Dear Ina,
I'm currently going through a maddening process with eBay. Sometimes, I can't believe an e-commerce company that is nearly 30 years old still has problems like this.
I recently moved, and since I work from home, I had to change my mailing address for all my various accounts. Normally, no big deal, right? As expected it went fine with updating the various banks, the USPS, and subscription services that I have. But eBay, of course there's a catch.
The day after I updated my addresses on my eBay accounts, they notified me that there was a block placed on my business account, as they could no longer verify my address via the IRS. They then request that you upload supporting documentation to prove that you're a legitimate business (which is understandable).
The problem is that most of the documentation they request is older and isn't updated immediately when you change your address (documents such as articles of incorporation, a business license, or previous years' tax returns). I did send a change of address request off to the IRS after speaking with eBay the first time, but the IRS says it takes 4-6 weeks to process, and I feel like that is an unreasonable amount of time for eBay to withhold my funds for something that should be a routine administrative function.
I am extremely frustrated at the poor communication on eBay's end. Had I known this was going to become a giant debacle, I would have left my previous address on the account and waited until I had updated documentation in hand with the new address to ensure a much smoother transition.
I know I can't be the only small business on eBay that's had to change addresses and then jump through all of these ridiculous hoops, just to get paid funds they've already earned. Meanwhile, I still get to sell on eBay and they sit on my funds and earn interest on it. What a crock!
Chris
Be Careful When Filing Change of Address on eBay
by: Bidonmine