Marketplace Policy Tutorial

eBay was built by and for the Community as a place where every buyer and seller has the same opportunities – a level playing field.

eBay believes that people are basically good, but occasionally members may not know about our rules. As a result, eBay's consequence guidelines are designed to help educate new users about policy violations, while "repeat offenders" are subject to more severe consequences. Consequence guidelines also differ by policy – the same way the penalty for speeding differs from the penalty for armed robbery.

eBay’s Trust & Safety team proactively watches the site in an effort to detect violations and our community of users assists eBay by reporting violations to us through our Community Watch program. Despite these efforts, however, the sheer volume of new items placed on the site every hour makes it impractical for eBay to review all listings or reported violations. With about 5 million new listings placed on eBay sites each day, inevitably some violations go undetected.

Therefore, it is possible for 2 identical listings, each violating the same rule, to be treated differently. A member may report one item to us which we take down. eBay may never learn about the other one. This may seem unfair to the member whose listing was removed and we know that it’s a frustrating experience. Like police officers enforcing traffic laws, though, there will always be those who get caught and “ticketed,” and those who get away undetected. While it’s frustrating to be the one caught – it doesn’t excuse the speeding violation (and ticket).

Although counterfeit goods can be easy to find on the street, it's not OK to list them on eBay. Trying to list a counterfeit item is both against the law and against eBay policy.

When you list something on eBay, make sure that you write your own item descriptions and take your own pictures. If you don't, your listing may breach eBay policy.

If you're not certain if your item is authentic, you shouldn't list it on eBay.

There are rules and laws about when it's acceptable to resell used software.

eBay understands that it can be frustrating when one of your listings is removed from the site. Listings are always removed for a reason, though, so you should always get the right’s owner permission and contact eBay before re-listing your item.

Brand name owners are justifiably concerned about how and where their names are used. eBay has developed some basic guidelines for how sellers can compare their products to brand names. We advise that sellers should never compare an item to a brand name item in the listing title. Sellers can accurately compare their item's performance (but not its appearance) to a trade marked item in the listing description.

Although you can't copy someone else's listing description, it's acceptable to say facts about an item that may be similar to the way other people have stated them. Technical specifications, like length and weight, are one example.

Shill bidding is when a seller – or someone associated with a seller – bids on that seller’s own item. These bids artificially increase the price or desirability of the item, and damage buyers' faith in the integrity and fairness of the Marketplace. Shill bidding is not allowed on eBay.

Shill bidding hurts buyers because they end up paying artificially inflated prices for items. Shill bidding distorts the bidding process, is not fair to buyers or other sellers, and lowers trust in the overall Marketplace.

Shill bidding is not allowed under the eBay User Agreement (which all members agree to when they join eBay) and by eBay Marketplace policies. Shill bidding is also illegal in many places throughout the world, with severe penalties.

Members who engage in shill bidding are subject to a range of consequences. Depending on the details of the offense, the consequences can include these and more:

• A warning, accompanied by an opportunity to learn about eBay’s Shill Bidding policy in order to avoid future violations
• Cancellation of listings
• Forfeit of eBay fees on cancelled listings
• Limits on account privileges
• Loss of PowerSeller status
• Account suspension
• Referral to law enforcement for criminal prosecution

Any combination of these can apply, even for a first offense.

When an eBay member receives a suspension or restriction of privileges for shill bidding, that suspension applies to all of their eBay accounts. It is the member, not just an account, who is suspended. The member is not allowed to register new accounts during the term of their suspension for shill bidding, or to use any other means to list or bid on eBay during their suspension.

Bidding on a seller’s item by the seller’s family, roommates or employees is a violation of eBay’s Shill Bidding policy. Even if those members really want to win the item, the reality is that they are in a unique, special position for communicating with the seller. That position creates a situation that is unfair to other eBay members. For that reason, a seller’s family, roommates or employees may not bid on that seller’s auctions … unless the seller offers, and bidder uses, eBay’s “Buy It Now” option.

Whenever leaving feedback, use caution and good judgment. You are responsible for the comments that you make, and you can’t change, edit or remove comments you’ve left about others. The rating and comment you leave become a permanent part of the other member’s reputation on eBay.

Whenever two members are involved in a transaction, both members may leave a feedback rating and comment and either a reply or a follow-up comment.

Feedback comments and ratings are valuable indicators of a member’s reputation as a buyer or seller on eBay.

The feedback system is intended to inform other members about your satisfaction with the transaction. Members should not use feedback as the first method of communicating with a trading partner. Our research shows 82% of new buyers who try to work out an issue before leaving negative feedback successfully resolve the issue without leaving negative feedback.

Each member must decide how best to manage their reputation. eBay’s internal research has shown that sellers who leave feedback upon payment receive a higher percentage of feedback compared to those that wait for the buyer to leave feedback first as confirmation that they are satisfied. Other sellers use automated tools to leave feedback and wait until feedback has been left to leave a comment. Regardless of who leaves feedback first, eBay encourages both members to always leave appropriate feedback.

Members may not edit or remove feedback comments once they have left it. Ratings may be removed by eBay if a buyer doesn’t participate in the Unpaid Item Process.

eBay will remove feedback ratings and comments in rare instances. Comments that contain personal information, vulgarity, links or comments left by members with false contact information or who have registered a second account after being suspended are all eligible for removal.

One of the most important aspects of the Feedback system is its ability to help members make safe trading decisions. In order to maintain a credible system, each user may only affect another member's Feedback Score by +1, 0, or -1 once a week. This rule helps keep the Feedback system fair. It prevents two people from working together to dramatically increase their Feedback Scores, giving the appearance that their trading history is stronger than it actually is. We are often asked why all Feedback left by one user for another isn't counted toward the member's Feedback Score. If we counted all the Feedback left by one user it would be very easy for two people working together to dramatically increase their Feedback Scores, giving the appearance that their trading history was stronger than it actually was.

Keyword spamming happens when members put brand names or other inappropriate keywords in a title or description for the purpose of gaining attention or driving members to a listing. Searchable text sellers put in their listings must be directly related to the item being sold.

Sellers should accurately describe the item they are listing so there is no confusion for the buyer. Sellers shouldn’t include any brand names in listings other than the specific brand name used by the company that produced the item being listed.

Sellers aren’t allowed to make comparisons between items in a listing title. Examples of comparison words include but aren’t limited to: “not”, “like”, “style”, “-esque”, “similar”, “clone”, “unmarked”, “wannabe”, “inspired”, “compare to” and “lookalike”. Sellers can use the description to compare the functionality of the item being listed to one other similar product, as long as the listing doesn’t mischaracterize which company made the item in the listing.

eBay members often search for identical items under different, sometimes misspelled, terms. eBay allows sellers to list synonyms and multiple spellings of the same word to “catch” name variations for an item. A listing is compliant as long as the searchable text in the title and description is directly relate to the item.

Sellers who choose PayPal as a payment method during the listing process, must be willing to accept all forms of PayPal payments including payment with credit cards, PayPal balances and bank accounts. When sellers say they will not accept PayPal credit card payments – they are violating both eBay and PayPal policy and harm the search experience since buyers can filter their search results by sellers who accept PayPal.

eBay doesn’t allow offers to buy or sell listed items outside of the eBay Web site. Offers like this circumvent eBay's fees and are a potential fraud risk for both buyers and sellers.

The eBay item page cannot refer to or promote the seller's individual Web site, sales outside of eBay, or other businesses. However, sellers can include links to their eBay Store and eBay Store items and their About Me page.

Sellers can add reasonable shipping and handling fees to the final price of their item. A shipping and handling fee can cover the seller's reasonable costs for mailing, packaging and handling the item. Shipping and handling fees can not be listed as a percentage of the final sale price.

Sellers cannot charge eBay buyers a surcharge (additional fee) for use of ordinary forms of payment, including acceptance of checks, money orders, electronic transfers or credit cards. Such costs should be built into the price of the item.

Listing an item that requires an additional purchase is not allowed. A seller may offer an optional warranty or service (e.g., installation of a washer/dryer) to complement the item. However, the optional service or warranty must be directly related to the item and may not do any of the following:

• Substantially alter the value of the item
• Be an additional item
• Be excessive in price
• Cause the listing to have an artificially low price

A choice listing is a listing where a seller allows buyers to choose from a selection of items. Choice listings are generally not allowed and will be ended. The only exceptions to this are multiple quantity listings (multiple item listings, multiple-item fixed price or Store listings) which can offer a choice of color in otherwise identical items, and listings which offer custom-made items or services that are created or customized to the buyer's specification.

A seller is not allowed to misuse the Reserve price feature. Misuse includes:
□ Stating the reserve price of the item when the item has not been listed using the reserve price feature.
□ Stating that the high bidder is obligated to purchase the item even if the reserve price has not been met.
□ Canceling bids and ending a listing early because the seller's desired price has not been met to avoid reserve fees.

A choice listing is a listing where a seller allows buyers to choose from a selection of items. Choice listings are generally not allowed and will be ended. The only exceptions to this are multiple quantity listings (Multiple Item Listings, multiple-item fixed price or Store listings) which can offer a choice of color in otherwise identical items, and listings which offer custom-made items or services that are created or customized to the buyer's specification.

That's right! eBay believes in a level playing field. As a result, the consequence guidelines are the same for both large and small sellers. The number of violations that will lead to eBay taking action against an account is the same for any type of seller.

Communication to sellers about potential policy violations, however, may differ by size of seller. Large sellers may for example receive a phone call, as opposed to an e-mail.

That's right! The consequences for violating eBay policies vary by policy and whether the violation is a first time or repeat offense. Consequences may include a range of actions including:

Listing cancellation

Forfeit of eBay fees on cancelled listings

Limits on account privileges

Loss of PowerSeller status

Account suspension

We believe in giving each member an opportunity to recover from an "honest mistake". However, it's also important that we maintain a level playing field and don't place members who comply with our rules at a disadvantage relative to members who violate our policies. Also, the eBay Marketplace works better for both buyers and sellers when members follow our rules. That's why we will take the actions outlined above for members who don't follow our rules.

That's right! eBay aims to treat all sellers equally and to hold them equally accountable to comply with our policies.

There are two reasons why a listing similar to a violating one might still be up:

1. When eBay is made aware of a violating listing (either because a member reports it or we discover it through a proactive search), we will remove the listing. Because approximately 5 million new listings are added to the site every day, we may not discover all violating listings and a similar item may stay up.

2. Alternatively, there are instances where small differences in listings can make one listing compliant but another in violation.

Good! That's the right answer. It's against the law to sell "fakes" of popular brand names. Selling "fakes" or "replicas" violates trademark laws. This is because "fakes" take advantage of a famous brand name, which took a lot of work to establish. Manufacturers care about this because when someone violates a trademark this way, it reduces the sales of the real product.

That's right! When you copy a manufacturer's pictures or product description, you may be infringing its copyright. If you use a third party’s logo you may be infringing their trade mark. Therefore you should write your own content and take your own pictures.

That's right! If you're not sure who made the item you're listing, you shouldn't compare its appearance to a brand name product. This is because you may mislead buyers and take advantage of a company's good reputation.

That's right! In most cases, software licenses don’t allow you to resell the software once you've installed it. "Bundled" software is first sold under the condition that it stays with the original computer. In order to comply with your original software agreement, you cannot resell the software without also selling the hardware that came with it.

That's right! If Ryan simply tells eBay that he believes the rights owner has made a mistake and then re-lists his item, he’s breaching eBay's policy. Instead, he should contact the rights owner. If the rights owner agrees that a mistake was made, the rights owner can tell eBay, and eBay will let Ryan know that he may re-list his item.

That's right! Comparing your item to a brand name in a listing title is not allowed. Sellers may only accurately compare their item's functions (but not its appearance) to a brand name in a listing description. Making comparisons to brand names in a title can mislead buyers, and in many cases, can be a trade mark infringement.

That's right! As long as you write your item's description and take your own photos, it's usually acceptable to use factual information (like length and weight) from the manufacturer's technical specifications.

That's right! By bidding on her own item, Sally has violated eBay’s Shill Bidding policy.

If Sally wants to make sure she doesn’t sell her car below a specific price, she should use a reserve price, or set an appropriate starting price, or use the Fixed Price format that allows her to set a Buy It Now price and entertain Best Offers.

That's right! Bob was harmed because the seller’s shill bidding distorted the bidding process and resulted in an artificially high price.

That's right! The seller’s bids are shill bidding, which is not allowed under the eBay User Agreement, by eBay Marketplace policies, and violates laws on misrepresentation or fraud.

Even if you believe shill bidding is not illegal under the laws of your country or in other marketplaces, it’s always against eBay policy and can result in severe penalties.

That's right! Members who engage in shill bidding are subject to a range of consequences, even for a first offense.

That's right! When an eBay member receives a suspension for shill bidding, that suspension applies to all of their eBay accounts. It is the member, not just an account, who is suspended. The member is not allowed to register new accounts during the term of their suspension for shill bidding, or to use any other means to list or bid on eBay during their suspension.

That's right! The “Buy It Now” option allows family, roommates or employees to purchase a seller’s item without violating eBay’s Shill Bidding policy.

That's right! Once you leave feedback for another member you may not edit the comment, change the rating or remove the rating and comment.

That's right! Remember that if a buyer does not pay for an item and leaves a negative Feedback, the seller can file and Unpaid Item dispute and potentially have the Feedback removed if the buyer does not respond, and has a strike placed on his or her account.

In addition, both buyers and sellers can either reply to received Feedback, or leave a follow-up comment for a Feedback they have already left for another member. The reply and follow-up provide members the ability to tell their side of the story or provide clarifying information.

That's right! Prior to trading with another member it’s always a good idea to check their feedback score, the comments others have left, the type of feedback they leave.

You can also clarify any questions with the member, and check their member profile to review the types of items they have previously bought or sold.

That's right! Before leaving feedback, make sure that you have given your buyer enough opportunity to pay, or your seller enough opportunity to validate payment and ship your item. Contact your trading partner to work out any issues before leaving feedback. Email a member using the “Ask Seller a Question” link, or request contact information using the “Contact Seller About This Item” link.

However, if you have been in communication and the transaction has not worked out, please leave appropriate feedback. Remember that feedback is a reciprocal member to member system and both members in a transaction may leave a rating and a comment.

That's right! There are different philosophies on whether the buyer or seller should leave feedback first. Research shows that sellers who leave feedback upon receipt of payment receive a higher percentage of feedback, but either approach is acceptable.

One reason that sellers leave feedback upon receipt of payment is that they believe that the buyer has upheld his or her end of the transaction. One reason sellers wait until a buyer has left feedback is they take the feedback as the signal that the buyer is satisfied with the purchase and no further customer support is needed.

If the approach your buyer or seller takes matters to you, review the comments left for others in their Member Profile page to see when they leave feedback.

That's right! Though the eBay feedback system is a member to member system, eBay will remove feedback comments if any of the following are true:

eBay is provided with a valid court order requesting removal
The feedback comment contains profane, vulgar, obscene, or racist language
The feedback comment contains personal identifying information about a member.
The feedback references an eBay, PayPal or law enforcement investigation.
The feedback comment contains links or scripts.
Negative feedback was intended for another member. This may only happen after the member responsible has already placed the same feedback for the correct member.
Feedback was left by a person ineligible to participate in eBay transactions at the time of the transaction or the time the feedback was left.
Feedback was left by a member who provided eBay with false contact information
Feedback was left by a member who bid on or purchased an item solely to have the opportunity to leave negative feedback for the seller, with no intention of completing the transaction.
The buyer leaves a negative or neutral Feedback for a seller, the seller files an Unpaid Item dispute against that buyer, and the buyer does not respond to the dispute before the deadline, and receives a strike.
It is a neutral or negative Feedback left by a buyer who is later suspended.

Members indefinitely suspended within 90 days of registration will have all feedback they left removed (both rating and comment)

That's right! Each member may only impact another member's reputation by one point per week, regardless of how many transactions the member has had with that individual during that week. You can think of this as similar to a person providing a recommendation for another person. Even though they might have had many interactions, their recommendation only counts once.

Counting all the transactions at the same time would undermine the credibility of the system since it would be easy for people to increase their Feedback Score by "trading" with the same person without actually exchanging money or products.

Repeat positive Feedback from many different buyers – including repeat buyers – is generally a very good indication that the seller meets its customer's needs, so buyers should always look at the seller's profile to view all the Feedback received.

That's right! Tony shouldn’t add additional brand names or keywords to his listing title since they aren’t directly related to the backpack he’s selling. Buyers who are looking for Sony or iPod products shouldn’t have to scroll through unrelated listings like Tony’s backpack before they find what they are searching for. He’s cluttering the search experience for many Sony and iPod buyers. eBay would end Tony’s listing for keyword spamming.

That's right! “Picture Frame made from Disney Mickey Mouse Fabric” is the most appropriate title because it accurately describes Tami’s item.

Tami doesn’t mislead the buyer by saying that the picture frame was made “by” Disney or is “from” Disney. Tami made the picture frame, so she also doesn’t want to put the words “Disney” in front of the words “picture frame” because it sounds as if the picture frame came from Disney.

Tami can use a popular brand name to her advantage by honestly saying that the fabric she used to make the picture frame is from Disney. The word “Disney” is directly related to the picture frame because it’s the fabric the frame is made of.

That's right! Sellers are allowed to compare the item being offered to the functionality of one other similar product, as long as the listing doesn’t mischaracterize which company made the item offered. Trudy can compare her saucepan to the functionality of All Clad saucepans in the description only.

That's right! Elaine is not keyword spamming as all words in her listing title are directly related to the item she’s selling – they are just synonyms or misspelled words. This is allowed on eBay because it doesn’t affect the search experience of buyers. The terms are related to the item being listed, even if they are misspelled or mean the same thing.

That's right! Jeff should accept Colin’s payment with a credit card as it was part of his contract terms and upgrade his account to a PayPal business account now that he accepts credit card payments.

By choosing PayPal in the listing process, Jeff is manipulating eBay’s search engine because Colin searched for sellers who will accept PayPal (and all forms of PayPal payment methods). Since Jeff said in the listing that he would accept PayPal, it’s part of his contract with Colin. If Jeff refuses payment with credit card he’s violating eBay’s seller performance standards policy. Jeff is also in danger of seller performance standards policy if he tries to change the terms of the contract by asking Colin after the sale to pay with another method.

Jeff may still reject any PayPal payment from a buyer with an unconfirmed address or from an international buyer.

That's right! Once an item is listed on eBay, you can not sell the item outside of eBay. You must sell it to the highest bidder. If your listing ends without a winning buyer, you can re-list the item. If the item sells the second time and qualifies for a re-list credit, eBay will refund the Insertion Fee for the re-listing.

That's right! Once an item has closed successfully on eBay, Ryan can contact the winning bidder with instructions or information related to completing the transaction. This information can include a message regarding more items in his store. He may also want to list items in an eBay Store and include links to his eBay Store to direct buyers to purchase more items from him.

That's right! Jennifer can charge a reasonable shipping and handling fee to the final price of the item. A shipping and handling fee can cover her reasonable costs for mailing, packaging and handling the item. Shipping and handling fees can not be excessive or listed as a percentage of the final sale price. Since her actual shipping expense is $3.85 and she has to pay for packaging material, Jennifer’s $5 charge is reasonable.

That's right! Sellers can offer a discount to the buyer for preferred forms of payment, but can not charge buyers a surcharge (additional fee) for their use of ordinary forms of payment.

That's right! David can offer an optional warranty or service (e.g., installation of a washer/dryer) to complement the item in order to provide better service to the buyer. However, the optional service or warranty must be directly related to the item and cannot substantially alter the value of the item, be an additional item, be excessive in price, or cause the listing to have an artificially low price.

Listing an item that requires an additional purchase is not allowed.

That's right! Patrick must list each tie he has for sale separately. This way, the buyer will be assured of receiving the exact tie on which he bid.

A choice listing occurs when a seller allows buyers to choose from a selection of items. Choice listings can be a problem because of the potential for fee circumvention, transactions outside of eBay, and other issues.

That's right! Canceling bids and ending a listing early because John’s desired price has not been met is not allowed. This is considered Reserve Fee Avoidance – a policy violation. Sellers who don’t want to sell an item below a certain price should use the Reserve price feature or set their starting price at the minimum they will accept.

That's right! Color is one of 2 exceptions to the choice policy that is allowed.

Christina can offer a choice of color only in multiple quantity listings (i.e., dutch auction, multiple-item fixed price, or store listing). However, she must be able to fulfill the entire quantity of every listing in any offered color even if every winning bidder makes exactly the same color selection.

It’s not allowed to say "The highest bidder gets first choice." Listings can not be offered "subject to availability" or request the buyer to contact the seller to see which colors are available or what quantity is available.

In addition to color, listings can offer custom-made items or services that are created or customized to the buyer's specification. All offered options must be provided at no additional charge to the buyer.

Sorry--that's not the right answer. Continue to find out why.

Sorry--that's not the right answer. Continue to find out why

Sorry--that's not the right answer. Continue to find out why.

eBay believes in a level playing field. As a result, the consequence guidelines are the same for both large and small sellers. The number of violations that will lead to eBay taking action against an account is the same for any type of seller.

eBay believes that all sellers should have the same consequences applied independent of sales volume. If a driver is stopped by a policeman for speeding, the driver receives a ticket whether the driver clocks 5,000 or 40,000 miles per year.

Communication to sellers about potential policy violations, however, may differ by size of seller. Large sellers may for example receive a phone call, as opposed to an e-mail.

The consequences for violating eBay policies vary by policy and whether the violation is a first time or repeat offense. Consequences may include a range of actions including:

Listing cancellation

Forfeit of eBay fees on cancelled listings

Limits on account privileges

Loss of PoweSeller status

Account suspension

We believe in giving each member an opportunity to recover from an “honest mistake”. However, it’s also important we maintain a level playing field and don’t place members who comply with our rules at a disadvantage relative to members who violate our policies. Also, the eBay Marketplace works better for both buyers and sellers when members follow our rules. That’s why we will take the actions outlined above for members who don’t follow our rules.

eBay does not differentiate between large seller and other sellers as we believe in a level playing field.

There are two reasons why a listing similar to a violating one might still be up:

1. When eBay is made aware of a violating listing (either because a member reports it or we discover it through a proactive search), we will remove the listing. Because approximately 5 million new listings are added to the site every day we may not discover all violating listings and a similar item may stay up.

2. Alternatively, there are instances where small differences in listings can make one listing compliant but another in violation.

It's actually against the law to sell "fakes" of popular brand names. Selling "fakes" or "replicas" violates trademark laws, even if you label your item as a fake. This is because "fakes" take advantage of a famous brand name and reduces sales of the real product. Manufacturers care about this because when someone violates a trademark this way, it reduces the sales of the real product.

When you copy a manufacturer's pictures or product description, you may be infringing its copyright. The manufacturer invested time and money to create effective descriptions and pictures, and has the right to control who can use the results of that investment . Unauthorized use of a manufacturer's logo may infringe its trade marks.

When you list something on eBay, write your own item descriptions and take your own pictures. If you don't, your listing may be removed by eBay at the request of the company or individual who created the description or images.

If you're not sure who made the item you're listing, you shouldn't compare its appearance to a brand name product. This is because you may mislead buyers and take advantage of a company's good reputation.

In most cases, software licenses don’t allow you to resell the software once you've installed it. You agree to this license when you open or install the software. "Bundled" software is first sold under the condition that it stays with the original computer. In order to comply with your original software agreement, you cannot resell the software without also selling the hardware that came with it.

If Ryan tells eBay that he believes the rights owner has made a mistake and then re-lists his item, he’s breaching eBay's policy. Instead, he should contact the rights owner. If the rights owner agrees that a mistake has been made, the rights owner can tell eBay, and eBay will let Ryan know that he may re-list his item.

Comparing your item to a brand name in a listing title is not allowed. Sellers may only accurately compare their item's performance (but not its appearance) to a brand name in a listing description. Making comparisons to brand names in a title can mislead buyers, and in many cases can be a trade mark infringement.

It's usually acceptable to copy a manufacturer's technical specifications (length, weight, etc.) into your listing. This is because technical specifications are facts, and don’t have copyright protection. As long as you write your own item description and take your own photos, your listing is likely to be in compliance with eBay policy.

When Sally joined eBay, she accepted the eBay User Agreement and agreed to its terms and conditions. Section 5.5 of the User Agreement reads: "Neither you, bidders nor sellers may manipulate the price of any item…". When she bids on her own auction, Sally is manipulating the price of her car through shill bidding. Shill bidding is not allowed on eBay.

If Sally wants to make sure she doesn’t sell her car below a specific price, she should use a reserve price, or set an appropriate starting price. She can also use the Fixed Price format that allows her to set a Buy It Now price and entertain Best Offers.

By bidding on his own auction, the seller distorted the bidding process and artificially increased the final sale price of the bicycle, which harmed Bob. In addition, by distorting the bidding process, the seller also indirectly harmed other buyers and sellers by making it appear that there was more demand for his product than there really was. The result was unfairly attracting bidders to his auction and away from other sellers' Listings.

The correct answer was Option d (answers a and b, but not c). The seller’s bids are shill bidding, which is not allowed under the eBay User Agreement and by eBay Marketplace policies, and violates laws on misrepresentation or fraud.

Even if you believe shill bidding is not illegal under the laws of your country or in other marketplaces, it is always against eBay policy and can result in severe penalties.

The correct answer was Option d (“Any of the above”). Members who engage in shill bidding are subject to a range of consequences including:

• A warning, accompanied by an opportunity to learn about eBay’s Shill Bidding policy in order to avoid future violations
• Cancellation of listings
• Forfeit of eBay fees on cancelled listings
• Limits on account privileges
• Loss of PowerSeller status
• Account suspension
• Referral to law enforcement for criminal prosecution

Any combination of these can apply, even for a first offense.

The correct answer is “None of the above.” When an eBay member receives a suspension for shill bidding, that suspension applies to all of their eBay accounts. It is the member, not just an account, who is suspended. The member is not allowed to register new accounts during the term of their suspension for shill bidding, and from using any other means to list or bid on eBay during their suspension.

Because the buyer is a member of the seller’s family (or, if she were a roommate or employee of the seller), she may only purchase the seller’s items if the seller offers and she selects the “Buy It Now” option.

Once you leave feedback for another member you may not edit the comment, change the rating or remove the rating and comment.

Since feedback becomes a permanent part of a member’s reputation we encourage members to use good judgment whenever leaving feedback.

Remember that if a buyer does not pay for an item and leaves a negative Feedback, the seller can file an Unpaid Item Dispute and potentially have the Feedback removed if the buyer does not respond, and has a strike placed on his or her account.

In addition, members may reply to comments left for them and leave a follow-up comment for a comment they have already left.

The reply and follow-up provide members the ability to tell their side of the story or provide clarifying information.

Before you trade with another member, it’s always a good idea to check their feedback score, the comments others have left for them and the type of feedback they leave. You can also clarify any questions with the member and check their member profile to review the types of items they have previously bought or sold.

Taking these steps prior to bidding, buying or accepting bids can help eliminate most misunderstandings that may arise during a transaction.

Most issues that result in a negative feedback occur because of a breakdown in communication sometimes it’s due to spam blockers, sometimes it’s because a person went on vacation and they don’t have access to email. Other times it’s because someone is very busy and it’s taking longer for them to reply (sellers during the holiday selling season). Contact your trading partner to work out any issues before leaving feedback. Email a member using the “Ask Seller a Question” link, or request contact information using the “Contact Seller About This Item” link.

Buyers often believe the seller should leave feedback as soon as the buyer has paid, and many sellers share this view. Other sellers believe that payment is only one part of the overall transaction and they don’t want to leave feedback until they are sure that their buyer is satisfied. They typically wait until the buyer shows this satisfaction by leaving a positive feedback. Other sellers use automated tools to leave feedback and program it to wait until feedback has been left.

Whichever approach you take is acceptable, though sellers that leave feedback upon receipt of payment receive a higher percentage of feedback. If the approach your buyer or seller takes matters to you, review the comments left for others in their Member Profile page to see when they leave feedback.

Though the eBay feedback system is a member to member system and the comments are solely the opinion of the person leaving the feedback, there are instances, where no judgment is required on our behalf, when we will remove a rating and comment.

eBay is provided with a valid court order requesting removal
The feedback comment contains profane, vulgar, obscene, or racist language
The feedback comment contains personal identifying information about a member.
The feedback references an eBay, PayPal or law enforcement investigation.
The feedback comment contains links or scripts.
Negative feedback was intended for another member. This may only happen after the member responsible has already placed the same feedback for the correct member.
Feedback was left by a person ineligible to participate in eBay transactions at the time of the transaction or the time the feedback was left.
Feedback was left by a member who provided eBay with false contact information.
Feedback was left by a member who bid on or purchased an item solely to have the opportunity to leave negative feedback for the seller, with no intention of completing the transaction.
The buyer leaves a negative or neutral Feedback for a seller, the seller files an Unpaid Item dispute against that buyer, and the buyer does not respond to the dispute before the deadline, and receives a strike.
It is a neutral or negative Feedback left by a buyer who is later suspended.

Also, members indefinitely suspended within 90 days of registration will have all feedback they left removed (both rating and comment).

Each member may only impact another member's reputation by one point per week, regardless of how many transactions the member has had with that individual during that week. You can think of this as similar to a person providing a recommendation for another person. Even though they might have had many interactions, their recommendation only counts once.

The correct answer is Option d, Tony shouldn’t add “Sony” and “iPod” to his title because members using those words in a keyword search will get listings they aren’t interested in seeing.

Even though Tony carried his iPod and Sony headset in this backpack, those brands aren’t directly related to the generic backpack he’s listing. It may also be true that buyers looking for Sony or iPod might also want a backpack; however, most members who type “Sony” or “iPod” into the search box are looking for Sony or iPod products. They shouldn’t have to look through unrelated listings to find what they are looking for.

The correct answer was Option b, “Picture Frame made from Disney Mickey Mouse Fabric.”

“Picture Frame made from Disney Mickey Mouse Fabric” is the most appropriate title because it accurately describes the item that Tami is selling.

However, Tami can honestly say that the fabric she used to make the picture frame is from Disney. The word “Disney” is directly related to the picture frame because it’s the fabric the frame is made of.

Sellers are allowed to compare the item being offered to the functionality of one other similar product, as long as the listing doesn’t mischaracterize which company made the item offered. Trudy can compare her saucepan to the functionality of All Clad saucepans in the description only.

Sellers aren’t allowed to make comparisons between items in a listing title. Words like “style”, “-esque” and “not” aren’t allowed in the listing title.

Elaine is not keyword spamming as all words in her listing title are directly related to the item she’s selling – they are just synonyms or misspelled words. This is allowed on eBay because it doesn’t affect the search experience of buyers. The terms are related to the item being listed, even if they are misspelled or mean the same thing.

Jeff should accept Colin’s payment with a credit card as it was part of his contract terms and upgrade his account to a PayPal business account now that he accepts credit card payments.

Jeff is also in danger of the seller performance standards policy if he tries to change the terms of the contract by asking Colin after the sale to pay with another method.

Jeff may still reject any PayPal payment from a buyer with an unconfirmed address or from an international buyer.

The correct answer was Option d, Tyler cannot sell the item outside of eBay while the item is for sale on eBay, and cannot cancel bids and end the item to sell the item to one of the bidders outside of eBay.

Once an item is listed on eBay, you must sell it to the highest bidder.

You can not offer to complete a transaction early for a member who is not the high bidder. Nor can you cancel all bids and make or take offers for the item outside of the eBay Web site. However, you can end your listing early and sell it on eBay. You can only sell it to the highest bidder at the bid price showing at the time the listing is ended.

Even though offers to buy or sell outside of eBay aren’t always made with the intent to defraud, there is a significant level of risk involved. Please be aware that items purchased as a result of an outside of eBay offer aren’t eligible for eBay services, including:

Feedback
Requests for contact information
Coverage under eBay purchase protection programs

The correct answer was Option d, By letting an eBay buyer who has purchased something from Ryan on eBay know that he has more items for sale during the post-transaction process.

Sellers cannot include a website URL or link on the listing page that goes to a store outside of eBay. Links to an outside–of-eBay URL are allowed on Store Custom Pages that aren’t currently set as the home page of the Store or on the member’s About Me page. However, these links and pages cannot promote items not offered for sale on eBay.

Listings cannot include or advertise contact information in the listing title or subtitle. This is considered an inappropriate title/subtitle and is a technique to complete sales outside of eBay. This is a form of fee circumvention, which is not allowed. Finally, emailing potential buyers about the availability of more items outside-of-eBay is not allowed.

The correct answer is Option a, Yes.

Jennifer can charge a reasonable shipping and handling fee to the final price of the item. A shipping and handling fee can cover her reasonable costs for mailing, packaging and handling the item. Shipping and handling fees can not be excessive or listed as a percentage of the final sale price. Since her actual shipping expense is $3.85 and she has to pay for packaging material, Jennifer’s $5 charge is reasonable.

The correct answer was Option c, Offer a discount for non-credit card payments.

While sellers can charge a reasonable shipping and handling fee, they can not charge eBay buyers a surcharge (additional fee) for their use of ordinary forms of payment. This includes acceptance of checks, money orders, electronic transfers or credit cards. Furthermore, some forms of payment surcharges, such as credit card surcharges, are forbidden under the laws of many states, including California.

The correct answer was Option a, Optional additional purchase of a warranty.

Listing an item that requires the buyer to make an additional purchase is not allowed. Outside of reasonable charges for shipping, handling, insurance, and taxes, the buyer must not be required to pay an additional amount for something as a condition for receiving the item or receiving the benefit of the item.

David can offer an optional warranty or service (e.g., installation of a washer/dryer) to complement the item in order to provide better service to the buyer. However, the optional service or warranty must be directly related to the item and can not substantially alter the value of the item, be an additional item, be excessive in price, or cause the listing to have an artificially low price.

The correct answer is Option b, No.

Patrick should list each tie he has for sale separately. This way, the buyer will be assured of receiving the exact tie on which he bid.

A choice listing occurs when a seller allows buyers to choose from a selection of items. Choice listings can be problematic because of the potential for fee circumvention, transactions outside of eBay, and other issues.

The correct answer was Option b, No.

Canceling bids and ending a listing early because John’s desired price has not been met is not allowed. This is considered Reserve Fee Avoidance – a policy violation. Sellers who don’t want to sell an item below a certain price should use the Reserve price feature or set their starting price at the minimum they will accept.

Additionally, stating the reserve price of the item when the item has not been listed using the reserve price feature or stating that the high bidder is obligated to purchase the item even if the Reserve price has not been met is also considered Reserve Fee Avoidance.

The correct answer was Option a, Yes, as long as she doesn’t list using a single-quantity listing format.

Color is one of 2 exceptions to the choice policy that is allowed.

Christina can offer a choice of color only in a multiple quantity listings (i.e., dutch auction, multiple-item fixed price, or store listing). However, she must be able to fulfill the entire quantity of every listing in any offered color even if every winning bidder makes exactly the same color selection.

How you can be a good community member, by making you aware of many of the “rules” with which we all need to comply

How you can best avoid violating eBay policies

Why eBay has policies and why these rules make the marketplace a better place to trade.

Congratulations! You've completed the tutorial.

Thanks for taking eBay's tutorial on Marketplace. We hope it's been useful. Let's take a moment to go over some basics before you're finished.

Here's some of what we've discussed:

As a good community member, you need to abide by some rules – we hope that you will take the time to familiarize yourself with them when in doubt
Policy violations often occur due to lack of awareness or understanding, not intent. To avoid actions being taken against your account, eBay strongly encourages its members to read its policies as each member is responsible for ensuring their account complies with all eBay rules
Please continue to report listing violations to us so we can continue to create a safe market place
Information on policies can be found

o At the bottom of the eBay home page, “Policies” link
o In the Security Center
o By searching Help

Please remember –violation of policy may result in a range of actions, including:

Listing Cancellation
Forfeit of eBay fees on cancelled listings
Limits on account privileges
Loss of PowerSeller status
Account suspension

If you have any more questions on the market place, you can visit eBay's help pages.

Thanks for your time. Now go have some fun on eBay!