Question
A friend of mine here has asked me to help her sell some of her things on eBay. Okay, no problem, she has some great stuff and she's a quick learner, so it it shouldn't be too much trouble, right?
Uh...
The first time we sit down together she confesses that she has already signed up with eBay, a few months ago. She "messed up" and got NARU'd, it had "something to do with shill bidding on her sister's listings".
.
She swears she didn't know at the time that it wasn't okay to bid on her sister's items, that she wasn't trying to defraud anyone. Sigh. Her sister was upset, because I guess eBay notified Sis that my friend had been NARU'd (funny she didn't think to cancel the bids!) and since Sis won't help her learn to sell on eBay, she really needs my help. (I don't care for Sis, but that's a long story).
Why do I feel like I've gotten myself into a sticky situation?
ANYway, Bonnie's (my friend) user ID still comes up as NARU'd, even though the email she got from eBay said the suspension was indefinite. Can she get reinstated? She can't log into eBay; can she still send an email?
I wouldn't get involved, but I said I would help her and I believe she's sincere about being a good seller.
Anybody know?
Answer
Something about the story doesn't make sense. If shill bidding was the cause of the suspension, wouldn't the sister have been suspended too? If she was, then I gather she's been reinstated?
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That just don't make sense at all. Something is fishy there...
JMHO
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Well, I'm not sure if the story's fishy or not, but I'd suggest sending an e-mail to eBay... I've never been NARU'd for what you say (altho I did have a relative bid on my items once without my consent, but I just canceled their bids before eBay could notice anything)... but my account was once temporarily suspended. To be honest, they didn't seem to be too concerned about whether you were suspended for a valid reason or not... how could they verify if you're lying or not anyway? Your friend should just fill out the form to get her account reinstated (you have to sign something, to hold you legally liable if you lied or something) and they'll reinstate her account in a week or so. (Of course, they won't respond to your first e-mail for a couple weeks probably, as they're usually very busy it seems).
To get my account reinstated, I e-mailed moreinfo*ebay.com... so I'd try them. Also, to inform yourself more about the process, check out http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/reinstfaq.html.
Not sure if NARU'd users can be reinstated or not... but guess it's worth a shot for your friend.
Answer
Thanks for your replies.
Her account was Naru'd, and her sister's wasn't, or at least I couldn't see any indication that it had been.
I've had her send an email to eBay requesting reinstatement (there was a selection for seeking information about suspended accounts in the contact eBay section), so now it's just a wait and see situation.
I have heard of this sort of thing before, I think it was on one of the eBay community boards. It seems that eBay suspends the bidders but not the sellers. Maybe that would be just for the first offense. Bonnie said that her sister received a warning notice from eBay about the bids, but no suspension.
I suspect that eBay (in this case at least) knows who is paying the fees and suspends the bidder rather than the seller.
Jason, thanks for the link. It's odd that this info didn't pop up when she went through the steps to contact eBay about reinstatement. It does sort of look like this particular reinstatement info would apply more specifically to VERO violations.
Thanks again.
Answer
ebay could careless about their members and I'm seeing this more and more as long as they get the insert and final sale fee they are happy.
Good luck trying to get an answer from ebay support as all you will get automated message. I did this and asked different questions to support and got the same message each time. It is like dealing with a robot.
I have had enough of Ebays bs support and others seem to feel the same way. This seems like a mistake. It says in ebay rules friends can bid on a product as long as they are willing to pay for it. Shill biding is done all the time as people us second IP provider accounts like AOL that gives different IP address and you can have multiple accounts on ebay they even say to setup a buying and selling account. I saw this in a message a guy left on another message board and it was by ebay support.
Good luck but you will find yourself banging your head against the wall as they drive you nuts trying to get an answer from Ebay.
They don't care. They should as they need people like you to use their site.
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Answer
There is a way to getting another Ebay account after being NARU'd.I've didi it several times.
Answer
Here it is:
Hold your right hand in front of your face, thumb-first.
Apply thumb firmly to tip of nose.
Pretend your other four fingers are doing the walking.
And repeat after me:
"Kiss off, eBay!"
flUFf
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