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Prohibited and restricted items - overview


Before listing your item, make sure it's allowed on eBay and find out if there are specific rules and conditions on how it should be listed. See the list of prohibited and restricted items below and click the product category for information about the policies. Sellers also need to make sure that the sale of their item complies with all laws.

Make sure your listing follows these guidelines. If it doesn't, it may be removed, and you may be subject to a range of other actions, including restrictions of your buying and selling privileges and suspension of your account.

Understanding the rules

Here are some basic things to keep in mind when listing your items on eBay:

Our policies are often based on country and state laws, although in some cases, they may also be based on input from our members and our own discretion, especially for dangerous or sensitive items. For example, see our offensive material policy.
Be sure to read our policies before listing items. Follow our guidelines and review our examples so you know beforehand what you can and can't sell on eBay (note that examples are not an exhaustive list).
When selling internationally, be sure to read our guidelines on international trading and import restrictions. Although certain items may be legal to sell in your country, they might be illegal elsewhere.
The list of prohibited and restricted items below covers things that can be listed under certain conditions and things that can't be listed at all. In our medicine and healthcare products policy, for example, while many items aren't allowed (like contact lenses), others are allowed under certain conditions (including certain types of medical instruments).
Be sure to also read our rules for listings and our rules about intellectual property to check if your item has other guidelines that would affect your listing.

Prohibited items

These items may not be listed on eBay:

Restricted items

These items may only be listed on eBay under certain conditions:

Potentially infringing

These items may infringe certain copyrights or trademarks:

Reporting policy breaches

If you see a listing that breaches eBay policies, please report it by clicking the Report item link in the listing, or by clicking the Report link or Contact Us button located on most of our help pages. When a policy breach occurs, we email the seller and the bidders or the buyer to let them know that the listing has been removed from eBay.

Contact Customer Service

You can contact Customer Support to report a listing you think breaches this policy. Go to the listing, and then click the Report item link on the right side of the page.
We'll review your report and take appropriate action.

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