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Rules for Sellers – Overview

eBay's policies are rules and guidelines that help to create a safe, fair and enjoyable trading environment for all eBay members. As a seller, you are responsible for reviewing and understanding eBay’s selling policies, as well as all applicable laws and regulations as outlined in the User Agreement.

Learning about eBay's selling policies before you list an item will help you to avoid unintentionally breaking rules. eBay’s selling policies are updated to respond to marketplace, Community and security issues, so it is important to check them regularly for changes.

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

Every seller must know and follow:

In addition to the above rules, here are some additional policy violations not permitted on eBay:

  • Seller Non-performance – Sellers must honor the transaction contract. Sellers cannot fail to deliver an item for which payment was accepted, significantly misrepresent an item by not meeting the terms and item description outlined in the listing, or refuse to accept payment for an item at the end of a successful sale.

  • Shill Bidding – Sellers must not bid on their own item, or have family members, roommates or employees bid on their item.

  • Unpaid Item/Final Value Fee Credit Abuse – Sellers may not file for a Final Value Fee credit on a transaction where the buyer paid for the item.

  • Goods & Services Tax Policy – Items bought and sold by Australians may be subject to a goods and services tax.

Both buyers and sellers cannot interfere with a transaction or offer to buy or sell listed items outside the eBay website (see Rules for Everyone – Overview).

To report a policy violation:
  1. Locate and review the policy page that deals with the breach.

  2. Click the “Report” link at the bottom of the page. For example, see Excessive Postage and Handling policy.

  3. Enter the item number(s) of the listing that you wish to report.

  4. Click the Send button to send your message to eBay Customer Support.

After your report is received:

  • eBay will consider the circumstances of an alleged policy breach and the user's trading record before taking action.

  • Disciplinary action may result in listing cancellation, limits on account privileges, account suspension, forfeit of eBay fees on cancelled listings, and loss of PowerSeller status.

  • If a complaint can't be proven with certainty, eBay may take no action.

  • Due to privacy issues, it's not possible for eBay to discuss the results of an investigation.

  • Posts made in eBay’s Want It Now area must also comply with eBay policies. For more information, see the Want It Now Policy page.

To learn more, you can take the tutorial on Shill Bidding and other Trust and Safety tutorials.

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