Risk Score
0 = very fair · 100 = very risky
Summary
This is eBay's User Agreement governing use of their marketplace platform for buying and selling goods. The document is fairly typical for a large e-commerce marketplace but contains several aggressive clauses including mandatory arbitration with class action waiver, a very broad perpetual content license, and near-unlimited discretion for eBay to terminate accounts or modify services. eBay explicitly disclaims responsibility for most aspects of transactions between buyers and sellers. Overall the agreement heavily favors eBay and provides limited recourse for users who encounter problems.
Flagged Clauses
Unless you actively opt out of arbitration, you cannot sue eBay in court or join a class action lawsuit. All disputes must go through private arbitration, one-on-one. This significantly limits your ability to seek legal recourse, especially for smaller claims where individual arbitration may not be economically practical.
“The agreement contains a mandatory binding arbitration clause that requires users to submit claims to binding and final arbitration. If you do not opt out: (1) you will only be permitted to pursue claims on an individual basis, not as a plaintiff or class member in any class or representative action; (2) you will only be permitted to seek relief on an individual basis; and (3) you are waiving your right to pursue disputes in a court of law and to have a jury trial.”
Any content you post on eBay — photos, descriptions, reviews — can be used by eBay forever, for free, in any way they want, including new products and services not yet invented. They can also sublicense your content to others. You waive moral rights in that content to the fullest extent permitted by law.
“When you provide content using our Services, you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, sublicensable (through multiple tiers) right to exercise any and all Intellectual Property Rights you have in that content in connection with our provision, expansion, and promotion of our Services, including development of new offerings as part of our Services, in any media known now or developed in the future.”
You give up your ability to enforce your own intellectual property rights — including moral rights — against eBay and anyone they share or sublicense your content to. This is broader than a typical content license.
“To the fullest extent permitted under applicable law, you waive your right to enforce your Intellectual Property Rights, including any moral rights, in that content against eBay, our assignees, our sublicensees, and their assignees.”
eBay can suspend or terminate your account for any reason, at any time, at their sole discretion. There is no guaranteed appeals process or requirement to explain the decision. Any active listings, seller reputation, or feedback history could be lost.
“We may, in our sole discretion and without limiting other remedies, limit, suspend, or terminate your user account(s) and access to our Services... We may cancel unconfirmed accounts or accounts that have been inactive for a substantial period of time. Additionally, we reserve the right to refuse, modify, or terminate all or part of our Services to anyone for any reason at our discretion.”
eBay can change seller fees with only 14 days notice — and no notice at all for some changes. Continued use of the platform after the notice period constitutes acceptance of the new fees.
“We may change our selling fees from time to time by posting the changes on the eBay site fourteen (14) days in advance, but with no advance notice required for temporary promotions or any changes that result in the reduction of fees.”
Sellers can be charged fees even on transactions that happen entirely outside eBay, or even if an item doesn't sell, simply for sharing contact information with a potential buyer. This is a broad and aggressive fee obligation.
“If you are a seller, you are liable for fees arising out of all sales made using some or all of our Services, even if sales terms are finalized or payment is made outside of eBay. If you offer or reference your contact information or ask a buyer for their contact information in the context of buying or selling outside of eBay, you may be liable to pay a final value fee applicable to that item, even if the item doesn't sell.”
If you owe eBay money and don't pay, this can be reported to credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion) and potentially damage your credit score. eBay may also use collection agencies.
“eBay, or the collection agencies we retain, may also report information about your account to credit bureaus, and as a result, late payments, missed payments, or other defaults on your account may be reflected in your credit report.”
Fixed-price listings automatically renew each month and may incur recurring listing fees. Sellers need to actively end listings to stop the renewal cycle.
“Your fixed-price listings may renew automatically every calendar month, based on the listing terms at the time, until all quantities sell or the listing is ended by you or eBay, in its sole discretion.”
eBay takes no responsibility for whether items are real, safe, legal, accurately described, or whether transactions will be completed. Buyers and sellers bear essentially all transactional risk.
“eBay has no control over and does not guarantee: the existence, quality, safety, or legality of items advertised; the truth or accuracy of users' content or listings; the ability of sellers to sell items; the ability of buyers to pay for items; or that a buyer or seller will actually complete a transaction or return an item.”
For vehicle purchases — which can involve very large sums of money — eBay disclaims all responsibility for vehicle condition, title, safety, pricing, or any other aspect of the transaction. All risk falls entirely on the buyer and seller.
“eBay disclaims all vehicle-related representations, guarantees, and warranties to the fullest extent permissible by law. You agree that any reliance on vehicle information on eBay sites is at your own risk.”
The document references an indemnification clause (Section 18) which typically requires users to defend and pay eBay's legal costs if third parties make claims related to the user's actions. The full terms were not visible in the provided text.
“Section 18 (Indemnity) is referenced in the table of contents but the full text was not included in the provided document excerpt.”
eBay itself never holds or transfers ownership of goods. Ownership transfers directly between buyer and seller under standard commercial law. eBay is simply the platform facilitating the transaction.
“We do not transfer legal ownership of items from the seller to you. Utah Code Annotated § 70A-2-401(2) and Uniform Commercial Code § 2-401(2) apply to the transfer of ownership between the buyer and the seller, unless the buyer and the seller agree otherwise.”
The agreement appears to include authorization for eBay to record phone calls and analyze the content of messages sent through their platform. The full scope of this was not visible in the provided document text.
“Section 13 is titled 'Authorization to Contact You; Recording Calls; Analyzing Message Content' — the full text was not included in the excerpt, but the title suggests eBay records calls and analyzes message content between users.”
eBay updates its terms periodically and applies them to all existing users. Continued use of the service after updates take effect constitutes acceptance of new terms.
“The agreement is effective as of February 20, 2026 for users who agreed to a prior version. The previous amendment was effective for all users on August 28, 2025.”
eBay can use your listings, username, reviews, and feedback in advertising across third-party platforms and partner sites without additional consent or compensation.
“eBay may publish and promote your listings, including related content such as username, product reviews and feedback, in any format and through any channel, including across any eBay Services, our partners, or third-party property or advertising medium.”
eBay uses AI tools in its services but makes no guarantees about their accuracy. Sellers who rely on AI-generated listing content are still fully responsible for that content's accuracy under Section 7.
“We may use artificial intelligence or AI-powered tools and products to provide and improve our Services... availability and accuracy of these tools are not guaranteed.”
Missing Protections
- No clear data retention policy or right to deletion described in the provided text
- No explicit description of what happens to account data, listings history, or seller reputation upon account termination
- No clear, guaranteed appeals or reinstatement process for suspended or terminated accounts
- No explicit COPPA or children's privacy protections mentioned in the provided text (full privacy policy may be separate)
- No service level agreement or uptime guarantee for the marketplace platform
- No explicit description of what happens to pending transactions or funds held when an account is terminated
- No cooling-off period or right of withdrawal mentioned for buyers beyond standard buyer protection programs
- Full indemnification clause (Section 18) and full arbitration clause (Section 19) not included in provided text — key protections/risks unknown
- No explicit limitation on how long the perpetual content license survives after account deletion
Fair Terms
- Arbitration opt-out option exists — users can opt out of mandatory arbitration under Section 19.B.9, which is a meaningful user protection
- Fee changes for sellers require 14 days advance notice for increases, giving some warning period
- eBay offers a Multi-User Account Access program as a safer alternative to credential sharing
- Sellers can opt out of the eBay International Shipping Program by updating shipping preferences
- Sellers can exclude specific countries or regions from international sales via shipping settings
- eBay operates a VeRO (Verified Rights Owner) program to address intellectual property infringement claims
- eBay acknowledges it may choose to be more lenient in policy enforcement 'to do the right thing for both buyers and sellers'
- Dispute resolution programs are offered to help facilitate resolution between buyers and sellers
Document information only — not legal advice.