eBay is committed to reducing fraud and negative buying experiences on the site. In order to help maintain safety in the marketplace, sellers may experience one or more of the following:

• Request for additional verification of identity

• Restrictions on site activity and/or sales activity

• Listing removal

• Account suspension

Request for additional verification

Sellers may be required to provide additional verification in cases such as listing items on a site other than their site of registration or when they are listing items that are reportedly favoured by counterfeiters. The type of verification methods will vary.

However, in many cases, sellers are required to become verified with PayPal. For example, new sellers who'd like to sell internationally need to have a verified PayPal account linked to their eBay account.

Verification with PayPal – Members who are verified with PayPal have completed an authentication process to confirm their identity. Becoming a verified PayPal member is important as it increases the security of the eBay and PayPal networks.

Learn about becoming verified with PayPal.

If you do not have a PayPal account, you can become Verified as part of the registration sign up process.

Note: Once you have completed the verification process, do also link your eBay and PayPal accounts.

Restrictions on site activity and sales activity

Some examples:

• Site activity such as selling, bidding, and communication with other eBay members using Contact eBay Member or Ask Seller a Question may be limited in order to maintain safety in the marketplace.

• eBay may require a seller to be registered for a period of time in order to sell certain types of items or volume of items. This is especially true in efforts to help limit the listing of items that are reportedly favored by counterfeiters.

• For certain types of items that are reportedly favoured by counterfeiters, sellers might not be able to list using one-day or three-day auctions.

• Sellers are required to meet a certain level of buyer satisfaction. If buyer satisfaction falls below expectations, a seller’s activity may be limited or the seller’s account may be restricted or suspended.

Removal of listings

Any item that violates eBay policies or infringes on the copyrights of others may be removed. In addition, some listings are removed because the language or photos used in the item title or description violate eBay policy. This means that some items that buyers may have purchased in a store, or even possibly on eBay, may not be allowed or could be removed due to listing policies. For more information, see Why eBay May Remove Your Listing and Reporting Inappropriate Trading Behavior.

Account suspension

eBay may suspend an account for serious violations of the site's Rules and Policies and for non-payment of eBay fees. eBay may also suspend an account if we feel the account is creating problems or causing possible legal liabilities.

When an account is suspended, eBay will send a notification to the registered email associated with the suspended account. This email will also appear in the account’s My Messages page in My eBay.

For more information on how to resolve account suspensions, please review the Suspended Account page.

These types of measures help instill buyer confidence and help protect the marketplace against fraud.

To view eBay policies for selling, such as prohibited and restricted items, protection of intellectual property, and listing practices, see Rules for Sellers.

Sellers may be asked to take a tutorial or to resolve open disputes prior to being granted full site privileges.