Firearms Catalog
Staying Out Of Trouble With EBay’s Listing Policies
There are many things that can be sold on eBay but conversely, there are many that are prohibited. Selling prohibited items has the potential to getting your auction removed and possible even getting your account banned. Following is a list of the items that eBay prohibits:
Academic Software
Airline and Transit Related Items
Alcohol (also see Wine)
Animals and Wildlife Products
Anti-circumvention Policy
Artifacts
Authenticity Disclaimers
Autographed Items
Batteries
Beta Software
Bootleg Recordings
Brand Name Misuse
Catalog Sales
Catalytic Converters and Test Pipes
Celebrity Material
Charity or Fundraising Listings
Comparison Policy
Compilation and Informational Media
Contracts and Tickets
Counterfeit Currency and Stamps
Counterfeit Items
Credit Cards
Downloadable Media
Drugs & Drug Paraphernalia
Electronics Equipment
Embargoed Goods and Prohibited Countries
Encouraging Infringement Policy
Event Tickets
Faces, Names and Signatures
Firearms, Ammunition, Replicas, and Militaria
Fireworks
Food
Freon and Other Refrigerants
Gift Cards
Government IDs and Licenses
Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Items
Human Parts and Remains
Importation of Goods into the United States
International Trading – Buyers
International Trading – Sellers
Lockpicking Devices
Lottery Tickets
Mailing Lists and Personal Information
Manufacturers’ Coupons
Mature Audiences
Medical Devices
Misleading Titles
Mod Chips, Game Enhancers, and Boot Discs
Movie Prints
Multi-level Marketing, Pyramid and Matrix Programs
OEM Software
Offensive Material
Pesticides
Plants and Seeds
Police-Related Items
Political Memorabilia
Postage Meters
Pre-Sale Listings
Prescription Drugs and Devices
Promotional Items
Real Estate
Recalled Items
Recordable Media
Replica and Counterfeit Items
Satellite and Cable TV Descramblers
Slot Machines
Stocks and Other Securities
Stolen Property
Surveillance Equipment
Tobacco
Travel
Unauthorized Copies
Used Clothing
Warranties
Weapons & Knives
Wine (also see Alcohol)
Most of this is very obvious – of course you can’t sell illegal things like drugs, pyramid schemes or stolen goods. Many of the items on the list are due to the fact that they are illegal or prohibited. You will find several of the reasons a bit strange and wondering why eBay is prohibiting them.
For example, you are not necessarily prohibited from selling autographed items as long as you have a certificate of authenticity to back up your item. The ‘artifacts’ entry prohibits you from selling Native American graves; ‘celebrity material’ means you can’t sell unauthorised pictures of celebrities; ‘embargoed goods’ means that you can’t sell anything that comes from Cuba… on and on it goes, and most of it you never need to know.
If you have an item that you question whether is on the list you should look to the full list that eBay publishes at http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/items-ov.html which you should always check frequently as there may be changes.
Although eBay maintains that it will remove items that appear on the list they have a limited staff so it is possible you could theoretically list items, although you could be taking a chance with legal matters if you are not careful. You are more likely to have a competitor report you than ebay itself but even then there is no guarantee that eBay will remove your listing.
Really, buying and selling on eBay can sometimes feel more complicated than it really is, thanks to all the rules surrounding it – not to mention the jargon. We will publish future informational articles that deal with jargon and its meaning.
For timely articles on auctions, including tips and techniques, see Auction Startup.
Standard Catalog of Firearms – book review