eBay prohibits email offers to buy or sell listed items outside of the eBay site. Offers of this nature circumvent eBay's fee structure and are a potential fraud risk for both buyers and sellers. Some examples of prohibited off-site offers include:
Offering to buy or sell a listed item outside of eBay.
Cancelling a listing to sell to a buyer who has not bid on the item.
Ending a listing early to sell the item at a higher price to the leading bidder.
Offering to sell duplicate or additional merchandise to unsuccessful bidders, other than in accordance with eBay’s rules about Second Chance Offers.
Although outside of eBay offers are not permitted, sellers may be able to sell items to unsuccessful bidders by sending a Second Chance Offer.
Potential risk of outside of eBay offers
Even though offers to buy or sell outside of eBay are not always made with the intent to defraud, there is always a significant level of risk involved. Please be aware that items purchased as a result of an outside of eBay offer are not eligible for eBay services, including:
Requests for contact information
Coverage under the PayPal Buyer Protection Program
Some members have reported receiving outside of eBay offers from sellers who insist that payment be sent using a third party wire transfer service, contrary to eBay’s Accepted Payments Policy. Wire transfer services are designed to allow individuals to send money to trusted parties such as family and friends. Requests to wire money to an unknown third party present a significant fraud risk, especially when the seller is offering to sell outside of the eBay site. It is for this reason that eBay does not permit payment by wire transfer. If you have received an offer of this nature, please report it to us immediately by forwarding the email that you received, including the header information, to spoof@ebay.com.au.
Although other offers to buy or sell outside of eBay may or may not be made with the intent to defraud, there is always a significant level of risk involved. Please be aware that items purchased as a result of an outside of eBay offer are not eligible for eBay services, including feedback, contact information requests, and the PayPal Buyer Protection Program.
Reporting outside of eBay offers
To report any other outside of eBay offers, contact eBay with the item number that the offer refers to, the User ID or email address of the member you are reporting, and a copy of the email with the full headers attached. Information on how to send email headers can be found on the Sending Headers page.
If you have received an unsolicited email offer to purchase an item that is not related to a specific item number, see the Spam page for information on how to report the offer.
Transactions outside of eBay
Transactions outside of eBay are not eligible for eBay services, including feedback, the PayPal Buyer Protection Program, the Item Not Received Process, and the Unpaid Item Process. If you knowingly or unknowingly transacted outside of eBay and believe you were defrauded, please review the Transactions Outside of eBay page to learn more about the steps you can take.
Related Help topics
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