eBay UK Trials Account Assurance To Help Sellers With GPSR, Other Regulatory Compliance Issues
eBay UK is inviting select sellers to participate in a free Account Assurance trial program, promising dedicated assistance with select account restrictions and proactive help with compliance and policy issues as GPSR requirements take effect.
Sellers say they received the invite in their eBay messages, offering free acess to this exclusive program.
As a long-standing and valued eBay business seller, you’ve been selected to participate in our free eBay Account Assurance programme, starting in 7 January 2025 for 6 months.
The benefits to you include:
- Dedicated assistance with select account restrictions from our expert team.
- Proactive help with compliance and policy issues.
- A 72-hour window to allow time to resolve the issue.
Clicking through on the offer provided further details for interested sellers:
eBay Account Assurance is a new, invite-only programme, starting 7 January 2025 and running for 6 months. It has been developed in response to business sellers looking for a more involved role in testing and providing feedback on our compliance and support policies.
As you know, eBay is required to act on compliance and policy violations. With this programme, our goal is to provide valued sellers like you with additional support for select issues that may arise on your account, so that you can focus on your business. Your participation is crucial to us as we strive to build upon our seller-friendly platform.
Opt in the programme and provide your contact details.
During the programme, because of the trusted relationship we have with you, when select policy issues are identified, we’ll reach out to you instead of taking immediate action so that we can get the information we need to avoid any restrictions on your account. This relies on us being able to reach you within a 72 hour period.'
The 6 month trial period is advertised as being free, but some sellers expressed concern that the terms and conditions apparently state eBay can choose to start charging for the service at any time.
leadhills_scot
just read the T&C
"The services under the Programme are currently available at no cost to sellers. eBay reserves the right to institute fees or costs associated with the Programme at any time at eBay’s sole discretion upon notification to You."
The move comes as eBay and other online marketplaces are facing new compliance requirements with the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) requirements for the European Union and Northern Ireland going into effect December 13, 2024 as well as increased enforcement of existing regulations, leaving both eBay and sellers struggling to wrap their heads around the complexities of compliance across global regions.
Many UK sellers have said they would just stop shipping to EU and NI once GPSR came into effect - an outcome eBay is desperately hoping to avoid as they pull out all the stops to meet Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) forecasts for Q4 and into 2025.
While this Account Assurance program sounds promising in that it will provide some extra protections for sellers who are enrolled, it's also a bit concerning that eBay apparently doesn't have GPSR and other compliance issues completely figured out yet, needing seller guinea pigs to help them "in testing and providing feedback on compliance and support policies."
Reactions in the eBay community were mixed, but several sellers responded positively saying they are glad to have the opportunity to receive extra support while wading into uncertain regulatory waters.
custom-giftsuk
I have talked with the ebay reprasentative during the Pro-Trader meetings (The meetings have actually been more useful than first imagined)
Reading the legislation on the compliance requirements - This is focussing on consumer products and as such the constant messaging to be compliant by the 13th December is a little bit more than scary.
Considering my case where I sell components ( 2k+ listings).........These are not products or consumer finished goods
There is no instruction manuals etc for a resistor or transistor....(Do Not Eat ??)
At the moment those higher up in ebay are pretty much winging it and dont know what to expect / how to go about this incoming change.
To me this invite looks like a good opportunity for sellers to:-
Protect their accounts from any automated actions by being part of the process of answering queries from Europe.
Help ebay with how to go about implementing the requirements sensibly by working through examples as they are raised and getting this right.
Looking forward to other views on this, but I think participation by anyone invited to this is more than a sensible thing.
Another seller said they signed up because they felt it was the best way to stay informed about regulatory changes and how their business may be affected.
I am taking this at face value, It seems to be there to help through the next 6 month period for whatever reasons, I think transparency is the best policy, if there are changes that are going to need acting on il take all the free help i can get, no looking over my shoulder or worrying about what might happen sooner or later.
I am in this for the long haul so its best to know where i stand amongst all the never ending changes and hopefully move along with them. All that said if at any time, for what ever reason i can no longer move forward with this business, its better to know sooner, rather than later to give me time to start something new or go in a different direction.
What are your plans for GPSR compliance and will you sign up for eBay Account Assurance if invited? Let us know in the comments below!
