Reporting inappropriate trading

How to report trading offenses

We understand that it can be difficult to know when to report a potential offense. If you encounter a suspicious listing or if a member’s behavior appears to violate our policies, here’s what to do:

Make sure that the offense is something that we investigate.

In general, we investigate listings or actions that violate our policies. Learn more about what we’ll investigate and what we won’t investigate.
Report the offense to us.

The way you report the offense depends on the type of violation.
- To report a listing that violates our policies: Find the listing. On the listing page, click the “Report item” link.
- To report any other violation: Find the policy that describes the violation. Follow the directions on the page to report the violation.
  
  Tip: You’ll find a table summarizing our policies in what we’ll investigate. To display a policy, click its name in the table.
When you contact us, please include the information we need to investigate, plus any emails with full descriptions in the subject line.

What we’ll investigate

Use the table below to get a quick overview of the types of violations we’ll investigate. To display the policy, click its name in the left column of the table.

Violations	Summary
Feedback violations Feedback extortion Feedback manipulation Feedback abuse	Members can’t threaten others with neutral or negative Feedback or require that specific Feedback be left Members can’t artificially inflate their Feedback or the Feedback of others Feedback can’t include profanities, abusive language, or other text that violates our policies. Note: We won’t remove Feedback except under exceptional circumstances. Learn more about feedback removal.
Buying violations Transaction interference Offers to buy or sell outside of eBay Invalid bid retraction Unpaid items Unwelcome or malicious buying Shill bidding	Members can’t interfere with another member's transaction. Members can’t offer to purchase or sell a listed item outside of eBay. Members can’t retract or cancel bids, except in certain circumstances. Members must pay for items that they purchase. If you’re a seller and haven’t been paid for an item, follow the process for unpaid items. Members can’t bid or buy to disrupt a seller’s listing or Feedback and must meet the seller’s requirements as outlined in the listing. Members can’t use bidding techniques to artificially increase an item’s price or desirability.
Selling violations Seller performance standards violations Listing violations Offers to buy or sell outside of eBay Circumventing fees Shill bidding	Sellers are expected to complete sales and offer a consistently high level of buyer satisfaction. If you’re a buyer, find out what to do if you don't receive an item or it's not as described. Listings can’t misrepresent items or offer to sell prohibited or restricted items. Members can’t offer to purchase or sell a listed item outside of eBay. Members can’t use systems or techniques to avoid paying eBay fees. Members can’t use bidding techniques to artificially increase an item’s price or desirability.
Contact information and identity violations Misrepresentation of identity False or missing contact information Invalid and dead email addresses Underage user	Members can’t misrepresent themselves as other eBay members or eBay employees. While members can have multiple user IDs, those user IDs can’t interact with one another. For example, members can’t bid on their own auctions or leave comments on their own Feedback Profile. Members can’t falsify or omit contact information. Members must always have a valid, working email address associated with their account. Members must be 18 years of age or older
Miscellaneous violations Interfering with eBay's site and/or operations Sending spam Email threats Publishing contact information Use of profanity or patently vulgar language	Member’s can’t interfere with the eBay site and can only add or modify content in areas specifically designated for member use. Members can’t send unsolicited or commercial messages to other members. Members can’t send threatening messages to other members. Members can’t publish the contact information of another member. Members can’t use profanity or vulgar language.

What we won’t investigate

We don’t investigate simple misunderstandings, failure to communicate, and interpersonal disputes. For example:

The buyer left negative Feedback for me even after I left positive Feedback for the buyer. Per our user agreement, we won’t remove these comments.
The seller is charging too much shipping or insists that I pay in advance before accepting my bid. If the seller has a stated policy concerning shipping and payment terms on the item listing or storefront, then you must clear any exceptions with the seller before bidding or buying.
The seller refuses to answer my emails, won’t acknowledge my valid transaction, or has already sold the item. We can’t force sellers to honor their transactions. You should leave appropriate Feedback for the reluctant seller to warn other buyers of his or her past history. Depending on your local jurisdiction, you may have independent legal recourse against the seller.
The buyer insists that I ship COD, accept a third-party post-dated check, or box each item separately. We can’t force buyers to honor their transactions. However, you can offer the item to the next bidder or relist it and request a credit for the Final Value Fee.
Someone outbid me at the last minute. Placing a high bid in the closing seconds of an auction-style listing is called “sniping” within the eBay community. Sniping is part of the eBay experience, and all bids placed before a listing ends are valid, even if they're placed one second before the listing ends. Learn how to avoid being outbid.
I have a technical or billing question. To get your questions answered, contact Customer Support.

Results of the investigation

Because we respect the privacy of our members, we can't discuss the results of an investigation in detail. However, we might contact you to tell you that an investigation is complete.

Before taking action against a member, we’ll consider the circumstances of the violation and the member’s trading record. Disciplinary action might range from a formal warning to account suspension, and can include limits on seller activity. Out of fairness to our members, if a complaint can’t be proven, we won’t take action.

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