eBay provides members a wide variety of forums, such as, but not limited to, Guides, Blog Entries and Member-Created Product Descriptions, to enable our members to provide factual information, personal opinions about products, and guidance on a variety of topics; and to publish other personal commentary and content on our site.
Community content published or edited by eBay Community members is solely the opinion and responsibility of the person posting the content. All content posted to one of these forums must comply with all aspects of the eBay User Agreement and this policy.
See the Examples section below for examples of content that is not permitted. These examples are designed to provide guidance when self-publishing content on our site and should not be viewed as an exhaustive list.
Exceptions to these policies may be found in the Additional Information section of this page.
We have additional policies concerning the posting of content to our Discussion and Chat boards and Groups.
Violations of eBay policies, including this policy, may result in a range of actions, including:
Content removal
Listing cancellation
Forfeit of eBay fees on cancelled listings
Limits on account privileges
Loss of PowerSeller status
Account suspension.
To report violations of this policy, please click the “Report” link located on the specific content (Guides, Blog Entries and Comments and Member-Created Product Descriptions) in question.
The following are examples of content or actions not permitted in the Community content areas (Guides, Blog Entries and Member-Created Product Descriptions):
Promoting or advertising to buy, sell, or trade any product or service listed or located outside of any eBay property (e.g. eBay, Half.com, eBay Stores, eBay Express, etc.). Sellers may only promote their Store or Sellers Other Items list, not individual listings.
Placing published content in the wrong category (mis-categorisation).
Using another eBay member's pictures or text without the other member's express permission.
Using intellectual property without the property owner's express permission, where applicable. eBay strongly encourages members writing and publishing content to familiarise themselves with how eBay helps protect intellectual property. For more information see How eBay Protects Intellectual Property (VeRO.
Including any advertising credit, including links, logos, or company names within published content.
Publishing more than one identical piece of content concurrently.
Encouraging, promoting, facilitating, or instructing others to engage in illegal activity or to violate eBay policy.
Enabling, encouraging, or instructing others to infringe copyrights, trademarks, or other intellectual property rights.
Promoting giveaways, lotteries, random drawings, raffles, or prizes of any kind.
Using HTML and Javascript functions prohibited on eBay. For more information see eBay’s policy on Prohibited HTML and Javascript for a complete list.
Using keywords, random links, inaccurate titles, text, or other content not directly relevant to the subject of the Community content for the purpose of gaining attention or diverting members to that content. For more information on misuse of keywords, see our site policy on Keyword Spamming.
Publishing content or images that are adult in nature or otherwise not appropriate for minors (individuals under 18 years of age).
Linking from content published on eBay to Web sites that include offers to trade, sell, or purchase goods or services off eBay is generally not permitted. Please see Additional Information below for exceptions with Blogs.
Linking to items, services, or content prohibited on eBay or to sites that offer items, services, or content prohibited on eBay.
Misrepresenting yourself as an eBay employee or as another eBay member.
Publishing content that promotes or glorifies hatred, violence, racial, or religious intolerance, or content that promotes organisations with such views. For more information see our site policy on Offensive Material.
Using profanity or patently vulgar language in a public area of the site. Please see Additional Information below for exceptions with Blogs.
Publishing personal contact information of any person in any public area of eBay, including emails, phone numbers, name, street address, etc.
Misusing the violation reporting function to maliciously or frivolously report content as not in compliance with eBay policy.
Exceptions for Blog use
Use of profanity (not patently vulgar language, hate speech, or adult material) in the context of a Blog will generally be permitted; however, excessive and inappropriate use is discouraged. Remember, you are responsible for all content you publish.
Members publishing Blogs may include links to sites that offer goods for sale off eBay, as long as they do not promote outside of eBay sales or prohibited items; nor may the Blog contain links to commercial Web sites where goods from multiple sellers are aggregated by a common search engine.
Why does eBay have this policy?
eBay provides the Community content areas of the site to promote Community interaction by giving members the opportunity to express their individual views and share helpful information. When publishing content, especially individual commentary or opinion, it is important for members of the Community to respect each other as human beings and follow societal norms. Content that contains or promotes hate, illegal acts, violence, or racial intolerance (or organisations dedicated to such notions) has no place in the eBay Community and is prohibited.
