Business account permanently restricted VAT ID? Livelihood destroyed. Help! | Members help members

k-tsolutions · 2026-02-20T16:40:19.167000Z

Dear Community. My friend and I registered a business (GbR) in December 2025 to sell used / new special items/returns goods exclusively on eBay. At the beginning of 2026, we also set up our bank account and our business eBay account. Unfortunately, we had to wait until around the beginning of February 2026 for our VAT ID (our tax office really took a long time). After we got it and entered it on eBay, we started selling. Our first sale was on 10.02.2026. After 42 sales, our account was restricted the day before yesterday. We called the eBay hotline and the employee said the VAT ID was incorrect and did not match our details. That actually can’t be right, since we got it in black and white from the tax office. The employee checked again and then said yes, he can see that it does match after all and that he is now forwarding it to a specialist department. After 24 hours we asked again how things were going and were just given automated replies saying that the account would now remain permanently restricted. Without any reasons at all. When we opened the account, we also uploaded our partnership agreement, which you need for a GbR, to eBay as well. We also use eBay from 2 locations (once me at home and once my friend at his home in the neighboring town) We no longer understand the world. We have already invested money in goods from our private assets, rented a small warehouse (lease signed), opened a bank account, etc. and after just 2 weeks our livelihood is being taken away from under our feet for no reason. Has anyone ever had such a situation? We have paid all fees, advertising costs, etc., have no outstanding invoices, and have already received 16 positive reviews from customers. Regards, Steffen and Philip

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Business account permanently restricted VAT ID? Livelihood destroyed. Help! | Members help members | eBay Germany