When a Business is De-Platformed

How a successfull business can disappear overnight

“We understand this may be inconvenient, but we’ve identified a possible discrepancy with the information provided at registration and need your assistance. Until we’re able to resolve this matter, your account will remain restricted and you will be unable to buy/sell items, or engage in member-to-member communication”

It’s 3.24 AM on Thursday when eBay sends me this message. Since then all my listings have been removed, I cannot create new ones and cannot send nor receive messages to customers or prospects. I have been selling on eBay since 2019 with over £100,000 in annual revenue. Overnight my entire business has disappeared.

Exactly like in Kafka’s masterpiece The Trial, I receive the punishment without knowing what went wrong. I still don’t.

There is growing concern about the consequences of being “de-platformed” from major social media, but there is no ongoing debate about businesses being removed from large e-commerce platforms and, specifically, what that means not just for the business itself but for consumers in general.

Playing Monopoly

There is a reason why Amazon can remove your Prime subscription immediately if you don’t pay the monthly fee but your water provider…