Policy overview
eBay strictly forbids the sale of stolen property, which violates the law. eBay strongly supports law enforcement efforts to recover stolen property that is listed on its Web site, and urges the prosecution of those responsible for knowingly attempting to sell such items on eBay.
Some examples
Stolen property includes:
- Items taken from private individuals
- Property taken without authorisation from companies or governments
Additional information
Theft of Property: If members see an item on eBay that they believe is stolen, the best course is to contact law enforcement immediately. Under eBay's privacy rules, eBay’s attorneys will provide important records about pending and past listings with an official request from law enforcement officials. eBay will ask that members inform the police officer handling the case that eBay will be pleased to cooperate in the investigation, and ask the officer to contact eBay using eBay’s law enforcement-specific webform. The officer should include all relevant information, including the case number and any item numbers or User IDs.
It is important that this webform be reserved for law enforcement use only, as it enables us to respond quickly in case of emergencies. Emails directed through this webform that are not from law enforcement will be routed to the appropriate mailbox or individual accordingly and may cause delays in response time.
Theft of descriptions or pictures: If members are concerned that the images, text, or HTML in their item description have been used by another eBay user without authorisation, please see eBay's Images, videos and text policy.
Theft of Intellectual Property Rights: If members believe that their intellectual property rights have been violated by an eBay listing, get more information about eBay's Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) program.
Why does eBay have this policy?
eBay urges its sellers and buyers to comply with all governmental laws and regulations. Since the sale of stolen property is prohibited by law, or may cause harm to eBay or its members, sellers are not permitted to list them 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.