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…because four of my brass railroad keys were just removed from eBay. I guess it’s a no-no. Did anyone else know this? Here’s the section from the email I got about it that lists the prohibited items they fall under.
– Government uniforms and internal documents
– Mailbags, mail bins, or uniforms from the U.S. Postal Service (USPS)
– Uniforms from shipping companies such as Federal Express (FedEx) and United Parcel Service (UPS)
– Contemporary or current airline uniforms, such as those worn by flight attendants, baggage service or gate agents, pilots, or other airline employees
– Contemporary or current uniforms and accessories for mass transit (buses, ferries, subways, trains)
– Keys (including switch keys or switch lock keys), tools, or anything, regardless of age, that can control transit vehicles such as subways or trainsA part of me kinda understands how an item from this list can potentially be used with malicious intent (especially the uniform ones). But on the other hand, it feels like ebay is becoming like a nanny state. Just a few weeks ago, I had a rotating light removed because you can’t sell police lights on eBay. Well mine had nothing to do with one of those, but was designed for a coal mine. But I guess it was made by the same company that makes the police ones so they dumped it. So frustrating!
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Oh that stinks! There isn’t a caveat for vintage items of this sort? For instance, you can’t sell used panties on Ebay, but you can sell vintage panties (that obviously were used at some point years ago). Perhaps there is something similar for this type of item? If they are vintage, I can’t imagine that they are useful to control any type of modern train.
Their enforcement of this policy must be hit-or-miss because I’ve seen plenty of airline worker uniforms on Ebay when researching other items. Same with UPS…lots of uniform stuff on there.
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I thought about that but I don’t want to risk it. If I get banned, I’m screwed. I’m mostly just peeved that I spent a lot of time researching railroad keys and found that there’s a huge collector base for these things, just to be denied a day after listing them. And yeah, you would think that because of the age of these keys that it wouldn’t be a problem.
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Also, I’m concerned about this being on my record. This is the forth time that I had listings removed due to some policy that I was unaware of or wouldn’t have even guessed would be an issue. How many more times can I get caught unknowingly breaking a listing policy before harsher consequences occur? Has anyone else had this happen to them?
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Doubly,
When I first started, I got a number of dings like this happen to me because I didn’t know any better.
Nothing happened until someone from a jean company reported an item as not authentic – a violation. When they saw I had had about 4 things on my record, that broke the camel’s back and they gave me a 7 day suspension from listing on ebay. If I had not had those 4 things on my record, I may not have gotten a 7 day suspension.
Then, after 1 year, the violation rolled off and all was forgotten.
The morale of the story is that try not to get too many of things dings in 1 year. Stay away from anything that could cause a violation – especially now. I think you are good, just play it safe till some of these things roll off. I don’t think it is that big of a deal, but do be careful not to rack up too many in a short amount of time, that could be trouble.
Mark
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Twice I’ve had it happen to me, once with some used socks that I sold (you can’t sell them because they are potentially pervy items I guess), and once because I put something in the wrong category where it wasn’t allowed by accident (did a “sell similar” on someone else’s listing and didn’t look at the category closely enough). The second time I called, explained my mistake and they removed whatever strike it would have left on my account. Maybe try calling and explaining?
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They definitely should. It’s not like you did it on purpose. Honestly, it’s not even like they are enforcing that policy. So much of what is listed there is all over Ebay. They can escalate it and see if they can approve the keys anyways as they are so old that they couldn’t be used to start anything. If not, you can at least ask for the strike to be removed as it was an honest mistake.
The time that I put the item in the wrong category, my account was suspended for 3 days in addition to the strike! I found out when I was trying to list something and a message popped up that I couldn’t list. I called immediately, explained my mistake and they removed the suspension and the strike on my account. I found them to be pretty reasonable. Hope you also have the same experience.
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I had an old brass shell case pulled a few years back, it was essentially a tall ashtray, had been cut down. They actually called me, and sent a few stern emails about forbidden items.
Of course, had used a successfully sold listing to start, and there were many similar items listed, but that matters not.
Always wonder if it’s someone reporting you that causes the problem, but why rock the boat.
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Tiki, I also had a trench art item removed. Last year, I had listed a really unique carved artillery shell. I had it priced really high too with a bunch of watchers right out of the gate. A few days later I got the email about not allowing explosives or grenades to be listed on eBay. lol! I probably should have fought it, but I decided to keep the piece for display on my fireplace.
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My favorite item I’ve had removed in the last few years was a Transformers toy. It was Megatron action figure, who transforms into a gun.
I was told it was removed (even though clearly a toy Transformer and listed in that category with 1000’s of other Megatron toys) because it was a firearm.
I just took out the photo showing it transformed into a gun, and it sold with no issues.
I’m not sure how they decide to remove listings – is it just someone in the community complaining, or do they actual review items? It seems very random based on my experience.
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Wow! That’s the worst. You would think someone with at least a little common sense would see that and not think twice about allowing it. Maybe “reported” items are reviewed by eBay employees who, like the customer support staff, have varying degrees of empowerment. Some view infractions as cut and dry while others are able to see where things fall in a more gray area and can weigh whether something should or shouldn’t be allowed.
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Facebook might be an avenue to sell them, either on marketplace or perhaps there is a group for RR keys.
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I’ve had 3 strikes in the last few years
1) A vintage Playboy puzzle from the 70s… It was alot tamer than some of the “fine classical art” you see for sale on Ebay. I waited awhile and listed it with photos I censored.
2) A beanie cap I described as “Coogi Style”.
3) Using the word “Velcro”.
I’m very very paranoid about listing anything that might violate policy as for each of these violations I received a 7 day ban (these happened 4-6 years ago so policy may have changed). I’ve sold some DHL uniforms since then before I knew of the policy, but luckily I wasn’t dinged.
Latest thing I sold that made me paranoid was vintage Dukes of Hazzard merchandise with the Confed. Flag car on it. I’m not sure what the current policy is on the flag, but I put it at auction so it’d go quick.
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I had them call me about using the word kevlar. We bought several motorcycle jackets and gloves that had kevlar. I was very surprised when a nice rep called me and said they were getting ready to pull the listing. But, he said if I wanted to keep them up I just had to change the wording to “made with kevlar” and it would be fine.
Throughout the years I have had many items pulled for being prohibited, but I never received a suspension until a company called ebay and had them pull an item. (beachbody exercise dvds)
I recently sold some Railroad locks that had keys in them. They sold in a day without problems, maybe they just avoided detection.
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