While you can sell most things on eBay, quite a few things are banned. If you try to sell any of these things then eBay will remove your auction and all bids will be void.

Here is eBays full list of prohibited or questionable items:

Academic Software Airline and Transit Related Items

Alcohol (also see Wine) Animals and Wildlife Products

Anti-circumvention Policy Artifacts Authenticity Disclaimers Autographed Items Batteries Beta Software Bootleg Recordings Brand Name Misuse

Catalog Sales Catalytic Converters and Test Pipes

Celebrity Material Charity or Fundraising Listings

Comparison Policy Compilation and Informational Media Contracts and Tickets Counterfeit Currency and Stamps

Counterfeit Items Credit Cards Downloadable Media

Drugs & Drug Paraphernalia Electronics Equipment

Embargoed Goods and Prohibited Countries Encouraging Infringement Policy Event Tickets Faces, Names and Signatures Firearms, Ammunition, Replicas, and Militaria

Fireworks Food Freon and Other Refrigerants Gift Cards Government IDs and Licenses Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Items Human Parts and Remains Importation of Goods into the United States International Trading - Buyers International Trading - Sellers Lockpicking Devices

Lottery Tickets Mailing Lists and Personal Information

Manufacturers' Coupons Mature Audiences Medical Devices Misleading Titles Mod Chips, Game Enhancers, and Boot Discs Movie Prints Multi-level Marketing, Pyramid and Matrix Programs OEM Software Offensive Material

Pesticides Plants and Seeds Police-Related Items

Political Memorabilia Postage Meters Pre-Sale Listings Prescription Drugs and Devices Promotional Items Real Estate Recalled Items Recordable Media

Replica and Counterfeit Items Satellite and Cable TV Descramblers Slot Machines Stocks and Other Securities

Stolen Property Surveillance Equipment Tobacco

Travel Unauthorized Copies Used Clothing

Warranties Weapons & Knives Wine (also see Alcohol)

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Most of this is very obvious of course you cant sell illegal things like drugs, pyramid schemes or stolen goods. Almost everything that is on the list is there because there is law against selling it.

Some of the reasons, though, are a little strange. The autographed items entry, for example, doesn't mean that you cant sell anything thats been autographed it just means that you can only sell it if it comes with a certificate of authenticity.

The artifacts entry prohibits you from selling Native American graves; celebrity material means you cant sell unauthorised pictures of celebrities; embargoed goods means that you cant sell anything that comes from Cuba on and on it goes, and most of it you never need to know. If your chosen kind of item seems to be on the list, though, and you're concerned that you might not be able to sell it, then check the full list at http://p ages.ebay.com/help/policies/items-ov.html to see whether the item is banned entirely or there are just a few restrictions.

eBay says it will remove any items that it believes violate copyright law, but in reality they dont have that many people to monitor the site. You will generally only find that your auction gets removed if someone decides to report you and even then, they might not get around to it.

Really, buying and selling on eBay can sometimes feel more complicated than it really is, thanks to all the rules surrounding it not to mention the jargon. Our next article is a jargon buster, to help you learn the language of eBay. Learning the eBay Lingo

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About the author:

James Mahony is the founder of Online Auction Handbook - Learn How to Make Money on eBay

Make Money on eBay