Ebay was not amused

[emccomas]

..by my posting of this ad and pictures

 

Army Purple Heart Medal cased set

 

A very nice WWII vintage Army Purple Heart Medal cased medal set. A set consisting of a buttonhole lapel pin, in a correct Army style titled case.

This set did contain a large slot brooch Purple Hear medal, and a zinc pinback ribbon. In accordance with Ebay policies, the large medal and pinback ribbon are not part of this sale.

This set is not named or attributed.

Buyer to pay actual shipping charges of $6.80 for USPS small flat rate box shipping.

No Buy It Now, and I will not end the auction early. Auction will run until completion.

I attached the below listed pictures...

I got the following reply from Ebay....

Hello mccomase,

After reviewing your eBay account, it appears that you have violated eBay's Government IDs and Licenses policy. As a result, we've taken the following actions on your account:
- Selling privileges have been temporarily restricted. You won't be able to list new items for 1 day. You're also not allowed to register a new account during this time.
- Violating listings have been removed. A full list of removed items is available further down in this email.
- Any fees for listings ended early because of this violation will not be credited to your account.

eBay doesn't allow members to list or sell government-issued IDs and licenses (including items claiming to be or similar in appearance to these items). This includes the following types of items:
- Driver's licenses
- Birth certificates
- Passports
- Completed applications for these types of documents, containing personal information
- Government-issued medals
- Fake IDs or anything designed to create fake IDs

For more information about this policy, go to:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/government-ids-licenses.html

You listed the Purple Heart medal. We have made the decision that a certain few high honor medals and their corresponding ribbons are not appropriate for our site out of respect for the recipients, and to prevent them from being used inappropriately. While we appreciate that you chose to utilize our site, we must ask that you please not relist in this case.

During this restriction, you can still:
- Send email
- Obtain shipping addresses
- Leave Feedback
- Perform other administrative tasks

Please be sure to manage any current listings and to complete any open transactions. After 1 day, your account will no longer be restricted. However, keep in mind that any additional violations of this policy could result in the suspension of your account. Once eBay suspends an account, the member no longer has any account access. In addition, all active listings are canceled, and members who placed bids on those listings are notified.

If you have more questions, contact our policy experts:
http://ocsnext.ebay.com/ocs/cusr?query=508&domain=email1387

Here are the listings that were removed.
191792450368 - Army Purple Heart Medal set


We appreciate your understanding.

Thanks,

eBay

Please don't reply to this message. It was sent from an address that doesn't accept incoming email.

 

 

 

Oh well.....

[manayunkman]

Got caught with your hand in the jar.

 

I can see why it was removed.

 

How many auctions of yours have been removed to get such a strong reprimand ?

[ajbUSWM]

More eBay insanity. Hope the stop at some point.

 

Maybe we can have a boycott week where all members (and friends) stop all auctions on eBay for a week in protest? What do you thing?

[emccomas]

Got caught with your hand in the jar.

 

I can see why it was removed.

 

How many auctions of yours have been removed to get such a strong reprimand ?

 

This is NOT the first time they have bounced my ads, and almost always for a PH. I have sold a couple of PHs via Ebay, but this is the first time I have been so blatant with the photos.

 

I think I would have been OK if the photos did not just blank out the medal and ribbon.

 

I was testing the limits, and got spanked for it.

[ROY222]

You got off easy.

 

Ebay suspended me for 7 days because they thought I had a duplicate listing.

 

One listing was for three inch Pilot wings.

The other listing was for the two inch Pilot wings.

The description and title were nearly identical as one would expect.

 

Could find no one at ebay that could understand the difference. Very frustrating company to deal with.

[stealthytyler]

I got an M72 INERT Rocket Launcher remover from EBAY once... but dozens of others have sold... I dont understand how Ebay picks and chooses..... frustrating

[z19]

Ebay has not allowed the selling of a PH, SS or DSC for years now, this is nothing new. Unless of course you live out of the country then you can sell anything you want too.

[patches]

Sorry I couldn't help myself

 

 

[TheMariner]

Its still very random how it works, a modern PH mixed in with other stuff sold a few days ago, it was in a 7 day listing. You never know with ebay. Nice try though.

[Schofield1943]

About a week ago an engraved WWII PH was listed on eBay and I contacted the seller to ask for an image of the engraving. They told me that they had called eBay to ask if it was ok to list the PH and the "listing specialist" they spoke to assured them it was ok. It was noted in their account that the phone call took place and that the specialist had approved it.

 

The listing went live and the seller got a flurry of messages. They told me one member sent them multiple messages telling them that selling the PH was illegal. I explained the situation/law and told them I thought the listing would likely be pulled (because that's what always seems to happen) but they felt confident it wouldn't since they had spoken to eBay. By the next morning the listing was gone.

 

The got a call from eBay that morning informing them the listing had been pulled and that the "listing specialist" needed more training.

 

Here's where it got weird though... usually when a listing is cancelled it prevents you from being able to message the seller any further on that particular email chain. In this case you could still message the seller, something eBay specifically kept open for them... clearly with the intent of allowing them to finish the transaction outside of eBay as they even suggested to the seller that they go through Paypal so there would be a record of the sale.

 

So eBay pulled the listing claiming it was in violation of their policies but then half way explained to the seller how to finish the sale without them using the messages they had already received on the item. Bizarre.

[Manchu Warrior]

I recently had a gas mask removed by ebay. They claimed I violated their munitions and ordnance policy. I read the whole policy and I found nothing listed about gas masks. I called and asked them how a gas mask falls under ordnance and if it cannot be sold why do they have a sub-category for gas masks? I also asked to see the policy where it stated that gas masks could not be listed. They sent me the same information that I had already read in its entirety and once again it said nothing about a gas mask.

[John Conway]

I've had similar problems. Their "focus" is inconsistent and they never back down even if they are wrong. I think there may be issues with "rats" as well. Not sure if they get rewarded for being snitches or not but nothing would surprise me. They wield their authority like water hose under pressure. I once sold something they retroactively considered taboo and got a note telling me it had been "removed" about 2 weeks after it was paid for and shipped. WOW - how do you translate that into something that makes sense? I can't?

 

I remember a thread here on the forum discussing them opening up on Purple Hearts and wondered if it were true as I have seen several of them make it all the way through to the point of completed sale in the last 3 or 4 months - maybe 20 - and some with very obvious lead photos. That's all this hobby needs is another wild card!

[MilitaryWired]

The experiences of emccomas and ROY222 are familiar stories to most people that have tried to consistently sell on ebay. Suspending a seller for 1 day or for 7 days is just ebay treating it's sellers like children. That lack of respect on ebay's behalf, coupled with the lack of accountability that ebay takes for its actions, just goes to show what they think about their community. It doesn't indicate to me that ebay is trying to make things better, instead it tells me that ebay considers their sellers just "numbers" to report to their shareholders and are therefore expendable. For the seller that relies on ebay for a living, this also means that their livelihood could disappear on the whim of some random ebay employee.

 

eBay's high fees (~15% w/ paypal), lack of fair and consistent buyer/seller protection enforcement, restrictive & arbitrary listing policies, unrealistic seller expectations & restrictions, etc., etc. is leading to the inevitable demise of the strong hold they have on niche markets such as militaria. In the past, any viable alternative has been a futile proposition. Small volume sellers are already finding alternatives, however, and as those markets continue to grow those buyers and sellers will shift their ebay business elsewhere. Don't get me wrong, I know ebay will never disappear but their efforts to abandon the small time seller environment for a new business model that revolves around high volume sellers of retail items will cause them to lose a lot of potential revenue going forward.

[Bob Hudson]

I got an M72 INERT Rocket Launcher remover from EBAY once... but dozens of others have sold... I dont understand how Ebay picks and chooses..... frustrating

 

That happens a lot with banned items: a certain amount get through. I think that's because in part they rely on weasel ebay members to snitch on sellers and the weasels need to sleep once in a while.

 

I once sold a gas mask and after it sold and after it had been shipped ebay informed me they were taking down the listing, which by then was in the COMPLETED sales.

[Wharfmaster]

You guys do know that you can sell medals on the forum hassle free with no fees at all, right ?

 

 

Wharf

[KASTAUFFER]

The ONLY reason they take down completed listings is so they can say " We don't allow these items" and can back it up by saying " See... there are no completed auctions for these items".

 

Kurt

[manayunkman]

The ONLY reason they take down completed listings is so they can say " We don't allow these items" and can back it up by saying " See... there are no completed auctions for these items".

 

Kurt

 

That makes sense.

[Bugme]

I'm actually surprised, that anyone here is surprised, when eBay pulls these medal sales. You play with their fire you'll get burned.

[John Conway]

I'm actually surprised, that anyone here is surprised, when eBay pulls these medal sales. You play with their fire you'll get burned.

 

The fact that they pull them is not surprising Scott, it's the bumbling incompetency behind their policies and the inconsistency in enforcing them. I checked past sold items last night and I counted 11 Purple Hearts openly sold with clear photos and called Purple Hearts in the headers that sold in the month of January alone! Makes a guy wonder is they is or is they ain't?