Rules for everyone: Overview

There are rules that all eBay users, both buyers and sellers, need to know and follow. These rules help to protect you when you are buying and selling on eBay, or participating in the community.

Rules about general member conduct

eBay members cannot:

• Interfere with the eBay site

• Use profanity on the site

• Continue to use eBay if a member’s account is suspended

• Make offers to buy or sell outside of eBay

• Post want ads

In addition to rules that apply to all eBay members, eBay also has rules specifically about Feedback, buying and selling.

When a buyer or seller issue comes up, depending on the particular situation, we may consider an individual's performance history and the specific circumstances, which can influence how we apply our rules and policies. At our discretion, we may choose to be more lenient with policy enforcement, as long as that decision doesn't result in eBay requiring payment from another member. We reserve the right to do the right thing for both buyers and sellers.

Rules about identity

Member identity is a building block of the eBay community. eBay treats member identity with great respect, and all community members are expected to do the same.

eBay members:

• Must be at least 18 years old

• Cannot misrepresent their identities

• Must always provide valid and complete contact information, including a valid email address

• Must follow eBay's rules about displaying their contact information in a listing. Business sellers on eBay's UK site are required by the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002 to display their contact details.

• Cannot publish the contact information of other members in an online public area

• Must choose their user ID according to eBay's policy

Rules about communicating with other eBay members

eBay members:

• Cannot misuse the eBay email forwarding system, send unsolicited email (spam) or email threats to other members

• Must follow eBay’s rules for eBay groups, eBay discussion boards, and community content (which includes reviews and guides)

Rules about eBay’s responsibilities

• eBay’s Privacy policy specifies how your personal information is used

• eBay’s Outage policy allows sellers compensation if the site experiences an extended outage

• eBay employees are bound by all eBay policies and need to identify themselves as eBay employees when they bid, list an item or submit content to the site

Other questions you may have

Can I retract or cancel my bid?

How do I close my eBay account?