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Stolen property policy

Policy overview

We don't allow the sale of stolen property on eBay because it violates local and international law. We also strongly support efforts by law enforcement to investigate attempts to sell stolen property on our site. If we see this activity taking place, we'll proactively notify law enforcement and help in their efforts to investigate and prosecute members who violate this policy.

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 limits of your buying and selling privileges and suspension of your account.

If you see stolen property on eBay please contact local law enforcement immediately and ask them to contact eBay via the Law Enforcement area in the Safety Centre.
If you're registered on eBay.co.uk, Action Fraud is the UK's national fraud and internet crime reporting centre and you can report issues through the Action Fraud website.  Reports about transactions outside of eBay or PayPal may not be investigated by law enforcement, although your report will help the police to build up a picture of fraud activity. eBay will always assist in a criminal investigation received from Law Enforcement regarding activity on the eBay Inc. platforms.
If you request a law enforcement official to contact us, ask that he or she include all relevant information, including the case number and any item numbers or user IDs. This information appears on the listing page.

What are the guidelines?

 Not allowed

Here are some examples of items that are not allowed on eBay:

  • Items stolen from private individuals

  • Property taken without authorization from companies or governments

If you think another eBay member has stolen your item descriptions or pictures:  See our images and text policy.

If you think your intellectual property rights have been violated: Find out more about our Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) program.

We urge sellers and buyers to comply with all government laws and regulations. Selling stolen items is against the law, and we don't allow these items on eBay.

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