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Pre-Sale Listings

Pre-sale listings are those that describe items for sale that are not in the possession of the seller at the time of the listing.

eBay permits pre-sale listings only on a limited basis. The seller must ensure that the item will be shipped within 20 days from receiving payment. The seller must clearly indicate within the listing that it's a pre-sale item with postage no later than 20 days after payment, including the date on which the item will be available to post. This text must be no less than the default font size of the eBay Sell Your Item form. Currently, the default font size is HTML font size 3.

This policy does not apply to items covered by the ‘Event Tickets’ policy, which is available here: http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/policies/event-tickets.html

Violations 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

  • Referral to Law Enforcement

Some Examples
  • Alice sells electronic games. Alice will receive a shipment of a new, very desirable electronic game from the publisher within 21 days. Alice starts a 10-day online auction on eBay, offering these games to buyers. Knowing that she will receive the games 11 days after the auction ends, Alice can ensure that she posts the games to her buyers within 20 days after receiving payment.

    Alice’s listing description clearly states that these games are offered as pre-sale items and that they will be posted within 20 days from the date of payment. Alice’s listing does not violate the eBay Pre-Sale Listings policy.

  • Alice’s competitor, Albert, also sells video games. He will receive his shipment from the publisher within 60 days. Albert starts an online auction similar to Alice’s. Albert’s listing violates the eBay Pre-Sale Listings policy because he will not be able to post the item to the buyer within 20 days.

Why does eBay have this policy?

eBay has strict guidelines for pre-sale listings to protect our members from potentially poor buying experiences while still enabling them to buy and sell items which are not yet available.

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