4 min overview

Prohibited and restricted items

While you can sell almost any item on eBay, maintaining the safety of our community is a responsibility we take very seriously.

For this reason, and to comply with local legal restrictions, some categories of products are restricted, or completely banned from being listed.

If you're not sure if an item you're intending to list is allowed, take a look at the relevant policy from the list below to find out. Our prohibited and restricted policies are applicable across all selling formats on eBay, including listing and eBay Live events.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I find out what items are allowed on eBay?

If you're not sure whether your item can be listed on eBay, check our list of prohibited and restricted item policies below.

What do I do if I see an item that isn't allowed?

If you see a listing that doesn't follow one of our policies, report it from the Report item link in the listing.

eBay prohibited and restricted items policies

Airsoft, air rifle & BB guns policy

Alcohol policy

Animal products policy

Animal traps policy

Art policy

Artifacts and cave formations policy

Beta & OEM software policy

Chance listings policy

Charity listings policy

Collectible currency policy

Compilations of information policy

Cosmetics and perfume policy

Counterfeit item policy

Coupons policy

Credit and debit (bank) card policy

Custom printed products policy

Disaster and tragedy policy

Electronic equipment policy

Electronically delivered items policy

Embargoed goods policy

Emissions control defeat devices policy

Encouraging illegal activity policy

Event tickets policy

Fertilizer and pesticides policy

Firearms and accessories policy

Food policy

Funeral items policy

Gift cards policy

Government items policy

Hazardous materials policy

Human body parts policy

Illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia policy

Illegal explicit content policy

Intangible items policy

International trading policy

Jewellery policy

Knives policy

Live animals policy

Lockpicking devices policy

Lottery tickets policy

Medical devices policy

Military items policy

Offensive materials policy

Personal information policy

Pill press, die and mould policy

Plants and seeds policy

Police-related items policy

Prescription and over-the-counter drugs policy

Price gouging policy

Product safety policy

Products with eligibility requirements policy

Prohibited adult items policy

Protecting minors policy

Real estate policy

Replica, toy, and prop firearms policy

Restricted adult items policy

Services policy

Single-use plastic products policy

Slot machines policy

Social media and reviews manipulation policy

Stocks and securities policy

Stolen property policy

Tobacco and e-cigarettes policy

Travel policy

Used clothing policy

Vehicles and vehicle parts and accessories policy

Violence and violent criminals policy

Virtual currency policy

Weapons policy

Read our full policy

Prohibited and restricted items policy overview

Before listing your item, make sure we allow it on eBay, and find out if we have specific rules and conditions on how you should list it. Check the list of prohibited and restricted item policies above. You also need to make sure that the sale of your item complies with all laws and any additional restrictions applicable to payment services offered on eBay such as credit card association or network rules.

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

Our policies are often based on country and provincial laws, although in some cases, we may also base our policies on input from our members and our own discretion, especially for dangerous or sensitive items.

Read and understand 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.

When selling internationally, read our international trading policy. Although certain items may be legal to sell in your country, they might be illegal elsewhere.

To find out if we have other guidelines that might affect your listing or product, read our rules for listings and our rules about intellectual property.

Reporting listings that don't follow policy