Setting Up eBay Store?

[Smores]

Has anyone compiled the rules that apply towards selling merchandise targeted to the adult industry through an eBay store? As I understand it, PayPal has a zero-tolerance policy towards the adult industry, so it is honestly very confusing to me that apparently there is a way to do this but requires you follow some very strange rules.

I found one article online that suggested you can set up the eBay store, but do not use a name for the store, or the items you sell in that store, that sounds fetish. Apparently you can never link to that store from any website that caters to the adult industry. The only way to communicate the existence of that store would be by private email, off the website. In effect you have to run that eBay store as a kind of "oasis" and disconnect it entirely from any other adult activity online.

But even this article that suggested the above failed to answer basic questions, such as:

1) Does the store need to be in the "Adult Products" section of eBay? If it is, then why is it forbidden to use fetish language in an Adult Products area?

2) Do items in the Adult Products section of eBay qualify to use PayPal as the payment method?

If anyone here has figured out the secret sauce of making this all work, please share with us.

 

[SaffronBurke]

You can sell (new/unused) sex toys on Ebay, as they're physical merchandise. Anything else "adult", I would not even attempt. If you like the Ebay format, Ebanned is an imitation site where you can sell adult items.

 

[Smores]

You can sell (new/unused) sex toys on Ebay, as they're physical merchandise. Anything else "adult", I would not even attempt. If you like the Ebay format, Ebanned is an imitation site where you can sell adult items.

You would not attempt it for what reasons? The point was that having an eBay-legal store might allow you to get payment through PayPal. The weak part of the webcam business is how to get paid for things.

 

[SaffronBurke]

You would not attempt it for what reasons? The point was that having an eBay-legal store might allow you to get payment through PayPal. The weak part of the webcam business is how to get paid for things.

Because it's not worth the risk. If you use PayPal for adult services, some asshat will eventually report you and you'll lose your account. I stick to payment processors that allow adult transactions, because I'm not about to lose my main method of paying for shit online. Some sex workers have had PayPal accounts shut down before even using them for anything, just for using their model name or email for the account. When they shut down your PayPal account, they do it to any account associated with that one as well, which can be your personal account, friends, relatives, significant other. I get a huge Christmas gift via PayPal every year from my in-laws in Germany. I'm not about to lose my ability to receive that.

 

[Smores]

Because it's not worth the risk. If you use PayPal for adult services, some asshat will eventually report you and you'll lose your account. I stick to payment processors that allow adult transactions, because I'm not about to lose my main method of paying for shit online. Some sex workers have had PayPal accounts shut down before even using them for anything, just for using their model name or email for the account. When they shut down your PayPal account, they do it to any account associated with that one as well, which can be your personal account, friends, relatives, significant other. I get a huge Christmas gift via PayPal every year from my in-laws in Germany. I'm not about to lose my ability to receive that.

Here is the article I originally referred to on how to set up an eBay store as a webcam model. I think the point he is trying to make - but not as clearly as he should - is that you can set up the eBay store without any linkage to any outside site. Use a separate email not tied to your other webcam identity. Keep the descriptions in the store name and the store items compliant with eBay rules. Then give out that store only in private email to customers who have proven themselves to you as nice guys who tip.

I understand your point that one bad customer who complains can cause problems but he has to prove his case to eBay, and there is no outside link from an adult site to your store, hopefully.

In any case, I am not saying you are wrong. I was hoping to hear from other webcam performers who have figured out how to do this successfully on eBay what their experience has been, and what are the hidden traps. I might still end up concluding - as you have - that it still involves too much risk.

PayPal's policy here is crazy. If they are so concerned about fraud, they could ask for bank funds for all adult site payments, and maybe they could restrict payments to customers with a long history at PayPal.

 

[Tristyn]

Nothing about this is a good idea.

eBay and Paypal are not adult service friendly. If they were to find out or even suspect that you are selling adult content through them, they would freeze your account (and any funds in it) permanently, and probably any other accounts that were associated with you in the process, like @SaffronBurke said. Even good regulars can turn bad, and all it takes is for one person to report you. You'd also have to deal with the threat of chargebacks constantly.

It's not worth the risk or hassle when there are already a lot of adult-friendly payment processors on the market, many of which take a relatively low cut %-wise, and deal with chargebacks for you.

Edit: Lol, even the article ends with "if you follow these tips you can run an ebay business no problem! lolol jk actually it's only a matter of time until paypal zeros in on your rule breaking and you get frozen".

 

[Smores]

Nothing about this is a good idea.

eBay and Paypal are not adult service friendly. If they were to find out or even suspect that you are selling adult content through them, they would freeze your account (and any funds in it) permanently, and probably any other accounts that were associated with you in the process, like @SaffronBurke said. Even good regulars can turn bad, and all it takes is for one person to report you. You'd also have to deal with the threat of chargebacks constantly.

It's not worth the risk or hassle when there are already a lot of adult-friendly payment processors on the market, many of which take a relatively low cut %-wise, and deal with chargebacks for you.

The point I am still not understanding is does PayPal allow PayPal as a payment method for adult items in an adult section store on eBay? How can PayPal shut down an account when the only infraction is that it is being used as the payment method for items in that eBay store? There are no other payments going through that account....

What are your favorite payment processors, and why?

 

[Tristyn]

The point I am still not understanding is does PayPal allow PayPal as a payment method for adult items in an adult section store on eBay? How can PayPal shut down an account when the only infraction is that it is being used as the payment method for items in that eBay store? There are no other payments going through that account....

What are your favorite payment processors, and why?

My paypal account got frozen without taking any payments what-so-ever because I had used an old, old modelling e-mail to set it up. The adult section of the ebay store is for adult retail merchandise, not adult services.

They eventually unfroze my account when I pointed out that the only transactions I had in my account at all were payments to e-bay & other online retailers, other than a couple of deposits from an ex-boyfriend of mine, and it took a lot of back & forth to make that happen.

And I got lucky -- most people don't get unfrozen at all, ever.

As for adult-friendly payment processors: if you're a cammodel, you should join the models only section and research your options.

 

[SaffronBurke]

My paypal account got frozen without taking any payments what-so-ever because I had used an old, old modelling e-mail to set it up. The adult section of the ebay store is for adult retail merchandise, not adult services.

Precisely, the adult section of Ebay is an "adult store" section. If you can sell it on Amazon, you can sell it on Ebay, but I wouldn't try anything past that because, really, we have so many other options available.

 

[Guy]

I tried to enter eBay's adult section once. I was directed to message that said I have to provide eBay with a credit card in my name. Why should I have to give them my card's number when I already have my PayPal account added to my eBay account?