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Violation of the P2B Regulation? eBay suspends accounts despite customer service
Summary: brors reports that his business eBay account was restricted because of system issues, even though he fulfills customer requests such as changing ring sizes. He criticizes eBay for violating the EU P2B regulation by restricting selling features without any factual justification. An update shows that the selling function is active again, but there are still warnings and stress about complying with processing and shipping times. melina@ebay, presumably an eBay representative, points out that tracking numbers must be uploaded on time, but brors explains that for insurance reasons it is not possible to create labels in advance. Both sides discuss the issues without reaching a solution.
Has eBay by now completely stopped caring if, as a seller, you provide genuine customer service?
I’m a jeweler. Customers often ask me after the purchase for a ring size change, etc. or later shipping. I’m happy to do that. I know the theoretical emergency solutions (cancel the purchase and have them buy again) — but in everyday life with custom-made pieces, that’s not really practical.
The result? My completely unremarkable 10+ year-old seller account gets bombarded with system defects. The selling function was restricted (“Buy” button gone) and the funds (had already reached five figures at one point) were withheld!
The joke is: support has NEVER once explained that this kind of customer service is a no-go and that you get penalized for it. The algorithm just bluntly sees: “Parcel not scanned in time = defect.” The customer’s request in chat doesn’t matter one bit to the system.
On the legal side:
eBay is flagrantly violating the EU P2B Regulation (2019/1150) here! Under Art. 4, blocking the selling function and withholding funds without an objective, case-specific justification and without a prior opportunity to respond is simply unlawful.
Why is eBay ignoring applicable EU law, and why is nothing being done about it? Has anyone already taken legal action or filed a report with the Bundesnetzagentur about this?
Looking forward to your experiences.
melina@ebay
Mentor1 week agoHello @brors
Thanks for the post. I was happy to review the details for you. Please note that the risk classification is not based solely on the stated processing or delivery times. For a sale to be taken into account accordingly, the order must be fully processed. This includes, in particular, that the tracking number is entered directly in the respective order.
Without the corresponding proof of shipment in the system, the sales process cannot be fully traced, which means the risk classification will remain in place. Please therefore enter the tracking numbers directly for the relevant orders.
@bootyooty Thanks for bringing me in.
Kind regards
Melina
brors
OP1 week agoHello Melina,
thanks very much for the feedback! You write: “This includes, in particular, that the tracking number is stored directly in the respective order.”
Does that mean, conversely, that a seller’s good reputation on eBay is damaged just because tracking numbers can’t be “predicted” days in advance?
We can’t enter tracking numbers 10 days in advance. We don’t insure our parcels through the logistics providers, but separately through our own company insurance. For security reasons, this explicitly forbids us from creating labels early.
We meet our 10-day processing time correctly and our customers are informed. The fact that the service status depends rigidly on the time of upload distorts reality and cannot be in the platform’s best interests. Please review the case again.
Kind regards
melina@ebay
Mentor1 week agoHello @brors
Thank you for the feedback. Please note that this is not an individual interpretation, but rather the service standards of the applicable eBay policies, which apply equally to all sellers.
The fact that the tracking number can be created or added much later for insurance-related or internal reasons does not change these requirements. What matters are the delivery times specified to the buyer, regardless of any manual arrangements.
If you need more time for shipping due to your internal processes, you should increase the handling and delivery times accordingly. Within the delivery period you specified, the shipment must be sent and the corresponding shipping information or tracking number must be entered in the order.
Kind regards
Melina
brors
OP1 week agoHi Melina, we're talking past each other. Our selling functions are restricted despite the processing time being met (10 days). This is not due to individual agreements. For two orders (shipping by Sep 11), we are incorrectly being prompted to enter the tracking number.
brors
OP6 days agoPending payout amount is back to five digits in the meantime! Expected payout in about 2 weeks. Email support hasn’t responded for almost 48 hours. Next step?
brors
OP1 week agoUpdate on our case:
The selling button is active again now. At the moment we have not a single service defect.
Still, we were warned by eBay again. Two paid sales are affected:
stored processing time: 10 days
shipping deadline according to eBay: 07.–09.09.2026
both buyers were informed and agree with the delivery time
Even so, eBay is already demanding shipping labels for these two sales — even though the shipping deadline hasn’t even expired yet.
For valuables, due to our insurance, we also cannot create shipping labels days in advance.
Apparently, even completely on-time sales are still being automatically classified as a risk because of our previous account history.
eBay: Please review our account manually and reset this risk classification. It cannot be that sales handled properly and within the stored processing time keep triggering new warnings and restrictions.
bootyooty
Mentor1 week ago@verena@ebay 😻 can you help out?