Q. I’m sure you’ve heard it all, but I hope you can help me.
After being offline since shortly after the new year, in mid-July I went onto eBay and was shocked to find numerous bids made on my account–including $1,200 for Broadway tickets.
I e-mailed eBay to change my account. EBay said it was sufficient to merely change my password. And so I thought my problem was over …
The first week of August, I logged on to eBay to find that due to three non-payments, my account was suspended.
Now my husband and I find out that my stepson had given my account and password to a friend–a fellow who had lost his own account due to non-payments.
I again e-mailed eBay telling them that these bids had been made by an unauthorized person, had been made before I changed my password, and did not fit the pattern of purchases for my account. Until this problem started, I had a perfect feedback history.
The e-mail I received back was a form letter. In order to clear my account, eBay said I had to provide payment for these items!
A. First off, some shoulda, woulda, couldas:
You should never share your password with anyone. It’s not like someone swiped the info; you used poor judgment in sharing it.
When you first saw those “unauthorized” bids on your account, you could have investigated more forcefully and gotten the full story about who commandeered your identity.
While feedback is crucial on eBay, it’s probably not the reason you were booted off. In order to be suspended, users have to have a total rating of -3 (hard to get if you have a lot of positives) or three Non-Paying Bidder Warnings filed against them by irate sellers (more likely in your scenario).
You can continue corresponding with eBay, though the likelihood of reaching a sentient being is slim. One idea might be to contact the sellers that issued you Non-Paying Bidder Warnings: If one of them retracts their warning, bringing down the total number of warnings to two, you can be reinstated. (Actually, e-mail all the sellers your imposter stiffed, to keep any more NPBWs at bay.) Offering to compensate them for listing fees might go a long way as a goodwill gesture.
Another option is to get another eBay user ID. Careful, though. “We’re getting better and better with our software tools” in finding suspended bidders who try to resubscribe, warns eBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove.
The penalty: Permanent expulsion. A safer bet would be to have your husband open another eBay account. Whether he feels comfortable sharing his ID and password with you is another matter.
Top picks of the week
Hold it
Finding a place for everything and putting everything in its place isn’t as easy as it sounds; if it were, people wouldn’t spend good money hiring someone else to straighten out their closet space for them. Organize-it-yourselfers can find plenty of inspiration–not to mention color-coordinated stackables–at www.containerstore.com.
Highlights of recent offerings
What: Vintage bulb covers
Where: www.ebay.com
Details: Back in the days when men were men and women wore whalebone instead of Victoria’s Secret, lightbulbs were actually a status symbol: They signified that you were modern–and moneyed–enough to replace gaslight with electricity. But as time went on, novel ways came up to ornament Edison’s invention. The seller guesses the 4-inch-long covers–which look sort of like tropical fruits–are Czech.
Number of bids: 21
Final bid: $306.04
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Denise Flaim is a columnist for Newsday, a Tribune newspaper.
