The Corner Penthouse

Time of Death: September 28, 2021 at 10:42 PM Eastern. Cause of Death: eBay's self-centered pettiness. Age: 14 years.

Thus reads the coroner's report of my eBay business, which I opened sometime shortly after the closure of Yahoo Auctions (which occurred on June 16, 2007). There were a few times over the past 14 years where my sales were decent, but overall, my sales sucked because eBay did everything in their power to hinder my success. I have already written a series of articles about eBay, who clearly had some sort of vendetta against me. I had no other explanation for the myriad of bullshit they've put me through over the years. Well, that bullshit has come to an end. Read on to find out more...

Last night, I received the following e-mail from eBay.

Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2021 19:42:19 -0700 (MST)
Subject: Update your account information to relist your items
From: no.reply@ebay.com

Hello,

We're following up to let you know that, unfortunately, your eBay listings have been taken down because some additional details are still needed on your account. We understand this is inconvenient and we're here to help you get selling again as soon as possible.

Here's what happened

Now that eBay manages payments, sellers need to update their account information to continue to sell and get paid. You can learn more about this change here.

Since your account hasn't been updated yet, your items have been taken down and associated listing fees have been credited to you. You can find details on the listings that were ended below.

Here's what you should do

Just update your account information so eBay can manage payments - it'll only take a few minutes

Once that's done, you can relist your items from your Unsold folder and start selling again.

Update your account

Here is some additional information about how eBay keeps your account and payment information safe.

We hope you'll continue selling on eBay and we're here to help. If you have questions or concerns, you can contact us.

We appreciate you being part of our eBay seller community.

Although the timing of the e-mail was unexpected, I can't say that this action was unexpected. At the end of May 2021, eBay removed my ability to create new listings or edit existing listings unless I joined their mangled... excuse me, Managed Payments scheme. Long story short, the eBay "Managed Payments" scheme doesn't benefit anyone but eBay. It definitely doesn't offer me a single benefit, so I had no reason to willingly suffer under it. I knew that eBay would eventually kill my listings out of sheer pettiness, but they never had the decency to give me a definitive end date, so I would know when to expect it. Well, I now know that my end date was four months later.

It's not like the removal of all 69 of my listings is really going to hurt me. Shortly after they stopped me from creating/editing listings, I donated (gave away) OVER THREE HUNDRED unsold items to charity and friends (and terminated all of the related eBay listings). Some items sat in my house for a DECADE because eBay did nothing to help me sell them. The 69 listings eBay killed last night were mostly Playboy magazines and video game instruction manuals that I had no one to give to. I do wish eBay would be honest to potential buyers who find those terminated listings about why they were canceled. Each one gives the false message, "This listing was ended by the seller because there was an error in the listing."


I never canceled a single one of those 69 listings, and I don't want potential buyers to think that I did. Let me emphatically state: ALL 69 ITEMS ARE STILL AVAILABLE FOR SALE!!! GET MORE INFORMATION AT MY LOCALLY-HOSTED ONLINE STORE.

In fact, I am such a good eBay seller that on September 26, 2021 - just two days prior to eBay killing my business - I received this e-mail from eBay congratulating me on earning eBay Top Rated Seller status:

You're an eBay Top Rated Seller

Hi Paul,

Congratulations! You've qualified for Top Rated Seller status by consistently meeting US seller performance standards. You'll now get a discount on final value fees and a prominent Top Rated Plus seal on qualifying listings.

To ensure that you're maintaining the standards for an eBay Top Rated Seller, keep checking your seller standards dashboard regularly.

Again, congratulations and thanks for your hard work as one of eBay's best sellers.

The irony at play here is off the charts. I'm such a good seller without eBay managing my payments that a few days later eBay kills all of my listings because I won't allow them to (unnecessarily) manage my payments.

Honestly, I'm not even sure how they determined that I'm a "Top Rated Seller" since, in the past four months (since the original crippling of my selling ability due to not joining Managed Payments), I've only sold a measly five items:

1. June 1st - 2K Rogues and Outlaws Collection PS3 Instruction Manual & Box
2. June 3rd - Official Harley Quinn Baseball Bat Arkham Knight XL T-Shirt
3. June 19th - Jak and Daxter Collection PS3 Case Artwork
4. August 17th - Vintage Kenner The Real Ghostbusters Proton Pack (Backpack Only)
5. August 23rd - Vintage Kenner The Real Ghostbusters Ghost Zapper + Cartridge (LAST ITEM I SOLD ON EBAY)

Yes, I didn't sell a single item in July or September. Yet, eBay felt that I was a Top Rated Seller. Go figure!

Don't get me wrong, I've consistently deserved the honor over the past decade, as I provide the best service to all buyers who actually read my listings and aren't buying items just to cause me trouble. eBay should have given me "Top Rated Seller" status every month for the past 10-14 years. Why they waited until two days before killing my business is beyond me.

For all of these items, and every single one before them over the past 10-14 years, I've paid eBay their exorbitant fees without issue. eBay's "Account Details" for my seller account prove this:


I also have glowing 5-star ratings and 100% positive feedback, with the notation that I am "one of eBay's most reputable sellers" who "consistently delivers outstanding customer service".


All of this proves that there is clearly no problem with me being able to manage my own payments. Yet eBay is causing a problem where there wasn't one. There's no need for eBay to manage my payments. I manage them just fine, and eBay knows it. eBay doesn't know how to properly manage payments, so why would I let them?!?

-- Paul