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The Ebay
Blacklist
by: David Riewe
eBay can
be most likened to an online flea market. But, as with
most flea markets, there is always the possibility that
questionable hawkers lurk around the corners. Therefore,
there must be rules in place to insure that the auctions
and transactions formed through eBay are legal. Only
then can a market – online or not – flourish.
Certain
types of items are prohibited or regulated on eBay. eBay
reserves the right to terminate auctions that violate
its specifications for allowed items on listing. In the
case of such, eBay emails the bidder and the seller to
notify them of the violation and to explain the need to
terminate the auction.
eBay’s
policies describe items that may not be posted for
auction. They fall under three categories: Prohibited
Questionable, and Potentially Infringing.
Prohibited
This
describes items that are not permitted on eBay. This
list includes alcohol, tobacco, drugs, animals, human
parts or remains, government properties, lottery
tickets, and others. eBay contains a complete list of
such in their policy statement.
Questionable
Items
listed as questionable can be posted provided they
follow certain conditions. For example, some adult
material may be listed for auctioning only if they are
posted in the Mature Audiences section of eBay. Event
tickets may be sold provided that the auction closes
before the actual event itself. The list also includes
batteries, artifacts, food, used items, event tickets,
weapons and knives, police related equipment, Freon,
hazardous chemicals, offensive material, mature
audiences material, international selling, and
international buying among others.
Potentially Infringing
Items
listed under this heading may be legal. However, they
almost always violate copyright, trademark, and other
rights. Some examples of such are: academic software,
beta software, bootleg recordings, contracts and
tickets, downloadable media, movie prints, OEM software,
Replica and counterfeit items, and unauthorized copies.
This
list is updated periodically and is incorporated into
the User Agreement of eBay. These guidelines do not
represent legal advice. It would do well to check with
law enforcement agencies, a lawyer, or other legal
outlets to verify the legality of a questionable item to
be posted.
This
policy applies even if you offer to give your item away
for free. As long as it is posted on eBay, it is subject
to the abovementioned policy.
As a
final note, it is stressed that the buyer if subject to
liability if he or she purchases an illegal item. It is
still the responsibility of the buyers and sellers to
monitor the legality of their transactions since eBay is
merely a facilitator in the market process.
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