From collectables to cars, buy and sell all kinds of items on eBay
  Home > HelpRules and Policies > Rules for Sellers > Listing Rules Overview > Circumventing Fees
Help
Circumventing Fees

eBay Members may not use systems or techniques to circumvent, or avoid, eBay fees. Sellers should review the ‘Some Examples’ section below to ensure they are not engaging in any practices that circumvent eBay fees.

Breaches of this policy 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

Spend a few minutes taking eBay's tutorial on Fee Circumvention.

Some Examples
  • Outside-of-eBay Offer - Offering the opportunity to purchase the item or other merchandise outside-of-eBay through the eBay Web site.

  • Unreasonable shipping or handling costs - Listings with low prices but unreasonably high shipping or handling costs.

  • Listings with additional purchases - Listing an item that requires or offers an additional purchase. For example, travel certificates that require the holder to buy or pay for something (such as a hotel room for seven nights) as a condition of receiving the benefit of the coupon (such as free or discounted airfare).

  • Multiple Item Listing (Dutch) Avoidance - Listing a single item and offering additional identical items for sale in the item description. In these situations, the seller typically instructs buyers to indicate the number of items they want, and states that they can get the same price as the item in the listing.

  • Email address, phone number or domain name in the title, subtitle or item location - Listings with an email address or domain name in the title. Exception: This will be permissible only in listings that are offering a domain name for sale.

  • Catalogue Sales - Listings of catalogues from which buyers may directly order items are prohibited. In these situations, the seller will typically offer the catalogue for low bid prices and complete sales outside of eBay for items found in the catalogue. Old (from which you can no longer place an order) or collectible catalogues are permissible. Please see the complete catalogue policy for more details.

  • Reserve Fee Avoidance - Canceling bids and ending a listing early because the seller's desired price has not been met.

  • Extension of listings - eBay listings (both 'auctions' and fixed priced listings) have a fixed duration. eBay may on rare occasions (for example, as the result of a site outage) extend the duration of an listing. Extension of listing duration by a seller, via either manual actions or the use of automated tools, is not permitted. Extension of auctions by a seller for any reason is not only a form of fee avoidance, but also negatively affects the finding experience for buyers.

Additional Information

To report a listing that circumvents eBay fees through an offer outside of eBay, unreasonably high shipping or handling costs, Multiple Item (Dutch) listing avoidance, or a catalog sales violation, contact us with the item number.

To report a listing that a seller ended early in breach of our reserve fee avoidance policy, contact us with the item number you would like us to review.

Although there are legitimate reasons for ending a listing early, eBay will investigate sellers who abuse this option.

Note: Posts made in eBay’s Want It Now area must also comply with this policy. Want It Now posts that violate this policy may be removed. Repeated violations may result in suspension. You can report breaches of this policy within the Want it Now feature from the Want It Now Policies page.

Why does eBay have this policy?

Listings that circumvent (avoid) fees may provide a poor buying experience and always unlevel the playing field by putting sellers who pay all their eBay fees at a disadvantage. Further, these listings undermine the trust and legitimacy of eBay’s marketplace.


About eBay | Announcements | Register | Security Centre | Feedback Forum | Site Map | Policies | Help | Contact Us | Advertise
Copyright © 1995-2008 eBay Inc. All Rights Reserved. Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of the eBay User Agreement and Privacy Policy.
eBay official time