eBay's guidelines for listing items are outlined in the eBay User Agreement. To help members properly list items on eBay, we've highlighted some listing policies and describe how eBay handles listing violations when they are reported.

• Proper category listing

• Choice listings

• Duplicate listings

• Links policy

• Wanted ads or trades

• Bonus items

• Giveaways, raffles and prizes

• Listing Techniques that Circumvent eBay's fee structure

• Reserve Price listing violations

• Terms and Conditions contradictory to any eBay Policy

• Key word spamming

• Payment surcharges

• JavaScript

• Profanity

• Repeat offences

Proper category listing

Items must be listed in the appropriate category. There are over 2,150 categories in which to list an item, so finding a category for your item is relatively easy.

Policy: Items that don't belong in a category will be moved to the appropriate category. Indian members are not permitted to buy or sell items, in the eBay US (www.ebay.com) Mature Audience Category. Items listed on the eBay India site must be listed in accordance with the eBay India Mature Audience Material Policy. Item listings that do not adhere to this policy will be ended. The listing fee will be automatically credited for that listing.

Choice Listing

A Choice Listing occurs when a seller allows buyers to choose from a selection of items. Choice Listings can be problematic because of potential for fee circumvention, transactions outside of eBay and other issues.

Policy: Choice Listings are generally not allowed and will be ended. The insertion fee will be automatically credited for that listing.

Exceptions:

Duplicate Listings

A Duplicate Listing occurs when a seller lists multiple identical items in more than one listing. The best method to list identical items is through our Dutch Auction format. We understand sellers have reasons to list identical items at the same time. This is permissible as long as the seller can complete the sale of all listings. However, there is a limit to the amount of identical, or duplicate, listings allowed on eBay.

Policy: A seller can have up to five identical item listings at one time. If the seller lists in more than one category, the categories must be relevant. Any additional identical listings may be ended. The listing fee will be automatically credited for that listing.

Links Policy

Summary: The eBay item page can only be used to describe, promote and facilitate the sale of the listed eBay item - it cannot refer to or promote the seller's individual web site, off eBay sales or other businesses. The eBay About Me page is a place where the seller can promote their individual web site or business.

The eBay Item page can contain no URLs or links to, or promotional information about, any off eBay web page, including web sites of the seller or any third party.

There are 2 exceptions to this general rule - the eBay item page may contain a link to information related specifically to that item that:

• Gives acknowledgement to a company that provided services related to that listing (counters, auction management tools, payment and mediation services). This acknowledgement may contain a logo (88x33 pixels) and up to 10 words of text (HTML font size 3). However, only one of these may be clickable.

• Points interested buyers to another Internet page that contains only more information (such as pictures, product specifications or detailed terms and conditions) about eBay items listed by that seller.

Links from the eBay Item page that interfere in any way with the eBay bidding process, or solicit any eBay member information, are not allowed. Links from the eBay Item page to pages that promote off eBay sales in any way are forbidden, though such pages may generally themselves contain discrete links to other commercial web pages.

The eBay About Me page may be used to describe the seller's business, and may contain URLs or links to the seller's individual web site. It may not specifically promote off eBay sales or sales of items prohibited on eBay, nor may it contain links to commercial web sites where goods from multiple sellers are aggregated by a common search engine.

The above provides a summary of our Links policy. To view the policy in full, please click here.

If you have questions about this policy, view the Links FAQ.

Want ads or trades

Listings advertising a desire to buy or trade items are not allowed on eBay.

Policy: All listings with want ads or trades are not permitted and will be ended, except for listings within the Non-Binding Bid Policy. The insertion fee will be automatically credited for that listing.

Bonus Items

It is generally permissible for sellers to offer a bonus item to bidders within their listing as long as the following requirements are met:

• In all bonus listings, the seller must state the exact price at which the bonus will apply. For example, it is not permissible to state "I will throw in a state of the art black and white TV if bidding reaches a high enough amount." It is permissible to state "I will throw in a state of the art black and white TV if bidding reaches Rs. 15,000."

• In Dutch Auctions the seller must offer the exact same bonus item to ALL winning bidders. Dutch auction rules require that all winning bidders receive identical items.

Policy: Bonus listings in which the seller does not state the exact amount at which the bonus will apply and Dutch Auction listings in which the exact same bonus is not offered to all winning bidders are not permitted and will be ended. The insertion fee will be automatically credited for such listings.

Giveaways, Raffles and Prizes

Listings that promote giveaways, random drawings or prizes as an enticement for buyers are not permitted on eBay as these promotions are highly regulated and may be unlawful in many states. eBay itself may run such promotions on the site, and may grant authorisation to its partners or third party companies to run promotions, that comply with applicable laws.

Policy: These types of listings are not permitted and will be ended. The insertion fee will be automatically credited for that listing.

Listing Techniques that Circumvent eBay's fee structure

Members may not use systems or techniques to circumvent eBay fees. Some examples include:

• Offering in a listing the opportunity to purchase the item or other merchandise outside of eBay.

• Listings with low prices but unreasonably high shipping or handling costs

• Listing an item that requires or offers an additional purchase

  Example: travel certificates that require holder to buy or pay for something (i.e. 7 nights hotel room) as a condition of receiving the benefit of the coupon (i.e. free or discounted airfare).

• Dutch Avoidance - listing a single item and offering additional identical items for sale in the item description. In these situations, the seller typically instructs buyers to indicate the number of items they want, and states that they can get the same price as the item in the listing.

• Listings with an e-mail address or domain name in the title. Exception: This will be permissible only in listings that are offering a domain name for sale.

• Catalogue Sales - listings of catalogues from which buyers may directly order items are prohibited. In these situations, the seller will typically offer the catalogue for low bid prices and complete sales outside of eBay for items found in the catalogue. Old, collectible catalogues (i.e., those that you cannot order from any longer) are permissible.

• Offering items for sale in a manner that circumvents eBay fees (click here for more information).

• Listings that circumvent eBay fees are not permitted and will be ended. The insertion fee will be automatically credited for that listing. Disciplinary action may result in the indefinite suspension of a member's account, temporary suspension, or a formal warning. eBay will consider the circumstances of an alleged offence and the member's trading records before taking action.

Reserve price listing violations

• Reserve price stated in the description of the item when not listed with eBay as a reserve listing.

• Seller states high bidder is obligated to purchase when reserve is not met.

Policy: These types of listings are not permitted and will be ended. The listing fee will be automatically credited for that listing.

Terms or conditions contradictory to any eBay policy

• Key word spamming (see description below)

• Misleading item listing titles

Keyword spamming

Inclusion of unrelated key word terms used in effort to gain unfair exposure for seller's auction. The seller will usually state in title: Beautiful Brand X boots not Brand Z. Please review eBay's comprehensive Search Manipulation Policy.

Policy: These types of listings are not permitted and will be ended. The listing fee will be automatically credited for that listing.

Payment Surcharges

Sellers may not charge eBay buyers an additional fee for their use of ordinary forms of payment, including acceptance of cheques, demand drafts, electronic transfers or credit cards. Such costs should be built into the price of the item -- this policy reduces the potential for confusion among bidders about the true cost of an item. Further, some forms of payment surcharges, such as credit card surcharges are prohibited by law in some countries such as the United States or under the issuing institution's rules and regulations for merchants. Although credit card surcharges are not illegal under Indian law, they are usually in breach of the issuing institution's operating rules and regulations for merchants (usually set out in a Merchant Agreement). For more information you should contact your financial institution or follow these links:

• Mastercard

• Visa

Can a seller charge the buyer additional fees on top of the final bid or Buy It Now price of an eBay item? Yes, in two instances.

• Sellers may charge the buyer for reasonable shipping and handling fees, providing the payment of these fees by the buyer is disclosed up front in the listing. A shipping and handling fee can cover the seller's reasonable costs for mailing, packaging and handling the item. Shipping and handling fees cannot be listed as a percentage of the final sale price.

• Sellers may choose to accept payment in a different currency to the listing currency. In these circumstances the seller may charge the buyer for any costs associated with currency exchange, provided the costs are disclosed and agreed to in advance by the buyer.

JavaScript

eBay does not permit the use of the following types of JavaScript functions: Scripts used to drop or read a cookie on any eBay page Scripts that redirect the member from eBay to another page (such as the "replace" script) JavaScript Include and iframe.

Many people are not aware of the harm these scripts can cause and do not intentionally use these to cause harm; however, these types of JavaScript can be used for malicious purposes. Therefore, in the interest of security, we have eliminated the use of these scripts on our site.

Attempts to use the disabled scripts will return a very specific error message that begins: "Disallowed JavaScript/HTML Syntax" and you will be prevented from listing the item. Any other JavaScript error indicates a separate issue, and is not related to the disabling of these scripts.

Profanity

eBay does not allow the use of profanity or patently vulgar language. This includes the use of language that is racist, hateful, sexual, or obscene in nature in a public area. This policy extends to text within item listings, on About Me pages and on shops.

We make allowances for certain items listed on the core site that may contain profane words that are a part of the title. An example of such an item might be a music CD with profanity in some of the song titles. If the profane words are part of a title for the item being sold, we allow sellers to 'blurb' out the bulk of the offending word with asterisks (i.e., s*** or f***). Please remember, all items listed must abide by our policies regarding adult items as outlined in our Mature Audiences guidelines.

Policy: The use of profanity on our site is not permitted. Listings that contain profanity will be ended. The insertion fee will be automatically credited for that listing.

Repeat offences

If a seller repeatedly lists items that violate the policies described above, that seller is subject to suspension from eBay.

Please be sure to check our Questionable and Prohibited Items pages.