Prohibited, Questionable & Infringing Items

eBay is here to help, but as an eBay seller you are ultimately responsible for making sure that selling your item(s) is allowed on eBay and is not prohibited in the eyes of the law. Follow these steps to find out whether or not your item can be listed on eBay.

• First, review eBay's listing policies. These guidelines will help you properly list items and understand what is allowed on eBay.
• If you're still unsure about listing your particular item, look over the select list of items below. These guidelines and policies are designed to help you trade safely on eBay. Remember that:
  
  
  1. "Prohibited" means that these items may not be listed on eBay.
  2. "Questionable" means that items may be listed under certain conditions.
  3. "Potentially Infringing" means that items may infringe certain copyrights, trademarks or other rights. For your protection, some items here are not allowed ("prohibited"), regardless of the legality of these particular items, because they almost always breach copyright or trademark laws.

Breaches of these policies may result in a range of actions, including:

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

When policy breaches occur, eBay emails the seller, as well as bidders, that a listing has been ended. You may contact eBay to report breaches by using the ?Report? or ?Contact Us? links found on most policy pages.

Important Notes:

Even if you offer to give away for "free" (rather than sell) a prohibited, questionable, or infringing item, this will not relieve you of potential liability. This applies to both seller and buyer.

This list is updated from time to time and is incorporated by reference into the User Agreement. Notice of updates to this list will be posted on the Announcement Board on the eBay website on the day of the change. These guidelines do not constitute legal advice and do not pertain to any particular company's practices. When in doubt, check with law enforcement agencies, a lawyer, the law or with a copyright, trademark or other rights owner for clarification. eBay also has adopted certain policies regarding prohibited items, regardless of the legality of the item.

Please note that the above list is neither exhaustive nor restrictive. eBay reserves the right to delete any listing that may breach any legal provision or the general principles and values of the eBay community, even if the legal provision or principles and values are not explicitly stated on the site.

You are a part of the eBay community, and, as a member, you should encourage the participation of sellers who are serious about their transactions and the posting of listings of objects that are lawful and genuine. For that reason, we have set up a Community Watch programme allowing each member of the community to inform us about any prohibited, questionable, or infringing item under eBay policy.

Why did eBay end my listing early?

If eBay ends your listing early because it breaches one of our stated policies, you deserve to be properly informed. Therefore, eBay will notify both the seller and bidders via email when an auction has been ended. For additional information, visit the Why Did eBay End My Listing Early? page.

Reporting prohibited, questionable & infringing items to eBay

• Community Watch?Community members can report prohibited, questionable and infringing items to eBay.
• Verified Rights Owners (VeRO) Programme?Intellectual property owners can report items that allegedly infringe on their rights.

• Rules for Sellers
• Listing Policies for Sellers: Overview
• Item Description and Picture Theft