Banned On Ebay
Prohibited and restricted items – eBay
4 min overviewWhile you can sell almost any item on eBay, maintaining the safety of our community is a responsibility we take very this reason, and to comply with local legal restrictions, some categories of products are restricted, or completely banned from being listed.
If you’re not sure if an item you’re intending to list is allowed or not, choose the relevant category from the list below to find out.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find out what items are allowed on eBay?
If you’re not sure whether your item can be listed on eBay, check our list of prohibited and restricted items below.
What do I do if I see an item that isn’t allowed?
If you see a listing that violates one of our policies, report it by clicking Report item in the listing.
eBay prohibited and restricted items
Adult items policy
Alcohol policy
Animals and wildlife products policy
Selling art policy
Artifacts, cultural heritage, and grave-related items policy
Autographed items policy
Catalytic converter and test pipes policy
Used clothing policy
Credit and debit cards policy
Digitally delivered goods policy
Drugs and drug paraphernalia policy
Electrical and electronic equipment policy
Embargoed goods and prohibited countries policy
Encouraging illegal activity policy
Firearms and accessories policy
Food policy
Gift cards policy
Government, transit, and shipping-related items policy
Government documents, IDs and licences policy
Hazardous, restricted, or regulated materials policy
Lock picking devices policy
Chance listings policy
Mailing lists and personal information policy
Coupons policy
Medical devices policy
Personal relationships and services policy
Police-related items policy
Real estate policy
Product safety policy
Event ticket policy
Slot machines policy
Stamps, currency and coins policy
Stocks and other securities policy
Stolen property policy
Travel policy
Read our full policy
Prohibited and restricted items policy overview
Before listing your item, make sure we allow it on eBay, and find out if we have specific rules and conditions on how you should list it. Check the list of prohibited and restricted items below. You also need to make sure that the sale of your item complies with all laws and any additional restrictions applicable to payment services offered on eBay such as credit card association or network rules.
Make sure your listings and products follow these guidelines. If they don’t, they may be removed, and you may be subject to a range of other actions, including restrictions of your buying and selling privileges and suspension of your account.
Understanding the rules
Our policies are often based on country and state laws, although in some cases, we may also base our policies on input from our members and our own discretion, especially for dangerous or sensitive items.
Read and understand our policies before listing items. Follow our guidelines and review our examples so you know beforehand what you can and can’t sell on eBay.
When selling internationally, read our international trading policy. Although certain items may be legal to sell in your country, they might be illegal elsewhere.
The list of prohibited and restricted items below covers items you can list under certain conditions, and items that we don’t allow at all. In our medical devices policy, for example, while we don’t allow many items (such as contact lenses), we do allow other items under certain conditions (including certain types of medical instruments).
To find out if we have other guidelines that might affect your listing or product, read our rules for listings and our rules about intellectual property.
Prohibited and restricted items
Alcohol
Art
Artifacts, grave-related items, and Native American arts and crafts
Catalytic converters and test pipes
Cell phone (wireless) service contracts
Charity and fundraising
Clothing, used
Contracts
Cosmetics
Counterfeit currency and stamps
Coupons
Credit cards
Currency, selling
Drugs and drug paraphernalia
Electronics equipment – examples include cable TV de-scramblers, radar scanners, and traffic signal control devices
Embargoed goods and prohibited countries – examples include items from Cuba
Firearms and accessories – examples include pepper spray, replicas, and stun guns(see also military items)
Food
Gift cards
Government documents, IDs and licenses
Government, transit, and shipping-related items – examples include airplane operations manuals, subway employee uniforms, and U. S. Postal Service (USPS) mailbags
Hazardous, restricted or regulated materials – examples include batteries, fireworks and refrigerants
Human remains and body parts
Importation of goods into the US – examples include CDs intended only for distribution in a certain country
International trading
Items encouraging illegal activity – examples include an eBook describing how to create methamphetamine
Knives
Lock picking devices
Lottery tickets
Mailing lists and personal information
Medical devices – examples include contact lenses, pacemakers, and surgical instruments
Military items (see also firearms, weapons, and knives)
Multi-level marketing, pyramid and matrix programs
Offensive material – examples include ethnically or racially offensive material and Nazi memorabilia
Pesticides
Plants and seeds
Police-related items
Political memorabilia (reproduction)
Postage meters
Prescription drugs
Real estate
Recalled items
Slot machines
Stamps
Stocks and other securities
Stolen property
Surveillance equipment – examples include wiretapping devices and telephone bugging devices
Tobacco
Travel
Weeds (see plants and seeds)
Tip
Visit Seller Help to find details of any policy issues with your account or listings, and get the information you need to quickly resolve them.
Reporting policy violations
If we determine that a listing or product has violated a policy, we email the seller and the bidders or the buyer to let them know that we’ve removed the listing or product from eBay.
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How to Get Unbanned From eBay – Small Business – Chron.com
At some point in your eBay career, you may find your account has been suspended. This does not need to be a permanent ban. Typically, eBay suspends accounts for two reasons: payment issues and a rules & terms violation. For payment problems, you simply need to pay the outstanding balance and your account will be reinstated. For other issues, you need to contact eBay, explain the situation and see if they will reverse the suspension. Log into your ebay account by entering your “Username” and “Password, ” if necessary. Click the “My eBay” link at the top of the page to see your account information. Click on the “Messages” tab to display your inbox. Read your message from eBay that explains why they suspended your account. Typically, eBay suspends account for non-payment in one form or another. If it is for some other rules violation, go to step six. Pay the past due amount. This will end your suspension. Contact eBay and explain the situation to them. It may take them several weeks to get back to you. Resources Writer Bio Andrew McClain has been writing since 1994. He has written several articles for various websites and writes user guides and software manuals for several freelance clients. He has a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from the University of Missouri.
Why has eBay banned me for life? | The Spectator
[Getty Images]Text settingsCommentsImagine a country where there is no rule of law, where you might be scooped off the street without warning, put before a kangaroo court and sentenced to life in prison without parole and without right of appeal. You have no idea of the charge against you because no one in authority will tell you. You are innocent of any crime, except you don’t know what your crime is; the full might of the law has been brought down on your head and you have nowhere to turn. What if this imaginary country was not in fact a nation state but a large, wealthy and powerful company? What if it was eBay? Recently, I was asked by a friend if, in my capacity as a serious amateur photographer, I would look over and value some vintage cameras and lenses that he had inherited. After a little research I quickly ascertained that they were eminently sellable and that the best marketplace for them was eBay. As my friend didn’t have an eBay account, I agreed to use my — mostly dormant — account to sell his pieces. I successfully sold an ancient cinematic lens to begin with and, happy with the result, decided to follow up with the more valuable of the two cameras, an early 1950s Nikon. Not being a regular habitué of eBay, I didn’t realise that there was a monthly limit in place and the balance left after the first sale left me with too little on my limit to proceed to the next. Not a problem. I went into their chat service and passed a very easy ten minutes with a chap calling himself Gerald during which time he explained the rules, helped me link my PayPal account to my eBay account and satisfactorily ended with a 20-fold increase in my cash limit and an allowance of 100 items per month (far more than I needed). Within seconds of finishing with Gerald — each of us wishing the other a very pleasant evening — I received three emails in quick succession. The first contained the transcript of my chat (a useful service that actually I wish other corporates would copy); the second informed me of my limit increases; and the third informed me that I was banned for life:“We have reviewed the activity we have seen connected to your account. As a result, your account has been suspended because we believe this activity presents a risk to our eBay community. We do not make this decision lightly. Building a trusted marketplace where people around the world can buy and sell safely is our first suspension is permanent and means that you will not be able to participate in any buying or selling activities on eBay. In addition, any other accounts that you own, or that are associated with this account, will also be regret the frustration or inconvenience this may cause you. However, there is no appeal for this decision. If you have questions about this message, please click Help at the top of most eBay pages. Huh?! Surely some mistake. As that email came from a ‘no-reply’ address, I emailed customer support. A few minutes later in came the answer: “Thank you for writing to eBay Customer Service regarding your account status. I understand the importance for you to know the reason why your account got suspended. Rest assured that I am here to clarify things for you. I’ve completely reviewed your account and I can confirm that this has been suspended due to our eBay’s User Agreement Policy. At this stage, I’m afraid that your account reinstatement may not be possible. Please be advised that we’re only doing this as we want to keep eBay a safe and enjoyable place to buy and sell. We may suspend an account if we have cause for concern, and/or if we’re unable to verify any information you’ve provided to us. Due to eBay policy, we cannot provide you with more specific information. This will still be the same information we are going to discuss even if you contact us again. I know this isn’t the response you were hoping for, but I trust I’ve been able to explain our position clearly that the decision cannot be reversed. What the hell had I done? I googled ‘eBay suspensions’ and discovered that your crimes need to be up there with hate speech (no), passing off counterfeit goods (no) or misappropriation of a registered trademark (no). I sent a text to the person who had bought the lens. Had he received it and was he happy? Yes, came back the reply, all good and no problems. So if it wasn’t any of those, then what was it? OK, I thought, so let’s follow their suggestion and click on ‘Help’. A small problem here: Help takes you to your log-in page and, guess what, I can’t log in. I found a phone number for customer service which, when you call it, tells you that the service is no longer in operation. I found another number for technical support, with a voice-activated menu. I had to say my postcode and, on the strength of that alone, the robot recording told me my account was blocked — yes, I know — and diverted me back to the message of the first phone number. I found an eBay community forum online, not realising it was run by eBay. I explained my predicament and hit post, and guess what — I can’t post unless I log into my account. So here I am, tried in absentia for I know not what. No recourse to appeal, no means of getting hold of anyone who knows anything. And what now? I really have no idea. Do I care greatly if I am banned for life from eBay for reasons I can’t explain? Not particularly from a practical point of view. Yes, from an emotional and intellectual point of view, very much. I do very definitely care that, minutes before my expulsion, my eBay account was linked to my PayPal account at their request and, by the way, the funds due to me from the sale of the lens are sitting there with a ‘Blocked by eBay’ flag on them, which for the moment leaves me with no lens and no money. I don’t know if this will have knock-on effects with PayPal but I have worried about this and everything up to and including my credit rating. What I really care about is that eBay has shown itself to be the corporate equivalent of a lousy undemocratic state. Its behaviour is demagogic, draconian and disrespectful. It is a law unto itself and though the implications of my woes — a couple of unsold cameras — are not vast in the greater scheme of things, I find myself converting to activism against the power of the unchecked corporate machine.
Frequently Asked Questions about banned on ebay
Can you get unbanned from eBay?
For payment problems, you simply need to pay the outstanding balance and your account will be reinstated. For other issues, you need to contact eBay, explain the situation and see if they will reverse the suspension.
Are eBay bans permanent?
This suspension is permanent and means that you will not be able to participate in any buying or selling activities on eBay. In addition, any other accounts that you own, or that are associated with this account, will also be suspended.
What happens when you get banned on eBay?
When your eBay account is suspended, you won’t be able to: Bid, buy, or sell. Leave feedback. Create new listings or revise existing listings.
