eBay Suspended All My Accounts

kisshell9 on 28/01/2019 - 12:08

It really happened. Yesterday I used $200 gift card bought from ebay uk on my new account on ebay au with 15% off.
And today all my eBay account, including my main account got suspended. It turns out I had made 17 accounts and my wife accounts is suspended too.
I am not sure if i will get my items or if I will get my main account reopened as it still has giftcard credits.
Damn it sucks to be me. I just talked to customer service and they are not reopening my account.

Any advice? I would at least want one account to be used for eBay purchases. May be i have to move to another place and change my legal name :(

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Comments

        • HighAndDry on 29/01/2019 - 09:57
          -1

          Ebay does nothing out of kindness

          eBay were doing this to attract new customers. Which OP wasn't.

    • ssyl9 on 29/01/2019 - 19:24

      I don't know why some are hassling you as if you did anything majorly wrong or unethical .

      I believe what he did was against T&Cs…

  • SydStrand on 28/01/2019 - 12:50
    +21

    It turns out I had made 17 accounts

    One minute you're getting discount UK gift cards, before you know it, you have 17 accounts.

    • jaybmate on 28/01/2019 - 13:58
      +15

      It's a slippery slope…

      • silverrat23 on 28/01/2019 - 16:30
        +2

        The first one's free at a discounted rate. That's how they get you!

  • outlander on 28/01/2019 - 15:14
    +6

    Jesus man, 17 accounts?! How did you expect to fly under the radar. If they called where you planning on claiming that you lived with 16 other people all named Sanjay, and doing different voices for all of them?

    tut tut tut..

    I think your best hope of regaining access to ebay is to either setup a new account delivered to your work or a parcel locker, orrrr get your wife to call up and claim ignorance and demand her account is unblocked. Claim you live in a sharehouse, and the user (you, Sanjay) was acting alone, and has since been evicted. They may ask for some kind of verification on her part. Lot of hassle, but there's no reason why it shouldn't work. You may have broken the rules, but she didn't.

    • kisshell9 on 28/01/2019 - 15:51

      This is my best bet… thanks

      • Herbse on 29/01/2019 - 18:04

        So just confirming. Your accounts were deleted because of the purchase of the gift card on the UK site? Nothing else?

        I'm curious so I don't run into the same problem

        • orangetrain on 29/01/2019 - 18:25

          Better close your 17 accounts (and spouse's) before they find out.

          • Herbse on 29/01/2019 - 18:26
            +1

            @orangetrain: Find out what? It's within eBay guidelines to have multiple accounts. Which is why I want to confirm he's done nothing else which we can learn from

            • orangetrain on 29/01/2019 - 18:44
              +1

              @Herbse: Sounds like OP did many accounts to get multiple $5 which could be considered fraud.

              So ebay banned them over $85 i guess?

              • kisshell9 on 29/01/2019 - 19:11
                +2

                @orangetrain: The customer rep has told me that my gift card activities caused the suspension and then they figured out i had lots of accounts and banned all my accounts including my wife with same address..

    • kungfupanda on 29/01/2019 - 17:07

      sigh… guess you're very smart.
      I hope ebay doesn't scout this page and read your recommendation - otherwise it will be "unfair" to others who are really in the scenario you suggested above.

  • Ocker on 28/01/2019 - 15:58
    +1

    eBay have no rule that says you cannot have more than one account.

    • Clear on 28/01/2019 - 16:05
      +4

      Are you sure?. Not restricted to eBay AU either.

      Are there circumstances when creating another account isn't allowed?
      We don't allow members to create a new account to get around buying or selling restrictions, or to avoid consequences of policy violations.

    • whooah1979 on 28/01/2019 - 16:15

      There may be no policy that restricts the number of user ID, but there are other polices that may restrict user conduct.

      https://www.ebay.com.au/help/policies/member-behaviour-polic…
      we believe that your actions may cause loss or damage to or otherwise unlawfully harm you, our users, third parties or us, our related bodies corporate or affiliates, our directors, employees or agents

    • SydStrand on 29/01/2019 - 19:14

      My rent certificate didn't have a rule which said I can't run a 24/7 bitcoin mining rack. It said 'utilities included!'

  • altitudinous on 28/01/2019 - 16:39
    -2

    It doesn't suck to be you. It sucks to be ebay, who have to put up with your scamming them. You're finished with them.

    • [Deactivated] on 28/01/2019 - 17:15
      +4

      It sucks to be ebay, who have to put up with your scamming them.

      Like ebay/paypal doesn't 'scam' it's users and never has… lol.

  • Ryanek on 28/01/2019 - 16:47
    +4

    This is why we can't have nice things.

    • [Deactivated] on 28/01/2019 - 17:18
      +2

      Ebay doesn't have nice things .
      I usually only go on there to buy cheap crap. But hey, its that cheap, I don't mind that its crap.

      • [Deactivated] on 28/01/2019 - 17:21

        Users abusing Ebay's systems force up the prices for honest users that use the system in the intended way - like insurance fraud does the cost of insurance.

        • [Deactivated] on 28/01/2019 - 17:27
          +10

          Do you really believe that Ebay will reduce prices, rather than just keeping additional profit, if users stop making more than 1 account to get these special offers ? Do you really believe that ?

          Maybe ebay should start allowing everyone access to offers, rather than 'targeted offers' . I have contributed over $10,000 to ebay through fees, in the space of about 12 months. I am never, targeted for any of their offers on that account, even though I no longer buy/sell on ebay.

          • [Deactivated] on 29/01/2019 - 00:37
            +1

            @[Deactivated]: Typically as a businesses costs rise they look to raise prices. Alternatively they look to reduce costs like cutting back on workers (since reducing their salaries is usually not possible). A businesses executive is virtually forced to make these decisions as their remuneration structure is governed by achieving markers around ROE and increasing profit and/or market share. If they don't, they will find themselves replaced/needing to look for work elsewhere.

            I.e. if they can hit their targets from having effective marketing that increases the businesses revenue they don't have to look elsewhere to maximise returns. Cut off that avenue or retard its performance and they will have to look elsewhere.

            One way to assess the ethics of a situation is to use Kantian logic: if everyone followed the example of the OP, i.e. made a new account in order to gain discounts off every purchase, Ebay would not be a profitable concern. It would either have to withdraw the promotion and find a different way to attract business, which may be more or less successful, or go out of business.

            If a cafe ran a promotion where they wanted to attract new customers so provided half price coffee for the first transaction for every new customer (at or below materials cost), and a person came in and kept pretending to be a new customer, over the period of a year depriving the business of its rightful profit from that person and their transactions, effectively making that business serve them for free/no benefit to themselves - would that be ethical? What's the difference?

            If you started a business would you think it fair for customers to treat you that way?

  • Braggs on 28/01/2019 - 17:30
    +5

    you took bargain hunting to far by the looks

  • [Deactivated] on 28/01/2019 - 17:36
    +2

    That's what you get for abusing the gift card system.

    Karma.

    Hope you don't get your accounts reinstated.

    • Clear on 28/01/2019 - 17:40
      +4

      It's like those people who buy from price errors knowing it'll be cancelled and expect compensation. Those are the people that ruin everything for everyone.

      • Flanders on 28/01/2019 - 18:23
        +3

        It's like those people who buy from price errors

        Yet a large proportion of the best deals posted here, turn out to be pricing errors. Some even get the order in and collect the item (or get item delivered) prior to pricing error being corrected.
        Seems there was a site-wide price error on kogan.

        If someone buys (and makes full payment) something genuinely believing the item is for sale at that price, then why shouldn't they be given some sort of compensation for being denied the item they legitimately purchased and paid for ? Then they have to wait several days to get their money back (if they even get their money back, without having to follow up and/or make a claim just to get refund).

        If we are to just somehow know that something is a 'pricing error' and not purchase it, well how do we know this ?
        One could guess that something is a pricing error because it may seem 'too good to be true' but then what about when a great deal comes up that is true and not an error, then we miss out because we would all be saying "don't post that deal, because it may be a pricing error, that price is too good" then it sells out and we miss out while contemplating is this a legitimate price or a pricing error .
        How are we possibly meant to know ?

        • Clear on 28/01/2019 - 18:26
          +4

          While there is no legal requirement under consumer law for a store to give you compensation from a price error, it's a good gesture. The issue is though people are intentionally buying from price errors so they get compensation rather than buying legitimately. This has been prevalent in countless Amazon deals with people even saying they're purchasing for the sole purpose of getting a coupon from Amazon.

          That's the difference. There are a lot of people here who intentionally abuse the system and one day the legitimate people will miss out.

          • Flanders on 28/01/2019 - 18:37

            @Clear:

            The issue is though people are intentionally buying from price errors so they get compensation rather than buying legitimately.

            Stores should advertise legitimately . I have been caught out a few times now, with items either claimed as a 'pricing error' or items which were sold to me (and full payment taken from me) when item was not in stock, and they were not getting any more stock (so they told me).
            I still don't see how anyone can possibly automatically know that something is a pricing error when a great deal comes up.
            I have received zero compensation without having to waste my time following up. Had to make paypal claims against company who took payment for items they didn't have, then refused full refund.

            there is no legal requirement under consumer law for a store to give you compensation from a price error,

            Although it may not be set in law that they must compensate buyer that was charged (and I'm not sure on the validity of your claim here, because I have suffered a loss, by being without my money for a week or so while I await for them to return my money) , regardless of the exact laws here, it is fair and reasonable if I purchase an item for $2000, and then company later says "you cannot have it because of our error" then it is only fair (and good business sense for them) to offer something more than just an apology. And I didn't even get an apology when I had to chase things up through papal just to get refund after being sold items, then told they won't deliver on my purchase.

            • Clear on 28/01/2019 - 18:53
              +1

              @Flanders: We're talking about if people should receive compensation for blatantly abusing obvious price errors for compensation. Should they? No. How can you tell if it's a blatant price error? The price is usually the obvious factor.

              Legitimate price errors is a whole different category and not something I am going to talk about.

              • Flanders on 28/01/2019 - 19:15

                @Clear:

                How can you tell if it's a blatant price error? The price is usually the obvious factor.

                So anything that is a great price, we should assume its a pricing error, and just miss out, if it turns out to be just a great bargain. Umkayyyy .

                Maybe go by the plus votes on the deal then ? Since a really great price, must be an "obvious" price error .

                • Ughhh on 28/01/2019 - 19:25
                  +6

                  @Flanders: If something is usually $100, being listed online as $10… hmm surely you don't need a high school cert to have suspicions.

                  If you wanna take a bet, then buy it, maybe you'll get lucky. But don't sulk when it's not honoured. If buying it results you in starvation for a few days, then perhaps you should rethink about how you prioritise your money.

                  • Flanders on 28/01/2019 - 19:36
                    +2

                    @Ughhh:

                    If something is usually $100, being listed online as $10

                    Deals like that do come up though. I can think of a few items in my posession right now which were reduced 90% or more.
                    Dick smith sales are 1 example that comes to mind. I believe everything was 90% off towards the end.

                    If buying it results you in starvation for a few days, then perhaps you should rethink about how you prioritise your money

                    What a bizarre entirely out of context and nonsensical response. Where did I mention starvation? :/

                    • Ughhh on 28/01/2019 - 23:23

                      @Flanders: Read the rest of my first sentence, in particular the last part.

                      Does every word need to be taken literally? … Surely you know what is meant. If not, it explains why 90% off a usually pricey item doesnt strike a doubt or suspicion.

                • Clear on 28/01/2019 - 19:42
                  +1

                  @Flanders:

                  So anything that is a great price, we should assume its a pricing error, and just miss out, if it turns out to be just a great bargain. Umkayyyy .

                  No that's not even close to what I said. If you know for a fact it is a price error then don't abuse it for compensation.

                  Dick smith sales are 1 example that comes to mind. I believe everything was 90% off towards the end.

                  Wasn't a price error. They were in the last few days of closing up shop and had publicly announced fire sales.

                  • Flanders on 28/01/2019 - 20:05
                    +1

                    @Clear:

                    If you know for a fact it is a price error then don't abuse it for compensation.

                    Yet how do we know "for a fact it is a price error" . There is no way definitively of knowing if something is a great deal, or a price error, unless you have some magic way of knowing ? Then people buying things, then finding out later it's a pricing error, are not at fault. The company falsely advertising is at fault, not the consumer.
                    You sound like Gerry Harvey. Lol.

                    • Clear on 28/01/2019 - 20:09

                      @Flanders: If we take recent Amazon deals for example there have been cases where Amazon CS reps have stated that it's a price error and other times when the description or product code is not matching the pictures. That deal I linked above is another example where a $119 SSD was being sold for $19. The fact that it's $100 off should be the first clue not to mention it costs more than that for the product to be even made!

  • kisshell9 on 28/01/2019 - 17:47
    +4

    I actually learned all this from ozbargain posts to make multiple accounts.. Hopefully this will give warning for other users.. Ill try to sort out my current main account if possible other wise i cant use ebay.. after i came to australia i think the most online shopping i do is in ebay.. i never heard of sitewide deals and ebay gift card deals when i was in US

    • HighAndDry on 29/01/2019 - 09:59
      +6

      Hopefully this will give warning for other users.

      No one else who has two braincells to rub together needed this warning. A grade school kid could tell you that opening 17 accounts for fraudulent "new customer" bonuses would get your accounts suspended. Stop acting as if this was some kind of reasonable mistake to make…

  • CyberMurning on 28/01/2019 - 18:11
    +1

    I just talked to customer service and they are not reopening my account.

    So when you talk did they explain why is the reason of the suspension?

    • kisshell9 on 28/01/2019 - 18:22

      I talked to them via chat

      • Flanders on 28/01/2019 - 18:24
        +16

        Did you mention you know ChiMot from ozbargain forum ?

        • kisshell9 on 28/01/2019 - 18:30

          Nope

          • ChillBro on 28/01/2019 - 20:19
            +6

            @kisshell9: That was your mistake.

            Had you done that, all your accounts would've been reinstated along with a $100 apology credit.

  • SiameseIfYouPlease on 28/01/2019 - 18:13
    +1

    Probably just a VPN with an Australian address should do it.
    They’re just looking for accounts created under your IP address.. probably.

    But ebay can also identify you if you link the same PayPal address again.

    If you’re truly desperate. Probably get a PO BOX, a VPN, and a prepaid credit card or two.

    Open a new PayPal account with the two prepaid credit cards.
    Set everything up to the PO Box address, or a friend or family members address that will give you your mail.
    And of course, use the VPN when creating the ebay account and just keep the VPN on indefinitely so you won’t get caught out if you browse ebay from your old IP address.

    It’s a harsh lesson to learn, I love eBay, and I’m glad I didn’t let greed get the better of me when I purchased gift cards that were on sale too.
    I would have been sad if my account was disabled.

    I doubt they’d ban every account with the same name as you, as people often share names.

    Probably lie about your DOB too.

    And share the account with your wife since you got her account banned too.

    At least you’ve learnt your lesson now, hopefully..

    • belongsinforums on 28/01/2019 - 18:36

      ip? lol just reset router

      • andyken on 28/01/2019 - 23:57
        +2

        ever heard of static ip? lol

      • Clear on 29/01/2019 - 00:24
        +1

        Websites log more than just your IP address. Here are some of things a website can log…

        Public IP
        Private IP
        ISP
        Download Speed
        Location
        Browser
        Browser Plugins
        OS
        CPU
        GPU
        Battery
        Gyroscope

        And if you think that's bad there is the capability to see what you're logged into and even scan your local network. A lot of these are preventable but there is so much information eBay can track you by.

        • belongsinforums on 29/01/2019 - 07:51
          +4

          eBay don't even need that because op probably used his home address and name 17 times .. And payment details

  • pistachio on 28/01/2019 - 19:13
    +3

    'I had made 17 accounts'

    Wow!

  • dan76n on 28/01/2019 - 19:51
    +23

    The positive that comes out of all this is we now know the threshold is 16 ebay accounts per user.

    • hey aj on 30/01/2019 - 14:41

      PROMOTE THAT MAN!

  • wordplay on 28/01/2019 - 19:57
    +2

    if someone has ~30 accounts and they begin to close them all except 1 will that be ok, or do you think they are trying to crack down on this sort of thing and will get rid of all the users accounts completely?
    If the person has had no previous problems with Ebay, all accounts used for purchases, no selling.

    • tranter on 28/01/2019 - 20:11
      +4

      Asking for a friend?

      • wordplay on 28/01/2019 - 20:12

        yes, not me. not wordplay, not associated with this account.
        just hypothetical. what if?

        • gromit on 28/01/2019 - 21:10

          depends I suppose on the reason for those 30 accounts. Not being caught is also completely different to having no previous problems on ebay. If the 30 accounts were to get extra discounts then really if caught or found out they are pretty much certain to have all banned.

    • HighAndDry on 29/01/2019 - 10:00

      Better than not closing those 30 accounts.

  • Butt Scratcher on 28/01/2019 - 20:21
    +2

    Wow, 17 accounts.

    I underestimate the lengths ozbargainers are willing to go for a bargain

  • John on 28/01/2019 - 20:49
    -4

    Good riddance :)

  • wtfnodeal on 28/01/2019 - 21:16
    +2

    Will 2 eBay accounts get caught too?

    • andyken on 29/01/2019 - 00:02
      +4

      up to 4 are pretty common in a single address, can be for husband and wife and 1 for buying and 1 for selling. we have 4 accounts for a very long time (since 2002) and no problem.

    • [Deactivated] on 29/01/2019 - 01:41

      Will 2 eBay accounts get caught too

      possibly , As someone mentioned previously, it is not actually against ebay policy to have more than 1 account.

      It most likely is against ebay t&c to have accounts in different countries. Seems like OP got caught out for buying gift cards on UK account, then using on Aus Account for purchases. And there is probably more too it we don't know ie if we looked at OP's use of the 17 accounts, we would probably see some reasons why account might be flagged. Not saying it is particularly bad, but maybe OP bought gift cards overseas on sales, then used in Aus account more than 1 time. Maybe been doing this for years, lol. What really got OP caught IMO was forgetting about the old unused accounts, and not bothering closing them. If the old accounts were closed, it would look much less suspicious when ebays IT people looked at things.

  • Realdee on 28/01/2019 - 21:21
    +9

    Reminds me of the user who got banned from Woolworths Online after creating over 130 accounts: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/262141

    They too were shocked that a business would enforce their T&C's…

  • syousef on 28/01/2019 - 23:50
    +5

    Whoops I slipped and opened another Ebay account….Damnit! I slipped again! …Oh no! Not again!… Another one!

    Help me OzBOne Kenobi, you're my only hope.

  • hihi on 29/01/2019 - 04:31

    Ebay suspended all my 6 ebay accounts because i bought something from Chemist warehouse for 4 accounts over few months, they also suspended my friends' account because i used the same Paypal. They wouldn't refund me the used giftcards that i had from a recent return so i lodged a complaint to ACCC

    • HighAndDry on 29/01/2019 - 10:02
      +1

      Lol good luck…

  • wtfnodeal on 29/01/2019 - 06:44

    Probably the earlier $5 off code without min spend code was one eBay used to catch these multiple account owners?

  • kisshell9 on 29/01/2019 - 07:29
    -1

    I talked to customer support again and they said that ebay's system caught my activity due to me buying too many giftcards from different accounts. But the thing is i have just bought it 3 times till now.

  • HighAndDry on 29/01/2019 - 09:47
    +1

    It turns out I had made 17 accounts

    Lol. Actually I think the full appropriate term here is "lol gg no re."

  • holdenmg on 29/01/2019 - 10:03
    +2

    Here is a list a names that might suit whatever personality you want to run with:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mr._Men

  • tolkaNo on 29/01/2019 - 14:52
    +4

    That's why I only run 5 accounts, I like to keep it pretty legit up in here.

  • A fish on 29/01/2019 - 14:56
    +1

    Chargeback. Make new account with fake name. Continue living.

  • xcess on 29/01/2019 - 17:02
    +1

    whoa even ebay sucks for creating multiple accounts, made so many "new" amazon accounts last year for the $20 new user thing and nothings happened

  • RonaldR on 29/01/2019 - 17:15

    kisshell9 is most probably one of these arseholes that has a pile of other accounts to screw all of us by bidding on what he is selling to jack the prices up. He deserves all the headaches he gets now and you would have to be a fool to help him.

    • kisshell9 on 29/01/2019 - 17:18

      I dont do those things man.. i never really bid stuff on ebay..

  • kisshell9 on 29/01/2019 - 17:19

    So i got email update from ebay that all my orders has been dispatched so i am good with that transaction.. thanks guys for help and feedback

  • eggles01 on 29/01/2019 - 17:32
    -1

    I joined Ebay in 1998 and my first purchase was a cd rom drive and I went up to the bank to pay for it and when I got home I went to let the seller know,and before I sent the email to him I noticed I had mail from Ebay telling me that the seller has now been suspended,I had checked my Ebay account and there was no nothing about this seller,so it turns out that Ebay had suspended the seller somewhere in the 30 minutes it took me to walk up to the bank and return home,of course I had lost my money,

    about the closure of your accounts,around 1999 I saw a 10 gb hard drive for sale and started bidding on it,it was the largest capacity hard drive on Ebay at that time so I assumed there would be a lot of bidders and some one had bid $1 over my bid and another bid was made over their bid,so the bidding was being made with the same 3 bidders and when the bidding stopped I had the winning bid,before I could email the seller to send me the invoice the seller had sent me an email asking me to place the payment into his girlfriends bank account instead of his,I refused to do that and boy did I receive a very nasty email back from them and I told him I would do the money sending through Square Trade,he sent me another email that was not good enough and if I did not put it into the girlfriends account he would get in touch with a few of his mates who happened to be the Phahros motor cycle gang who would visit me to to make a personal payment,I started to look into his other items and found there were mainly 3 bidders on all his sellers items and I decided to do a quick reckie on the 3 sellers and then found the seller owned the 3 ids all with different credit card accounts after I sent him an email with what I had discovered he sent me a death threat and cancelled his 3 accounts,Ebay probably worked out that the reason you having so many accounts you was going to use them as bumper bidding,the question that comes to mind is "why so many accounts if you were not using them for illegal purposes"

    • KingJuf on 29/01/2019 - 17:47
      +1

      Cool story bro..

      • m9 on 29/01/2019 - 18:38
        +10

        Amazing. Over 2000 characters and not a single full stop/period.

  • Omitsukasa on 29/01/2019 - 17:35

    I have a few accounts but no where near 17. It's ok to have more than one account as long as you don't use them to bypass buying/selling restrictions. So those spare accounts are just there for when eBay decides to send me $5/$10/$15/$20 coupons. I don't actively use them.

  • eggles01 on 29/01/2019 - 17:44

    When I joined Ebay you needed a credit card and you had to open an account with listing that credit card numbers to Ebay so they can check whether the card was real,I know those days you needed extra credit card, 1 for each account,so either Ebay relaxed their requirements on how many accounts can now be registered on the one card,or you must have a hell of a lot of credit cards,you must look at the possibilities of using them for money laundering via Ebay

  • smartazz104 on 29/01/2019 - 17:57
    +2

    I think I speak for everyone here when I say… ha ha.

  • Ash-Say on 29/01/2019 - 21:13

    Welcome to a gang mate. At least I am not the only one whose account got suspended for using gift cards :)

    • leeroys_dad on 30/01/2019 - 13:56

      Did you have multiple accounts too?
      Gift cards from UK site and use on aus site?

    • HighAndDry on 30/01/2019 - 17:48

      Wait, you're associated with eBay and still had accounts suspended? What gives?

      • Ash-Say on 30/01/2019 - 18:51

        Probably ticked box in error

  • kaleidoscope on 30/01/2019 - 06:55

    Always wondered how come eBay did not look into people misusing their terms of usage. Now there is proof.

  • FittyFitty on 30/01/2019 - 07:24

    OP, there's something really pretty about what you did; the digital age alternative to collecting cigarette butts from the gutter, of sorts… There is also something very satisfying about what eBay did to you, and I sincerely hope it serves as a deterrent to your premature disposition to fraud.

    • [Deactivated] on 30/01/2019 - 11:43

      I feel pretty
      Oh, so pretty
      I feel pretty and witty and bright!
      And I pity
      Any girl who isn't me tonight

      Sorry, couldn't resist it!

  • dailynotsomail on 30/01/2019 - 07:33

    this a funny thread!

  • cintamami on 30/01/2019 - 12:17

    17 accounts? sweet jeebus, how much discount were you getting? LOL.

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