BBE restriction because of the new tax import rules in the USA

Hello everyone,

I would like to share my four-month experience during a period when I was fully aware that there was approximately a 90% chance that my account could be restricted or suspended due to new import tax regulations in the United States. These regulations temporarily prevented the shipment of orders from the European Union to the U.S.

Firstly I want to clarify that i am an EU based VAT registered company, a Top Rated seller, 100% positive feedback, 1,0K items sold for 2 years, 100% shipped and tracked on time orders, as per now all my orders are delivered in time.

In August, I proactively contacted Customer Support to inform them about the upcoming challenges that these restrictions could cause to my account.

At the end of August for approximately one week, local shipping carriers in my country stopped accepting shipments destined for the United States, which resulted in several delayed orders.

Once shipments were accepted again, carriers introduced the option to ship under DDP terms (Delivery Duty Paid), allowing me to cover the import charges before dispatch. I immediately switched to this method, and since then, shipments have been processed smoothly, quickly, and within the expected delivery timeframes.

A few weeks later, the situation escalated. Multiple Item Not Received (INR) claims were opened, which increased my Bad Buyer Experience (BBE) metrics. All affected orders had been delayed at U.S. customs, and I had no ability to influence or resolve the customs delays on my end.

To ensure customer satisfaction, I reshipped all affected orders at my own expense, and the INR cases were subsequently closed in my favor.

Throughout this period, several Customer Support agents repeatedly assured me that I would not face negative consequences. I was told that any defects, negative feedback, or metric impacts resulting from the customs issue would be removed if necessary.

And here the problems come...

• First evaluation: Everything was fine; no restrictions were placed on my account.
• Second evaluation: I began receiving warning emails indicating that my BBE ratio was higher than that of my peer sellers, although no restrictions were applied at that stage.

During this time, I continued communicating with Customer Support, explaining each order and INR case individually, and providing detailed supporting information, including quotations from U.S.  government sources and eBay’s official guidance, which states that sellers would be protected under these circumstances. For example, the relevant section from eBay can be found here: “US Tariffs Update – eBay Official Guidance.”

Despite this, the responses I received from Customer Support were inconsistent, although most continued to assure me that my account was in good standing and that I had nothing to worry about.

At the end of October, I received an “Action Taken” notification after my BBE ratio exceeded the peer benchmark for the third time (approximately 3.8%). However, no actual restrictions were applied.

In the following evaluation, my BBE ratio dropped to 1.6% due to closed transactions, and the account was marked as compliant. This made me believe that the situation was improving.

Unexpectedly, shortly afterward, a buyer opened a new INR request despite the item already being marked as delivered. The claim was closed in my favor, and the buyer has not communicated since.

However, at the latest BBE evaluation this INR request was still counted against my BBE metrics, increasing the ratio to 2.3%.
I still have orders from August evaluated!

So at this evaluation period I received the following message from eBay, on 2.3% INR ratio: 

Dear Seller,
eBay regularly evaluates the accounts of eBay sellers. In relation to your account, we have noticed that its performance does not meet the requirements of eBay's BBE Policy 
Your account's BBE rate is higher than that of peer eBay sellers.

You can visit the Seller Dashboard to check your current account performance.
In accordance with the eBay BBE Policy and the eBay User Agreement, eBay has determined that in order to protect the eBay community, the following restrictions will apply to your eBay account:

(a) Your selling privileges are restricted; and

(b) Your listings have been ended; and

(c) Your payouts have been on hold.
The safety of the eBay community is a top priority for us. We appreciate your understanding in this matter.
We look forward to your cooperation,

eBay team

So, now my account will be restricted, and I don't know if there is any chance to get it back.



I've contacted Customer Support multiple times through "Contact Us" - 4 days without response.

I've chatted with an agent - the answer was "Thank you for sharing the information. I require to transfer your query to our dedicated team and they will get back to you via mail in 24-48 hours. Please allow me to transfer your concern to them." - still no response 

I've asked a callback, an agent called me back - he hasn't even understand me what I am asking, he asked me where I have saw that my account will be restricted, so he asked me to spell him the export.ebay.com link (the link to the CBT Dashboard), and after his "review" his conclusion was that my account is in 100% perfect condition (it is by feedback and Seller Dashboard, but not by CBT dashboard), and I shouldn't worry about that it will be restricted.

I've seen few posts with similar problems here, so I think we must be active to share our situations regarding these new Import Tax Rules and unfair BBE evaluation at this point, so if there is any minimal chance to eBay lookup at this and take any actions....

If someone has reinstated his account after this, I will be very thankful to share any in