This is a must read. Found here http://www.auctionbusinessreview.com/review-journal/abrj_articles/ebay-suspensions.html

You rent a storefront in Downtown America, you work hard, you advertise your business, you try to do what is right by your customers, and you are making a modest living

One day you show up to work only to find the doors to your storefront chained and padlocked. Upon closer inspection, you find a note attached to the window. It reads....

"You have violated the terms of your lease and have been locked out of your store. We have removed your entire inventory from the building. We have cancelled your advertisements with the local media, and as an added measure, we have pulled your customer list and informed your customers that they should not do business with you because of possible illegal activity within your business and they could become liable or lose their money if they do business with you. Should you have any questions about this, please contact your landlord."

Possible? In America? Read on...

You're a basket of emotions, all conflicting, while at the same time, you are in shock, You are angry, you are confused, You did nothing wrong. You think that if only you could contact your landlord, you could straighten it all out in a matter of minutes, after all, you did nothing wrong. You jump on the telephone, call your landlord, and get his answering machine. You leave a message. Later that day you leave another. The next morning, after still hearing nothing, you try again. Several days go by, every day you try harder and harder to contact your landlord. You call, you email, you go to his house, and you can't get though to him. Finally, 2 weeks later he finally responds. You ask him what is going on, why did he lock you out of your store, you read him the note that he left on your window....

"You have violated the terms of your lease and have been locked out of your store.
We have removed your entire inventory from the building. We have cancelled your advertisements with the local media, and as an added measure, we have pulled your customer list and informed your customers that they should not do business with you because of possible illegal activity within your business and they could become liable or lose their money if they do business with you. Should you have any questions about this, please contact your landlord."

…and you ask him again, what is going on?

His response comes slowly... "I'm not able to discuss this with you because it involves other people, and they have a right to their privacy, I'm sorry.

In disbelief, you push for a better, real answer. You're now 2½ weeks into this ordeal, you have lost all your income for the last two ½ weeks, your 2 employees have been without paychecks, and you are late on your mortgage. Finally, after another 3 days of back and forth communications, your landlord tells you that you broke the terms of the lease by not taking out your trash out to the curb one day, and someone reported you. He tells you he will unchain your store and let you back in as long as you promise to take the trash to the curb every day.

You know this is totally ridiculous and unfair but you have been without a paycheck for weeks, and you are just excited to be back in business, you thank him!

But wait, what about the rest of the stuff? This part - "We have removed your entire inventory from the building. We have cancelled your advertisements with the local media, and as an added measure, we have pulled your customer list and informed your customers that they should not do business with you because of possible illegal activity within your business and they could become liable or lose their money if they do business with you." - You ask him about it, he replies, "I'm sorry, there’s nothing I can do about that, "You shouldn't have violated the terms of your lease."

So again, I will ask you, possible? Yes, and it happens every day, on eBay. With a click of a mouse, your account is suspended without even a hint of recourse or an appeals process.

Here's some recent quotes taken from various places on the internet:

Go outside and find a nice tree. Then talk to it about appealing your suspension. You'll be more likely to get a response from the tree than you will attempting to contact eBay."
"They did it to me three days before Christmas one year. Cost me like $4,000 in sales. And after about a month, I got my account back."
"Yes, you are guilty until proven innocent where eBay is concerned."
"Close you down and refuse to communicate with you."
"It's been about 10 days since I got suspended and no replies to my emails trying to clear this up."
About 250,000 people earn their primary or secondary income selling on eBay, yet eBay continues to act irresponsibly and communistically toward it's customers. It's only a matter of time before it happens to you, before it affects your business and your livelihood.

eBay needs to have a straight-forward, process driven proceedure for dealing with this and other issues that are industry-wide problems they continue to ignore. They need to do this now, they need to do this before the government steps in with regulatory measures. eBay is too ingrained into our society to not be held accountable for their actions.

Would you tolerate eBay's type of behavior from any other company you do business with? It's time to protect your business, your income, and your family.

It's time to let eBay know that their draconian behavior toward their customers will no longer be tolerated, your silence is a vote for the status quo.

Remain silent no longer, email this article to your friends and business associates, contact eBay, talk about this article on the eBay Discussion Forum of the Online Traders Web Alliance, or email it to online journalists. Be silent no longer, let your voice be heard, do something.

Comments on this article can be emailed to the editor.