Community content policy

Community content policy overview

We offer a wide variety of forums where the eBay community can provide content, including product reviews, Guides, collections, eBay Groups, member-created products and product descriptions, comments and more. This gives you access to factual information, personal opinions and guidance on various topics, and allows you to publish your opinions and content on our site.

Community content published or edited by our members is solely the opinion and responsibility of the persons posting the content. All content and behaviour in posting or receiving such content must comply with the eBay User Agreement, this policy, and other site policies. To the extent that the community content policy conflicts with the eBay User Agreement, you must comply with the eBay User Agreement instead of this policy.

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.

To report violations of this policy, click the Report link in the content in question (such as a product review, member-created product description or comment).

Creating a Product

If you don't see a product in our catalogue that's a match for the item you're trying to list, you can create a new product or suggest edits to an existing product in the catalogue. When creating or editing a product, the information you provide must follow all of our other site policies unless specifically stated otherwise. All of the information you provide in a product must directly describe that item, and shouldn't be about individual sellers, business, or transactions.

What are the guidelines?

Allowed in some situations

• Using profanity or vulgar language in a public area of the site is not allowed. However, when reviewing a product where the title contains a profane or vulgar term (e.g. a CD with a profane term in the title), the reviewer may use the term, but only in the context of the title and only if the reviewer 'blurbs' out the bulk of the offending word with asterisks (e.g. s*** or f***)

Not allowed

• Here are some examples of content or actions that aren't permitted in the community content areas (Reviews, Guides, member-created products or product descriptions and comments). These examples provide guidance for self-publishing content on our site but shouldn't be viewed as a complete list

  • Promoting or advertising to buy, sell or trade any product or service listed or located outside of any eBay property (eBay, Half.com, eBay Stores, etc.)
  • Placing published content or products in the wrong category (miscategorisation)
  • Including feedback or comments about other users
  • Including unauthorised trademarked or copyrighted content (such as uploading photos or content for which you do not have permission to use)
  • Using another eBay member's pictures or text without the other member's express permission
  • Using intellectual property without the property owner's express permission, when required. eBay strongly encourages members writing and publishing content to familiarise themselves with how eBay helps protect intellectual property. For more information, see Intellectual property and the VeRO program
  • Creating products or updating products in the catalog in a way that would violate eBay's Prohibited and restricted items policy; or eBay's Encouraging infringement policy (for example, creating and/or selling products that a manufacturer/brand does not make or that are counterfeit); or eBay's Listing Policies
  • Including any advertising credit, including links, logos or company names within published content
  • Publishing more than one identical piece of content or more than one identical product at the same time and in the same context
  • Encouraging, publishing, promoting, facilitating or instructing others to engage in illegal activity or to violate eBay policy
  • Publishing content in the incorrect forum
  • Publishing reviews that aren't specific to the product
  • Enabling, encouraging, or instructing others to infringe copyrights, trademarks or other intellectual property rights
  • Promoting giveaways, lotteries, random drawings, raffles or prizes of any kind
  • Using HTML and JavaScript functions prohibited on eBay. See our JavaScript policy for a complete list
  • Using keywords, random links, inaccurate titles, text or other content not directly relevant to the subject of the community content for the purpose of gaining attention or diverting members to that content. For more information on misuse of keywords, see our Search and browse manipulation policy
  • Publishing content or images that are adult in nature or otherwise not appropriate for minors (individuals under 18 years of age). See our Adult items policy for clarification on what is permitted in public areas of the site
  • Linking from content published on eBay to any third-party website, including those that include offers to trade, sell or purchase goods or services off eBay, is generally not permitted
  • Linking to items, services or content prohibited on eBay or to sites that offer items, services or content prohibited on eBay
  • Misrepresenting yourself as an eBay employee or as another eBay member
  • Publishing content that promotes or glorifies hatred, violence, racial, or religious intolerance, or content that promotes organisations with such views. For more information, see our Offensive material policy
  • Using profanity or patently vulgar language in a public area of the site
  • Publishing personal contact information of any person in any public area of eBay, including emails, phone numbers, name, street address, etc.
  • Misusing the violation reporting function to maliciously or frivolously report content as not in compliance with eBay policy
  • Artificially increasing or decreasing any community content, including ratings and reviews

Additional information

Other rules include:

• You must be a registered and active member of eBay to post a comment
• We may use your eBay username and profile picture, if you have one, to identify you to other users as the person who posted your content
• We may promote, demote or remove any of your content in community content areas in our sole discretion
• Users who create collections may remove any comment on their collection
• We may limit the amount of community content you post
• When a user refers in community content to an individual, or to a third party's product, service or trademark, that does not mean eBay endorses or claims any endorsement by the individual or third party, nor does it mean we are affiliated
• You acknowledge that all posts you make are public
• While we may moderate or monitor any comment, we take no responsibility and assume no liability for any comment posted by you or a third party

Why does eBay have this policy?

eBay provides the community content areas of the site to promote community interaction by giving our members the opportunity to express their individual views and share helpful information. When publishing content, especially individual commentary or opinion, it's important for members of the community to respect each other as human beings and follow societal norms.

Content that contains or promotes hate, illegal acts, violence or racial intolerance (or organisations dedicated to such notions) has no place in the eBay community and is prohibited. In addition, posting activity that violates intellectual property rights or any other laws is prohibited.