The eBay Developer's Program supports any application or service that complies with eBay policies.
In rare cases, a developer may build an application which 1) does not comply with general site policies, 2) facilitates eBay users to not comply with policies or 3) due to automation of a site function, has a sever negative impact on the marketplace requiring us to limit its automated use. Violations or facilitation of violations of eBay policies may result in a range of actions, including:
- Listing cancellation
- Limits on user account privileges
- User account suspension
- Forfeit of eBay fees on cancelled listings
- Loss of user's Powerseller status
- Suspension of developer's access to the eBay Web Services
- Termination of developer's eBay Developers Program membership
In order to align eBay's developer community with eBay policies and ensure violations (and resulting eBay actions) do not occur, developers should pay close attention to the following guidelines and eBay policies.
Development considerations
Prior to building an eBay-integrated application, developers should take note of a few general policies related to disallowed technology on the eBay site:
Prohibited and Restricted Items
eBay prohibits and restricts certain categories of items on the site.In some cases, trade of certain products are illegal or highly regulated (for example, human parts and remains, tickets and wine). An overview of all prohibited or restricted items can be found here:
Prohibited promotions or offers
eBay does not allow certain types of sales, promotions or offers on eBay sellers' listings. In some cases these types of promotions or offers are highly regulated and may be unlawful in certain states. In other cases, the offers circumvent eBay's fee structure and are a potential fraud risk for both buyers and sellers. Prohibited promotions or offers include:
Listing restrictions
eBay has a series of policies related to sellers' listings. These policies attempt to reinforce an efficient, open, safe and an enjoyable finding and shopping experience for eBay buyers. These policies cover the following:
Links policy
eBay receives numerous questions regarding links and outside-of-eBay links from developers and sellers. The links policy keeps the marketplace vibrant and promotes a level playing field by ensuring sellers do not link inappropriately, thereby creating a disadvantage to those sellers who link appropriately. Listings with inappropriate links also undermine the trust and legitimacy of eBay's marketplace.Please take careful note of the following links policies:
Fee avoidance
Developer applications that facilitate and listings that lead to fee avoidance will normally result in listing cancellation and review of the developer's program membership. Listings that circumvent (avoid) fees may provide a poor buying experience and always create an unlevel playing field by putting sellers who pay all their eBay fees at a disadvantage. Further, these listings undermine the trust and legitimacy of eBay's marketplace. Please take note of the following policies relating to fee avoidance:
Category and format specific policies
The following policies relate to specific categories and listing formats on eBay. If developers are building applications for any of the categories below, please take note.
Buyer-side policies
Developers building buy-side search and bidding applications should take careful note of the following policies. These policies were put in place to protect the community (both buyer and seller) from potentially fraudulent transactions and to maximize the vibrancy of the eBay marketplace.
Use of feedback
eBay's User Agreement outlines guidelines around use of eBay's feedback. Developers should not facilitate, use, or export feedback ratings of eBay members in any other venue other than an eBay operated website.
Copyright Basics
The unauthorized sale of copyrighted items is illegal and against eBay policy. Sellers who are unsure of the legality of their items should not sell those items on eBay. This policy helps protect buyers from purchasing counterfeit and unauthorized merchandise, and helps intellectual property rights owners protect their rights.
Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) Program
eBay is dedicated to protecting its users from purchasing counterfeit or otherwise unauthorized items through eBay. However, because eBay is generally unable to determine whether a particular item on eBay is authorized or not, eBay has reached out to intellectual property rights owners for their help.
eBay established the VeRO Program in 1997 to enable intellectual property rights owners to easily report and request removal of listings offering items or containing materials that infringe their rights. Developers should be aware of what the VeRO program is and what impact it may have on your customers (eBay buyers and sellers). We advise that all developers take the VeRO tutorial through the link below.
Data Protection
Finally, ensure that the application you develop does not store or use personal or financial information in an insecure manner.
Further, make sure that the application complies with eBay's Privacy Policy. Users may not add contact data to a marketing list without explicit opt-in consent, therefore all applications should include this functionality as well as functionality to permit users to opt-out if they no longer choose to receive communications.
