4 min overview

Prohibited and restricted items

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.

Activity on eBay is required to follow this policy, the eBay User Agreement and all applicable laws, as well as respect the rights of third parties. If it doesn’t, eBay may take action consistent with applicable laws and the eBay User Agreement, and may even be legally required to do so. Such actions may include, as an example only: Removing the listing or other content, issuing a warning, restricting activity or account suspension.

In certain scenarios, we may hide your listing from being visible to shoppers until the problematic content is fixed. Once changes are made and approved by eBay, your listing will be available to shoppers once again.

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 Medical devices 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.

What are the guidelines?

Prohibited items

Restricted items

Potentially infringing

Reporting listings that don't follow policy

If you see a listing that doesn't follow 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 listing doesn't follow policy, we email the seller and the bidders or the buyer to let them know that the listing has been removed or hidden.

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