How Do I Report a Seller on eBay?

With so many sellers and so many buyers, someone is going to try and take advantage of someone else. More often than not, it is sellers taking advantages of buyers. Heres some helpful tips to assist you in reporting a seller.

Nov 19, 2019

eBay is one if the biggest online retailers on the planet. Sellers from all over the world use the site to sell their products. Customers also flock the site to find the most attractive deals.

Therefore, with so many sellers and so many buyers, someone is going to try and take advantage of someone else. More often than not, it is sellers taking advantages of buyers.

You should only report a buyer if you are sure that their violating eBay's policies. Some violations of eBay policies include selling items not listed on eBay, sending threatening messages, use of abusive language, publicly presenting another member's personal information, a seller providing false information or finding someone selling counterfeit versions of your product among others. The full list can be found on the eBay website.

What you need to know before you report the seller

Before you report a seller on eBay it is important that you have proof. There is little worse than a negative accusation that turns out not to be true.

You will need to provide proof of identification and a copy of a photo ID or authorization if you represent another party. You will also need to provide evidence of the infringement.

One of the tools you can use when reporting a seller on eBay is eBay's VeRO (Verified Rights Owner) program. The program's goal is to give intellectual property rights owners a platform to report any infringements on their rights.

It is also important to know that eBay expects customers and sellers to work out their dispute before it escalates any further. Only when both parties can't come to an agreement should a claim be made to eBay.

Reporting to eBay

You can report a seller to eBay through several channels. The channel you use will depend on the matter's urgency and the channel's convenience.

Website

You can report a seller to eBay directly on the website by the following process:

  1. Launch your web browser and open eBay.com
  2. Log in to your eBay account
  3. Go to a specific listing if it is one listing you want to report. If you want to report the seller for no specific listing, a generic listing will do. Click the listing
  4. Go to the bottom of the page and click 'Report Item'
  5. You will be directed to eBay's resolution center
  6. Select the reason you are reporting the seller for on the Resolution Center and click 'Continue'. You will be asked to submit the name of the seller and a customer care representative from eBay will proceed to investigate the issue
  7. If the reason is not among the choices, click 'My problem is not listed here' and proceed to contact a customer care representative

The other option is to contact customer care and report the problem directly. You can contact eBay directly through the following methods:

Phone

Lucky for aggrieved eBay buyers and sellers, eBay customer service has a number they can call to report other fraudulent buyers and sellers. The phone number is the best and fastest way to contact customer care directly.

The line is open from Monday to Friday beginning from 5am to 10pm PST and on Saturday and Sunday beginning from 6am to 6pm PST. You may have to wait for about 20 minutes to get connected to a customer care agent.

Have all the information about the order and the seller ready. You can find the eBay customer service number at GetHuman.

Help Desk

eBay customer service has an online help desk where you can report sellers to eBay. The issue is usually resolved in 24 hours. You can find the link to the help desk at GetHuman.

Further questions?

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Christian has been writing about long hold times and customer service call center experiences since 2010. He's been featured in Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal and the Boston Globe.

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