The eBay Item Listing Rules

Because eBay is such a huge marketplace, with 
members from all walks of life, in almost every single 
country around the world, it is no wonder that there 
are many scammers lurking about. In order to better 
protect the buyers, eBay has specific rules 
concerning the items that can be auctioned off on 
the site. These rules must be followed, or the 
person posting the item for auction can be banned 
from the site.

Even though there are numerous categories, items 
that are put up for auction really only fall into one of 
four categories at eBay: Prohibited, Questionable, 
Potentially Infringing, and Approved. Approved is the 
simplest category to define and understand. An 
approved item is any item that does not fall into one 
of the other three categories. That is fairly simple, 
right?

After the ‘approved’ category, however, it starts to 
get a little harder to understand – with the exception 
of prohibited items. A prohibited item may not be 
auctioned on eBay for any reason, under any 
circumstances. Prohibited items include alcohol, 
drugs, animals, tobacco, human remains or body 
parts of any type, lottery tickets, and 
governmental property. There is quite a bit more 
on the list, and that list can be viewed at the 
eBay website.

Questionable items are those that are not prohibited, 
but are not necessarily infringing. Adult material falls 
under the ‘questionable’ category. Tickets of any 
type may also be questionable. Law enforcement 
related equipment, as well as guns, knives, and 
other weapons are questionable items. Artifacts, 
food items, batteries, all hazardous chemicals 
and materials are also on the list of 
questionable items. You can auction questionable 
items at eBay, as long as those items meet certain 
conditions.

Potentially Infringing items are those that violate 
copyrights, trademarks, and other legal rights. These 
items are almost always some type of media, such 
as software, DVDs, and CDs, but the list contains 
other items as well, such as counterfeit items and 
illegal recordings. You can find out more about 
‘potentially infringing’ items at the eBay website 
as well. 

If you are unsure as to which category your item falls 
into, you should contact eBay with this question 
before setting up the auction. As a buyer, you 
should carefully consider the consequences of 
purchasing items that fall under one of the three 
categories above. In some cases, it may be very 
illegal to have some of those items in your 
possession – no matter how they were obtained. 
Before making such a purchase, or bidding on such 
an item, you should find out more details about the 
item in question, and then get some legal advice.

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