EBay - Prohibited or Restricted Items

Prohibited or Restricted Items

In its earliest days, eBay was essentially unregulated. However, as the site grew, it became necessary to restrict or forbid auctions for various items. Note that some of the restrictions relate to eBay.com (the U.S. site), while other restrictions apply to specific European sites (such as Nazi paraphernalia). Regional laws and regulations may apply to the seller or the buyer. Generally, if the sale or ownership of an item is regulated or prohibited by one or more states, eBay will not permit its listing. Among the hundred or so banned or restricted categories:

  • Tobacco (tobacco-related items and collectibles are accepted.)
  • Alcohol (alcohol-related collectibles, including sealed containers, as well as some wine sales by licensed sellers are allowed, some sites such as ebay.com.au allow licensed liquor sales) (eBay announced September 21, 2012, it will begin removing listings for beer and liquor from its site after a story was aired on ABC series 20/20.)
  • Drugs and drug paraphernalia
  • Nazi paraphernalia
  • Bootleg recordings
  • Firearms and ammunition, including any parts that could be used to assemble a firearm as well as (as of July 30, 2007) any firearm part that is required for the firing of a gun, including bullet slugs, brass casings and shells, barrels, slides, cylinders, magazines, firing pins, trigger assemblies, etc. Crossbows and various types of knives are also forbidden.
  • Police and emergency service vehicular warning equipment such as red or blue lights and sirens (antique or collectible items are exempt)
  • Used underwear (see Panty fetishism) and dirty used clothing
  • Forged, illegal, stolen, or confidential documents, which include passports, social security cards, drivers licences, voter registration cards, birth certificates, school documents, medical records, financial information, government license plates, government classified information, or CarFax documents. Any item that is used to modify documents is also restricted.
  • Human parts and remains (with an exception for skeletons and skulls for scientific study, provided they are not Native American in origin)
  • Live animals (with certain exceptions)
  • Certain copyrighted works or trademarked items.
  • Lottery tickets, sweepstakes tickets, or any other gambling items.
  • Military hardware such as working weapons or explosives.
  • Enriched uranium, plutonium, and other fissile material.
  • Sexually oriented adult material, which must be listed in the "Adult Only" category, notwithstanding certain items prohibited:
    • Child pornography
    • Materials deemed obscene, including bestiality, necrophilia, rape, coprophilia, and incest
    • Used sex toys
    • Services including any sexual activity
    • Links to sites that contain prohibited items
    • Adult products that are delivered digitally
  • Virtual items from massively multiplayer online games, restrictions that vary by country
  • Ivory products
  • Knives, other than cutlery, are prohibited in the UK following media pressure about the sale of items assessed by police to be "illegal"
  • Fortune-telling and witchcraft-related services
  • Many other items are either wholly prohibited or restricted in some manner.

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