ago, all fulfilled and buyers happy.

    Im entering a non stop loop and rather than address issue, they ask for something else.

    I have fulfilled the item and posted it and I am out of pocket £2400.

    What are my legal right here? 
    The great thing about our legal system is that anyone can sue anyone (other than you cannot sue yourself and one or two minor other exceptions). However... the legal process is designed to be the last resort and you are required to make reasonable efforts to resolve it before going to court. Failing to do so can be considered vexatious litigation and even if you win costs can be awarded to the other side and so you get your £2,400 but then have to pay the £5,000 for eBay's barristers. 

    You need to read up on the terms you agreed to when signing up for the account, almost certainly it gives them much more than 4 days to do appropriate checks. Obviously in the ideal world you go through the processes of these checks up front and so dont get monies stuck but others choose to not do full verification until there is a large sum in pending. 
  • RFW
    RFW Posts: 10,267 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Nmob said:

    Im entering a non stop loop and rather than address issue, they ask for something else.


    What are they asking for and can you provide it?

    You'd be better trying to comply with the requests rather than chancing going to court. Yes, it can be a pain, but that's the fastest way you have of getting your money. If you went to court and won without a problem you could still be waiting several months before you saw any money.

    .
  • Transaction holds

    Transaction holds are when we place a hold on funds related to a particular buyer transaction. The funds on hold may be used to refund the buyer for the same transaction.

    While proceeds from your sales typically become available within 2 days of confirming the buyer’s payment, we may place a transaction hold on funds while we ensure a successful transaction. To reduce the likelihood of a transaction hold, we recommend shipping an item the same day your buyer pays for it and following good shipping practices, such as adding tracking information to your order.

    Tip
    If we place a hold on your funds, it will usually be resolved within 30 days, but in rare circumstances it may take longer. For most orders, adding tracking information can help you receive your funds faster.

    Additionally, we may place a transaction hold on funds depending on your seller status, changes to your account status, or other factors we use to help ensure a safe marketplace in all categories, regardless of whether the transaction is covered by our eBay Money Back Guarantee or not:

    • New or infrequent sellers will experience transaction holds while learning best selling practices. This helps sellers become established and build a strong selling history on eBay. New sellers typically experience holds for up to 14 days, although sometimes it may be longer
    • Previously restricted or suspended sellers will experience transaction holds for the 30 days after the restriction or suspension is lifted, while we confirm that the items have been successfully delivered
    • High priced items or unusual selling patterns may lead to transaction holds for up to 30 days to help us ensure that buyers don't have any issues with the order
    • The authentication process may lead to transaction holds for up to 30 days until the authenticity of items sold with eBay’s Authenticity Guarantee can be confirmed
  • Miser1964
    Miser1964 Posts: 283 Forumite
    100 Posts First Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper
    > in bad English I have an email <

    Possibly a scam/phishing exploit?
  • Nmob
    Nmob Posts: 60 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    Update, mysteriously overnight 25 days later I was paid. Im not allowed to sell electronic anymore, not specifically Apple just any. This was after weeks of same questions and invoices and bank statement again and again. Pleases to the get £2.4k and baffled by the whole thing.
    WON:
    6 Months Spotify
    3 Months Now TV
    Premiership Football Tickets
    £150
  • Glad to see you were paid - I would avoid eBay for any high value item like that though. Just not worth the hassle.
  • RFW
    RFW Posts: 10,267 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Nmob said:
    Update, mysteriously overnight 25 days later I was paid. Im not allowed to sell electronic anymore, not specifically Apple just any. This was after weeks of same questions and invoices and bank statement again and again. Pleases to the get £2.4k and baffled by the whole thing.
    Glad you got paid.
    I'm assuming you never went to court?



    .
  • Nmob
    Nmob Posts: 60 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    No, also the requests got so ridiculous I stopped responding. They wanted my bank statement from 3 years ago from when I bought it. I was out of my mind with stress and then they just released the funds and said I cant sell electronics anymore. Looking back I actually think it was about time, they wanted to delay the payment for nearly a month, it was almost never relevant whatever they were asking. Like a stealth cooling off period. Next step appeal the restriction on selling electronics. 
    WON:
    6 Months Spotify
    3 Months Now TV
    Premiership Football Tickets
    £150
  • Maybe you have done nothing wrong with regards to selling electronics. The value might just be considered too much of a risk for them. If they are now asking for purchase receipts they are turning into Amazon, which is a terrible selling platform.

    I am thinking of going back on ebay. I have never liked submitting ID to companies online whether they are selling platforms or not but ebay seem to be the most dubious in how they handle data, data protection requests and in keeping customers money if they ban them.
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