As the eBay website is a massive marketplace of different people from all over the world with different members from many countries, it doesn’t come as a shock that there are a huge amount of scammers out there just ready to pounce on unsuspecting prospects. In order to increasingly protect eBay buyers, eBay themselves have laid down a specific set of rules that need to be adhered to when looking into items that can be placed into an auction on the eBay site can be auctioned off on the site. These rules must be followed, they aren’t eBay secrets, but many people do indeed overlook them, and they look towards the person posting the item for auction could become banned from the site if they don’t follow these.

Even though there are many different categories on the eBay site, any items that are put up for auction on the site are then placed into one of the four categories that eBay will select: Approved, Questionable, Potentially Infringing, or Prohibited. The Approved category is the most simplest category to understand and explain, because any item that has been placed into this area of the site is approved and should go live. Any of the other areas that an action listing is placed into will mean that there needs to be some changes to the eBay auction listing.

If we look into detail of the other the different categories, however, it does become a little more complicated, with one exception – prohibited items. Should an auction item listing become a prohibited item, then you are not allowed to continue with this auction on eBay under any circumstance. Some common prohibited items that you may not list on eBay do include alcohol, drugs, animals, tobacco, human remains/body parts, government property, and lottery tickets. There are more on the list than these seven popular prohibited items, and you can view these at the eBay site under auction listings information.

There are some questionable items that you can list which do not fall into the category of prohibited, but, these items are not actually infringing on the strict ebay (sometimes people refer to as eBay selling secrets) selling policies. If you look at Adult material for example, then this would come under the questionable category, and any type of ticket – to a festival or concert for example – would also be placed in this category. If you are looking at putting Law enforcement equipment (such as guns, knives, and other weapons), artifacts, food items, batteries, and hazardous chemicals, then all of these items would fall into the category of questionable items for selling on an eBay auction. The eBay secret here, is that you can list these items on an eBay auction (and some people do) as long as the listings fall into line with eBay's listing policies.

If you look at any items that are placed which could potentially infringe on copyright law,a trademark, or indeed any other legal right, then these items could be moved under the category of potentially infringing on the terms of sale. Some items of example could be – software, DVDs, CDs, as well as other items of illegal recordings also. More information on eBay auction listings and items that can fall into the category of potentially infringing can be fund on the eBay website.

Should you be unsure as to which category your item would fall into, then you will be best to contact eBay directly to see if they can help you before you submit your auction listing for approval. As a buyer, you also should aware and careful to consider some of the consequences of purchasing any such items that would fall under any of the restricted categories above. In many cases, winning the auction and having the items in your possession could mean that you are breaking the law, not mattering where you bought the product from.

Some people do consider the above as eBay secrets, because so many newcomers to the eBay business market fail to make themselves aware of what they can and can not sell on their eBay auction listings.