Question
Three of my auctions were closed this evening by eBay, and they cited this signature and COA policy as cause. Does anyone see how I am in violation of this set of rules? All my photos bear my own signature (I'm the photographer, after all), they all have accompanying COA's which are NOT blank, they are signed by myself.
This is ludicrous, in my view.
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Mine, too.
How was your coa/autograph policy stated? It might need to be reworked so ebay can understand it(you know, kindgergarten style )
Originally Posted by stevemills
This is ludicrous, in my view.
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Since eBay no longer refunds fees when they cancel auctions they have been cancelling many items with no violations.
change this:
INCLUDES: Certificate Of Authenticity
to something like this:
INCLUDES: Certificate Of Authenticity signed and issued by the artist Steve Mills.
I think what they probably got you on was that you did not explicitly state that the COA was signed (while most people would know your wording meant a signed COA, many eBay Customer Service employees were off playing video games when brains were handed out and so you have to speak really slowly when speaking to them). The idiot who pulled your listing probably based it on this part of eBay policy:
Sellers may not list blank Certificates of Authenticity (COAs)
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Yep, big source of income right there, just cancel listings at random and don't refund the fees. Now that ebay has no incentive whatsoever to even look at the listings, every listing getting reported will now be pulled, unless you're in the ebay elite that is.
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Fees were refunded, I've never had a problem there. Still no reply on my complaint.
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How ridiculous! How much clearer could it be when it's the artist himself selling? I guess the world has to provide gainful employment for idiots but really.....
I tried to explain all this auction closing to my hubby who's a casual ebay buyer. He refuses to believe ebay could be so dumb, manipulative, mean, whatever. If ebay closes an auction he assumes the seller was doing "something bad". If there are lots and lots of him I guess it helps explain why ebay is not only getting away with this but escalating it.
It's been awhile since we had any closings so I have this doomsday feeling we're "due". Last year the Friday evening before Labor Day weekend was when they last shut us down. The only thing I can tell ya is they treat charity auctions the same as for profit sellers. They are equal opportunity idiots!
Maryanne (Cat Rescue of Maryland)
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I got an apology email from a member of the Trust and Safety department. They admit to having ended my auctions in error.
Until next time.