Trust and Safety on eBay

The eBay Community is guided by the values of open communication and honesty, and the vast majority of buyers and sellers at eBay are reliable. To promote a safe trading environment, eBay provides built-in safeguards to help protect you each time you buy and sell. For example, eBay provides:

eBay's Feedback System

Feedback is the foundation of trust on eBay. To help you decide whether or not you want to buy from or sell to another member, you can check the reputation of that member before bidding or accepting a member’s bid. You can check a Feedback Profile by clicking on the number next to the User ID, or from the view feedback request form.

After you file a dispute through the online dispute console, we encourage you to leave Feedback for the transaction. Please be honest, fair, and factual. This will help make other members aware of your experience and help keep eBay a safe place to buy and sell.

Support if you have transaction problems

In the event you have any problems with a sale, eBay has processes and programmes that can help.

dispute console, an online communication tool, to track and manage disputes and use eBay’s dispute resolution service to negotiate a solution with your buyer or seller.

Managing problems with sellers

In many cases, communicating directly with your seller can resolve your concern. If you know the seller’s User ID, you can find their contact information.
• If you have paid for an item, but didn’t receive it, or if you paid for and received an item, but it was significantly different from the item description, you should communicate directly with your seller to find a solution. To help you to reach a resolution, we provide the item not received or significantly not as described process where buyers and sellers can communicate with each other through the dispute console, an online communication tool in My eBay.
When you pay with PayPal for an item that is eligible for PayPal Buyer Protection, you may receive coverage up to £500 at no additional cost. If a purchase is not eligible for PayPal Buyer Protection, PayPal will work to settle disputes through their Buyer Complaint Process.
If you paid for an item with a credit card (not PayPal), you can contact your credit card company to get information about its protection services.

Managing problems with buyers

You can report an unpaid item or cases of unwelcome bidding or buying.
You can block bidders bidders based on their User IDs.
You can set up buyer requirements for your listings based on criteria including country of registration, their buying history on eBay, and whether or not the buyer has a PayPal account.

Support for protecting your account security

Your account security is important in order to have a positive experience on eBay. eBay provides help on how you can protect your account, including steps you can take if you suspect that someone has tampered with your account.

eBay will never ask you to provide sensitive information by email. One of the biggest threats to the security of members’ eBay accounts is fraudulent email and websites, commonly known as "spoof" mails or sites. Both are used to obtain personal and account information. To help protect our members against this threat, eBay has adopted a comprehensive strategy, which includes the development of technology solutions such as the eBay Toolbar with Account Guard, Community reports, and information for members on how to recognise and report spoof email and spoof eBay websites.

eBay digitally signs every email that we send to you. Email providers use this signature to authenticate legitimate emails coming from eBay and reduce the amount of spoof emails that reach your inbox.

Protecting your privacy

eBay’s Privacy Policy is designed to protect your personal information from other eBay members and from third parties.

eBay uses many safeguards, including firewalls, encryption, and Secure Socket Layers to help protect your personal information against loss, theft, and unauthorised access and disclosure. eBay has security techniques to help safeguard such data from unauthorised access by users inside and outside the company. In addition, although eBay uses cookies, web beacons, and third parties to provide you with the best possible services, we also work very hard to protect your privacy and keep your information secure.

To help protect the privacy of all eBay members, members can request contact information for other eBay members only if they are involved in current or recent transactions.

Rules and policies for eBay members

To promote a safe buying and selling environment for all members, eBay has rules and policies that are enforced.

eBay’s policies are intended to:

Support government laws and regulations
Minimise risks to both buyers and sellers
Provide equal opportunity to all buyers and sellers
Protect intellectual property rights
Provide an enjoyable buying experience
Support the values of the eBay Community

Breaches of eBay policies can result in a range of actions, including:

Listing cancellation
Forfeit of eBay fees on cancelled listings
Limits on account privileges
Loss of PowerSeller status
Account suspension

All members are responsible for reviewing and understanding eBay’s policies and all applicable laws and regulations as outlined in the User Agreement.

eBay rules and policies include:

Rules for all eBay members – These rules apply to buyers, sellers, participants on the community boards and all eBay employees.
Rules for buying – Buyer rules assist buyers in doing the right thing in a transaction, including "Always pay for your purchases". Learning about these rules will make your eBay experience a safe and enjoyable one.
Rules for selling – These rules contain important listing policies and other rules that apply to selling, including policies involving prohibited and restricted Items.

Learn more about safety on eBay

Visit eBay’s Safety Centre.
Take our tutorial to learn about Spoof (fake) eMail.

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