Offers to buy or sell listed items outside of the eBay site are not permitted. Offers of this nature are a potential fraud risk for both buyers and sellers and circumvent eBay's fees. If you receive any spam (unsolicited commercial messages) through email or Skype that includes offers to buy or sell outside eBay, please report this using the appropriate link in the "Additional Information" section below.
Some examples of offers outside of the eBay site include:
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Using member contact information obtained from eBay or using any eBay system to offer to sell any listed item outside of eBay
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Canceling a listing to sell to a buyer who became aware of the item through eBay
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Ending a listing early to sell the item at a higher price to the winning bidder
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Offering to sell an item to a bidder in a Reserve Not Met listing without going through Second Chance Offer
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Offering to sell duplicate or additional merchandise to under-bidders without going through Second Chance Offer
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Sending unsolicited (without prior permission) commercial email offers to bidders for the same or similar products that they have bid on in the past
It is acceptable for sellers to end a listing early in order to sell an item at the current bid price to the high bidder. Bidders are permitted to contact sellers with requests to end a listing early and sell at the current bid price; however, sellers are under no obligation to honor the request.
Violations of this policy may result in a range of actions, including:
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Listing cancellation
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Limits on account privileges
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Account suspension
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Forfeit of eBay fees on cancelled listings
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Loss of PowerSeller status
Guideline: How to tell if you’re buying or selling on eBay.
The best way to tell if you’re actually transacting on eBay is:
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Open a new browser and type www.ebay.com.
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Click on My eBay and sign in.
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Check to see that the transaction you have either bid on or completed appears in Items I’ve Won or Items I’ve Sold and that the buyer or seller of the item corresponds to the user in the email transaction.
Note: If the transaction does not appear in My eBay, then the transaction is outside of eBay and is unsafe.
See "Additional Information" below to learn more about how to spot an outside of eBay transaction and how to trade safely on the eBay platform.
Examples of what buyers should watch for:
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Emails or Skype messages claiming to be from eBay authenticating the seller. Some members have reported receiving emails or Skype messages claiming to be from eBay. Within these emails or Skype messages are claims that eBay has “verified the trustworthiness of the seller” and asked unsuspecting buyers or sellers to use an instant cash transfer service like Western Union or MoneyGram. eBay will never email a buyer or seller with the promise of the trustworthiness of another member. We believe that the feedback system is the foundation of trust on eBay and the single most reliable method for determining the trustworthiness of a member. Furthermore, instant cash transfer services such as Western Union or MoneyGram are unsafe when paying someone you do not know.
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Fake Second Chance Offers. Although outside-of-eBay offers are not permitted, sellers may be able to sell items to underbidders by sending a Second Chance Offer. Before responding to a Second Chance Offer, however, be sure it’s legitimate. eBay will never send a Second Chance Offer email with the subject line "Question from eBay Member." If you receive an email pretending to be a Second Chance Offer with that subject line, please forward it to spoof@ebay.com.
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Instant Cash Transfer Schemes. Some members have reported receiving outside-of-eBay offers from sellers who insist that payment be sent using third-party instant cash transfer services. These services are designed to allow individuals to send money to trusted parties such as family and friends. Requests to send instant cash to an unknown third-party present a significant fraud risk, especially when the seller is offering to sell outside of the eBay Web site. If you have received an offer of this nature, please report it to us immediately.
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Emails claiming to be from eBay Motors about handling transactions. Some members have reported receiving emails claiming to be from eBay Motors about vehicle transactions. The emails contain similar characteristics which include: requests for buyers to make payments to an eBay Motors bank account (and eBay will hold the payment until the vehicle is received and inspected), claims that eBay will contact buyers with details regarding the transaction, fake invoice numbers (VPP#) or transaction numbers, and forged email addresses that include "eBay" in the address, such as eBay@safe-harbor.com. eBay Motors is never directly involved in transactions and does not provide any kind of insurance or escrow coverage for sellers.
Examples of what sellers should watch for:
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Fraudulent credit cards. Buyers who request that items be sold outside-of-eBay who wish to pay for the items with a credit card are also cause for concern, especially when the buyer requests that the items be shipped internationally. These types of offers may indicate that the buyer is attempting to purchase an item using stolen funds. If you suspect that this is the case, please report it to us immediately.
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Fraudulent cashier’s checks. Some sellers of high-priced goods receive requests from bidders in foreign countries (often in Africa) to accept foreign cashier’s checks as payment for their items. Some of the requests offer to “overpay” for an item, and ask the seller to wire the overpayment back to the buyer through services such as Western Union or MoneyGram. We urge all sellers to use extreme caution when accepting foreign cashier’s checks for high priced items, as such foreign checks may take weeks or months to clear and may be counterfeit. Sellers should never accept overpayments from buyers for items where the buyer is asking to be reimbursed for overpayment.
Examples of what buyers and sellers should watch for:
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Fraudulent Escrow Sites. Some buyers and sellers receive offers to use an escrow service that is not approved by eBay. This can be risky as there are many complaints about fraudulent escrow sites. Use caution when considering an escrow service to pay for or sell your item. For eBay transactions, you should only use the following eBay approved escrow companies: www.escrow.com (US and UK); www.escrowaustralia.com.au (AU); www.escrow-europa.com (IT and ES); ebay.iloxx.de (DE); www.tripledeal.com (FR, NL, BE). Learn more about escrow.
Note: It is acceptable for sellers to end a listing early in order to sell an item at the current bid price to the high bidder. Bidders are permitted to contact sellers with requests to end a listing early; however, sellers are under no obligation to do so.
Potential Fraud Risk of Offers to Buy Outside of eBay
Although other offers to buy or sell off-site may or may not be made with the intent to defraud, there is always a significant level of risk involved. Please be aware that items purchased as a result of an off-site offer are not eligible for eBay services, including Feedback, contact information requests, and the eBay Buyer Protection Program.
Reporting Offers to Buy or Sell Outside of eBay
To report any other off-site offers, contact eBay with the item number that the offer refers to, the user ID, email address, or Skype Name of the member you are reporting, and. if the offer came through email, a copy of the email with the full headers attached. Information on how to send email headers can be found on the Sending Headers page.
If you have received an unsolicited email or Skype message offer to purchase an item that is not related to a specific item number, see the Spam page for information on how to report the offer.
If you would like to report a user who is attempting to sell an item off-site through text in the item description, please visit the eBay Security & Resolution Center.
Why does eBay have this policy?
Offers to buy or sell outside of eBay are a potential fraud risk for both buyers and sellers. These offers also undermine the trust and legitimacy of eBay’s marketplace and are not protected by eBay protection programs. Additionally, these offers circumvent eBay's fees, which unfair to sellers who do not circumvent eBay fees.
