eBay Australia is a venue for sellers to conduct auctions and for bidders to bid on sellers' auctions. We are not involved in the actual transaction between buyers and sellers. As a result, we have no control over the quality, safety or legality of the items advertised, the truth or accuracy of the listings, the ability of sellers to sell items or the ability of buyers to buy items. Nor do we publish, endorse, approve or control content that may be posted on our site by eBay users, including but not limited to feedback, auction listings, postings on public comment boards and About Me pages.

If you feel that material has been posted on our site which defames you, as defined by New South Wales law, we will investigate the allegations and take appropriate action. We have developed the following procedure for handling such claims.

First, you should consult a lawyer to confirm that the content you have identified is in fact defamatory. According to New South Wales law, defamation is broadly defined as a publication communicated to someone, other than the subject, which is liable to cause ordinary, reasonable persons to think less of the subject or shun or avoid the subject. Defamatory publications will include aspersions upon an individual's reputation for honour, honesty and integrity as well as disparagement of an individual's reputation in trade, business, profession or office.

Keep in mind that not all publications which satisfy this definition will be defamatory. For example, a statement which is true usually will not be defamatory. Words are often ambiguous and capable of being understood in several senses. Accordingly, defamation is a complex area of the law and you should carefully evaluate any claim before you make it. Indeed, the making of false claims could potentially expose you to liability.

Second, if the allegedly defamatory content appears in a comment in your feedback ratings, you have the ability to immediately make your feedback private , meaning the comments portion will not be publicly displayed. This enables you to minimise any damage that you perceive may be done to you by the alleged defamatory material.

NOTE: You will not be able to sell items on eBay if you have a private Feedback Profile. If you’ve chosen to make your Feedback Profile private, you’ll need to make it public before you can list an item.

Third, we require you to submit a form to us detailing the exact material which you consider to be defamatory. You must send the completed original form to us by regular or express mail to:

eBay
Attention: Customer Support
Locked Bag 10
Australia Square PO
Sydney NSW 1215 Australia

In the event that you wish to submit multiple claims, a separate form will be required for each different User who has allegedly left defamatory comments. The grouping together of complaints involving multiple users on the one form will not be accepted.

We will investigate your claim and notify you of whether we will remove the identified content. Please note that if the objectionable content appears in a feedback comment, we may remove only the comment portion of the feedback, not the actual rating (negative, neutral, positive). Click here to obtain a copy of the Notice of Claim of Defamation Statutory Declaration.