This policy was updated on 20 April 2026 to include information that will apply to buyers with the introduction of Buyer Protection from late April 2026.
Sellers and buyers are prohibited from activities that avoid eBay fees, intentionally or not.
What is the policy?
Sellers and buyers are prohibited from activities that avoid eBay fees, intentionally or not.
For sellers, this includes, but is not limited to:
- Making offers to buy or sell outside of eBay
- Linking or promoting sites, items, or catalogues that can be used to order items outside of eBay
- Requiring a buyer to make additional purchases or to agree to terms outside of the listing
- Cancelling bids or ending a listing early because the desired price has not been met
- Charging excessive postage and additional fees not already included in the price of the item, or passing seller fees on to the buyer
- Changing a listing duration more than 2 hours after submitting the listing
- Misusing the reserve price feature in a listing
- Listing items outside of the correct category
- Falsely cancelling orders using "Buyer hasn't paid" as a reason, or refusing payment at the end of a successful transaction
- Changing the information in a listing to sell a different item instead of listing a new item
- Selling completely different brands, models, or types of items as choice listings, such as:
- Selling different brands or models (for example, offering the choice of an iPhone and an iPad in the same listing)
- Selling items with different conditions such as "new" and "used"
- Using or creating another account to avoid paying eBay fees
For buyers, this includes, but is not limited to:
- Avoiding Buyer Protection fees
- Circumventing, or seeking to circumvent, any fees that may be payable when using eBay.com.au
Sellers and buyers are responsible for paying fees for all sales made using some or all eBay services, even if the sale terms are finalised, or payment is made outside of eBay.
Sellers are also responsible for final value fees if they offer or reference their contact information, or ask for a buyer's contact information, in the context of buying for selling outside of eBay, even if the item does not sell on eBay.
Activity on eBay is required to follow this policy, the eBay User Agreement and all applicable laws, as well as respect the rights of third parties. If it doesn't, eBay may take action consistent with applicable laws and the eBay User Agreement, and may even be legally required to do so. Such actions may include, as an example only: Removing the listing or other content, issuing a warning, restricting activity or account suspension.
Tip
Visit Seller Help to find details of any policy issues with your account or listings, and get the information you need to quickly resolve them.
Why does eBay have this policy?
This policy protects buyers and sellers by keeping transactions on eBay so that they are eligible for eBay services such as eBay Money Back Guarantee and eBay Buyer Protection.