How to report inappropriate buying and selling
We'll investigate and try to resolve instances of inappropriate buying or selling. If you encounter something that breaches our policies, want to know about it.
How to know what to report
If you see a suspicious listing or if a member's behaviour appears to breach our policies, first review our rules and policies to make sure the issue is something we'll investigate.
You can also look at:
How to report a policy breach
If you see a listing you think breaches a policy, click the Report item link on the right side of the listing page. We'll review your report and take appropriate action.
For other types of policy breaches, follow the directions on the page that describes the relevant policy.
Don't use the Was this page helpful? area on this page (or any other Help page) to report breaches. Issues reported this way will not be investigated.
What we'll investigate
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Feedback
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Feedback extortion: Members aren't allowed to demand goods, services or positive Feedback by abusing the Feedback system.
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Feedback manipulation: Members can't artificially inflate their Feedback or sabotage the Feedback of others.
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Buying
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Buying practices: We don't allow unfair or unsafe behaviour from buyers - such as making unreasonable demands of sellers, or taking advantage of our protection systems.
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Unpaid items: Members must pay for items that they purchase. If you're a seller and haven't been paid for an item, report the unpaid item.
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Shill bidding: Members can't use bidding techniques to artificially increase an item's price or desirability.
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Selling
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Shill bidding: Members can't use bidding techniques to artificially increase an item's price or desirability.
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Contact information and identity
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Misrepresentation of identity: Members can't pretend to be 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 or buy their own items or leave comments on their own Feedback profile.
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Other
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Sending spam: Members can't send unsolicited or commercial messages to other members.
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Email threats: Members can't send threatening messages to other members.
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What we won't investigate
We don't investigate simple misunderstandings, members who won't communicate, and personal disputes between members.
Here are some examples of behaviour we won't investigate:
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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.
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The seller refuses to answer my emails, won't acknowledge my valid payment or has already sold the item. If you don't receive your item, or if the item arrived but it isn't as it was described in the listing, you may be covered by the eBay Money Back Guarantee. If your purchase is eligible for eBay Money Back Guarantee, you can get a refund for the purchase price plus original postage & packaging (P&P).
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The buyer insists that I send the item COD, accept a third-party post-dated cheque or box each item separately. Make sure you clearly state your P&P and payment terms in your listings. We encourage you to communicate with your buyer to see if you can reach a solution that works for both of you.
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The buyer left negative Feedback for me even after I left positive Feedback for the buyer. eBay will only remove transaction defects and Feedback related to defects in certain situations. Learn more about the defect removal policy.
Results of an investigation
Because we respect the privacy of our members, we don't discuss the results of an investigation in detail. However, we may contact you to tell you that the investigation has been completed.
Before taking action against a member, we'll consider the circumstances of the breach and the member's buying and selling record. Our actions may include removing listings, sending a warning notice, limiting buying and selling privileges and account suspension. Bear in mind that not all of our actions will be obvious to other members.
Out of fairness to our members, we won't take action if a complaint can't be proven.