eBay's attitude is terrible and seems to be getting worse (managed payments, 18650, wireless router)

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spotify95
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eBay's attitude is terrible and seems to be getting worse (managed payments, 18650, wireless router)

Postby spotify95 » January 19th, 2021, 9:47 am

Hello,

I don't know how to say this, but eBay's policies and viewpoints seem to be changing - and not for the better. In fact, if the last year (or so) is anything to go by, I would not be recommending members to sell on eBay.

I have just received two nasty emails from this company stating that I am selling something that is prohibited! I'll get onto each point first, because it is appropriate. The item I was selling, in question, is a wireless router:

1. We had to remove your listing because it didn’t follow our Government items policy. Government, transit or delivery company property is not allowed.

- Government, private transit, or delivery company uniforms and accessories such as hats, pins and scarves
-- Vintage or collectible uniforms and accessories may be listed if they meet all these requirements:
--- The item is 10 years old or older
--- It’s no longer in use
--- It doesn’t look like a current uniform or accessory
- Government, transit or delivery company property such as vehicles, licence plates, keys for vehicles, mail bags, company decals and transit documents
- Fake documents, government-issued documents or official certificates or diplomas
- Postage meters, voting machines or Library of Congress National Library of Service record players, digital talking book machines or any of their labelled accessories
- Government-issued IDs, passports, birth certificates or licence plates
-- Collectible licence plates are allowed as long as they are expired and at least three years old or as allowed by law
- Government issued medals and certificates for medals
- Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) plates or rivets

When has a wireless router fallen into any of the above?! When has a wireless router become "government property"? It's not a fake document, it's not a postage meter, it is not a VIN plate, etc, so the above doesn't apply to my item.

2. We had to remove your listing because it didn’t follow our Electronic equipment policy. Most electronic equipment used to transmit or receive signals or for surveillance are not allowed.

The following types of electronic equipment are not allowed:

- Electronic items prohibited by government agencies, including cell phone, GPS radar, and other signal jamming devices. See the FCC's jammer enforcement for more
- Traffic light control devices
- CB amplifiers and radio equipment that operates in both CB and HAM frequencies
- Odometer modification devices
- Equipment such as low power transmitting devices, high frequency transceivers, cordless telephones and radar detectors not authorised by the FCC
- Appliances for sale in California that do not meet applicable efficiency standards
- Surveillance items that are intended to photograph, or record the conversations or activities of others without their knowledge
Cameras, recorders, or other similar devices can be listed as long as the description doesn’t encourage their use for illegal purposes.

Once again, a wireless router does not fall into the above categories. It is not prohibited by the government because nearly everyone in their house has one; I'm connected to one right this minute so that I can type this message.

It is not a traffic light controller, a CB/HAM radio device, an odometer modifier (an odometer is something that goes in your car, and is not designed for use indoors), and it is not a surveillance item.

If you search on eBay for wireless routers, you'll see lots of them for sale, in fact eBay has a category called "wireless routers"! They are also available for sale in many high street stores (pre Covid that was).

Furthermore, if "most electronic equipment used to transmit or receive signals or for surveillance are not allowed", then surely this would apply to other items as well, such as mobile and landline telephones? Most households have one of these nowadays and they are absolutely fine to sell. The same goes for personal computers and laptops - these communicate wirelessly and both send/receive information, therefore "transmits or receives signals"!

Also, if we're talking about something that either transmits or receives, then all television aerials should be banned, all FM/AM/DAB radios should be banned, all TVs should be banned, all radio controlled clocks should be banned, etc etc.

So why has eBay singled out my item?!

This is the same as what has happened earlier on in the year, when eBay singled out 18650 Lithium Ion cells (due to apparent "safety concerns"). Well, Lithium Ion is Lithium Ion, no mattery what the shape or size, and ALL Lithium Ion cells pose the same safety risks. Therefore, if you ban 18650s, you should also ban 103450s, 14500s, 18350s, 21700s, 26650s, etc. In fact, the latter two have more energy than an 18650 cell!

Let us explore this one further... if you ban Lithium Ion, then you should also ban Lithium Polymer (i.e. pouch cells), as these cells exhibit the same behaviors as Li-Ion when dealt with incorrectly (Li-Po is more likely to catch fire than an 18650!). Then, if you ban Li-Polymer, you should ban all laptop battery packs, all RC battery packs, drone battery packs, phone batteries, tablet batteries, etc, as they all contain Lithium Ion or Lithium Polymer cells...

... then if you ban those, you should ban anything with lithium in it at all (e.g. Lithium Metal, Energizer AA Ultimate Lithium, Lithium 3V Coin cells, Lithium Camera batteries), and therefore, since some of those are single use batteries, all single use batteries should be banned (e.g. alkaline/zinc carbon), and since Li-Ion is rechargeable, all rechargeable batteries should be banned (e.g. Ni-MH, Ni-Cd, LiFePO4, lead acid, etc).

So taking one specific type of item and banning that one specific item is OK, but anything else that is similar (or the same) is absolutely fine? This is one messed up policy...

This also brings me onto eBay's new managed payments system. If you think I'm going to give eBay my main bank account, think again. If eBay think they can end listings for no reason (none of the reasoning emailed to me matches up with the item they removed) then what's to say they will charge me whatever fees they feel like, or they decide to take extra fees (they are not entitled to) straight out of my card? And by bypassing PayPal, I will have little recourse to get anything back if anything did happen (with the exception of court action).

Due to all of the above, I simply cannot recommend ebay to sell on anymore. If things don't improve, or if managed payments are forced on me, or anything else, I'll just sell elsewhere. The wireless router in question WILL be relisted and resold - just not on eBay.

Sorry if this is a bit long, just explains what is wrong and what needs fixing!


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