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Withholding over 10,000 euros, meeting with a lawyer tomorrow who advises going public
Summary: allesklarmarkt shared their experience of having over €10,000 withheld by an online platform due to a security review, which has impacted their ability to operate their small business. petersmodellbahnstuebchen pointed out previous negative reviews might be a factor. allesklarmarkt expressed frustration with mixed communications from the platform and mentioned consulting a lawyer to explore legal action. miriam@ebay, representing the platform, acknowledged the issue, requested documentation, and promised further review but ultimately upheld account restrictions. allesklarmarkt remains unsatisfied, planning to escalate the issue legally, citing unjust withholding of funds.
Hello my dears,
I have a big problem. I haven't been running my own business online on eBay and in a small shop in Magdeburg for all that long.
Recently I had a strong surge in sales during the first heatwave in Germany, after which my account was blocked.
Apparently it's about a security check or something similar. That in itself wouldn't be such a big problem, but the real issue is: eBay is withholding all my money! By now it's over 10,000 euros. I need this money to buy products, to live and to pay taxes. Has anyone here had any experience with eBay in a situation like this?
So far I am deeply disappointed. I get sporadic replies that I can't make sense of because they are grammatically terrible and it's very clear that the person who replied to me couldn't speak German. Sometimes I even get three emails in a row, and each one says something different.
I now have an appointment with my lawyer on Thursday, so tomorrow, and he has already advised me to get him involved and make the whole thing public. So far, however, I have hesitated a bit because until this incident I actually hadn't had any major problems with eBay.
Have you ever been in a situation like this too? Kind regards, Yana
allesklarmarkt
OP3 weeks agoSubject: Deadline for release of withheld sales proceeds – SR# 1-507092256690 – Legal action announced
Dear Sir or Madam,
as a business customer, I hereby object in every respect to the permanent withholding of my payouts as well as the announced 190-day deadline.
For all affected sales, I have complete shipping and tracking records that prove the goods were shipped in accordance with the contract. There is no factual or contractual reason to withhold funds owed to me for such a long period, especially when the buyers have suffered no damage at any point.
Such a prolonged and blanket withholding of sales proceeds without a comprehensible, case-by-case justification constitutes unreasonable discrimination in business dealings and is not compatible with the principles of good faith (§ 242 BGB). If there is no contractual or legal basis for the withholding, this constitutes unjust enrichment at my expense (§ 812 BGB).
I hereby demand that you pay out the full withheld balance no later than Thursday, 23/07/2026, to my registered business account.
Should payment not be made on time, I will initiate the following steps without further notice:
Engaging a lawyer to enforce my payment claim through court by way of a dunning or legal action proceeding, at your expense;
Claiming default interest for commercial transactions pursuant to § 288 para. 2 BGB (currently 9 percentage points above the base rate) as well as the default fee pursuant to § 288 para. 5 BGB;
Filing a complaint with BaFin regarding the payment processing, insofar as it is carried out via a payment service provider commissioned by eBay;
Public documentation of the matter to other affected business customers.
I expect written confirmation of the payout date within 48 hours.
With kind but firm regards,
Yana Dzhharkava
My last message to Ebay after I received a cheeky reply and my money is supposed to be withheld for 180 days.
I will submit the complaint to BaFin today as well.
allesklarmarkt
OP3 weeks agoI have to apologize, not the BAFIN but the Luxembourg CSSF.
allesklarmarkt
OP3 weeks agoHello, a letter setting a deadline was sent to Kleinmachnow. I am now turning to the Luxembourg CSSF and filing a complaint if the money has not been paid out by 23.07.
Before I get the reply now that eBay has to withhold the money for 180 days according to the terms and conditions... no, that’s nonsense if the products were demonstrably delivered. That’s the case here. Best regards Dzhharkava
My last letter to eBay... I attended my lawyer appointment, sent a letter to eBay and on Thursday, if the money still hasn’t been paid out by then, I will turn to the Luxembourg CSSF.
eBay can’t just do whatever it wants... withholding over 10,000 euros because eBay simply does it like that is totally not okay. Kind regards Yana
miriam@ebay
Hello @allesklarmarkt ! Thank you very much for your patience and for resubmitting the requested documents.
We have now received feedback from the responsible specialist department. After a renewed review of all available information and documents, it was decided to maintain the restriction on your seller account. The decisive factors were the overall assessment of the account as well as the submitted evidence, which unfortunately could not dispel the existing concerns.
For reasons of data protection and security, we unfortunately cannot go into further detail about the review and the underlying assessment criteria.
I know that this is not the answer you were hoping for, especially after you invested time in submitting the documents again. Unfortunately, there is nothing more I can do for you at this point, but I still wish you all the best.
Kind regards
Miriam
allesklarmarkt
OP3 weeks agoHello Miriam, I'm fine with that... thank you for the reply. I can't change that. But it's not ok that Ebay is just keeping over 10000Euro from me at the moment. The items were delivered, so Ebay is not allowed to just hold back a sum like this on a whim. I just sent a payout deadline within 5 working days. If that is ignored, which I assume it will be, it will only help my lawyer tremendously. Thanks anyway for your efforts and I wish you a nice day. Best regards, Yana
miriam@ebay
Hello @allesklarmarkt and thanks for the feedback! We still need the requested invoices from you. Please follow the instructions in the email you just received and let us know here as soon as everything is done. Thanks!
Kind regards
Miriam
allesklarmarkt
OPJul 16, 2026 at 9:20 PMHello Miriam, thanks again, because of you I got a quick response again.... you seem to be the queen of eBay. :)
I actually uploaded the invoice yesterday... it’s a collective invoice for June for the products air conditioning, tents, and the building blocks.
My supplier is also clearly visible... did you possibly overlook the invoice?
Best regards, Yana
miriam@ebay
It will be checked again, @allesklarmarkt - but there will probably only be an update at the beginning of next week. I would have liked to have clarified this for you earlier, and I'm sorry that we still have to be patient here.
Kind regards
Miriam
allesklarmarkt
OP3 weeks agoHi, I uploaded the invoice again yesterday evening just to be on the safe side.
No worries, I’ll wait it out... it’s the weekend anyway now. The only annoying thing is that the account is collecting quite a few negative reviews because I can’t really respond like I used to due to the financial loss.
Thank you so much for your time and help... I actually don’t even know whether this is in your area of responsibility at all.
Either way, thank you, and I wish you and the team a nice weekend.
Kind regards, Yana
miriam@ebay
Hello @allesklarmarkt and thanks for sharing your situation here and including me.
We have looked at your case in detail. Your eBay account is currently undergoing a risk review and, after consultation, my specialist colleague will contact you by email today and inform you how your situation can be resolved so that you can access your proceeds again soon.
Thank you for your patience - we’ll get back to you shortly.
Best regards
Miriam
allesklarmarkt
OPJul 15, 2026 at 6:49 PMHallo @miriam@ebay , ich muss mich bei dir bedanken ich habe tatsächlich eine Antwort bekommen mit genauen Informationen was ich hochladen soll.
Das meiste war zwar schon vorhanden aber ich habe die Rechnungen vereinzelter Produkte jetzt auch wie gewünscht bereit gestellt.
Good day, here are all the documents bundled together again. I had already uploaded some invoices for my products, but only with the most recent letter from the lady at eBay did I learn which product invoices are actually wanted — thank you for that. I had my contact person at my supplier create a consolidated invoice for the products.
I have uploaded all the documents and am now requesting that my money be paid out, so that my other sales channels don't suffer because of this. I will still attend the appointment with my lawyer tomorrow, since I don't know whether the matter will be resolved this time either, even though everything sounds more logical this time around.
Thank you in advance for your help, and I wish you a pleasant evening. Best regards, Yana
Das war jetzt meine Antwort zum Ebay Team. Ich bin gespannt was dabei raus kommt.
Die natürlich auch einen schönen Abend gewünscht Miriam. Liebe Grüße Yana
allesklarmarkt
OPJul 16, 2026 at 7:02 AM@miriam@ebay Hi Miriam, I would be really grateful if you could forward my request again today. It’s started again. I received two different emails and now again I don’t know whether my case is being processed or not. I uploaded all the documents via the link that was provided to me there... Best regards, Yana
miriam@ebay
Hello @allesklarmarkt and glad that we were already able to create a bit of clarity. I’m still keeping an eye on your case and will again ask this afternoon for the final review of the documents that have now been submitted. Since the responsible department is based in the US, we’ll need to be a little patient here.
Best wishes
Miriam
allesklarmarkt
OPJul 15, 2026 at 11:50 AM@miriam@ebay your name was sent to me saying that I should tag you.
The text is already up there, tomorrow I have a meeting with my lawyer, who also wants to make the whole thing public because he apparently already knows cases like this. To what extent can you help me? Best, Yana
petersmodellbahnstuebchen
MentorJul 15, 2026 at 10:01 AM@allesklarmarkt
Hi Yana,
13 negative reviews in the past 12 months are definitely a big problem on eBay.
Then it can definitely happen that eBay withholds funds and carries out a review of the seller.
Best regards from the Baltic Sea
Peter
allesklarmarkt
OPJul 15, 2026 at 10:28 AMPlease note that 690 orders and just under 9 reviews came only after the account had already been restricted.
perfect-sally
MentorJul 15, 2026 at 10:35 AM · EditedAnd if an account is restricted, does that automatically mean there are negative ratings according to your explanations? That already says everything about you as a seller!
Everything or everyone is to blame except the seller.
allesklarmarkt
OPJul 15, 2026 at 10:43 AMWhat kind of answers are those, please? I’ve only just started as a seller... of course I’ll finish, but somehow I also have to earn money to live. But if eBay keeps all my money, I can’t just focus on that.