Rules and regulations
Another advantage of an eBay business is that you shouldn’t be too tangled up in red tape. With no extra staff necessary and the ability to run the entire business from home, you won’t be spending your days getting an ulcer over regulations.
Although eBay itself is user-friendly and a pleasingly accessible marketplace for your products, it does have several rules which you have to abide by. The most significant of these rules for small firms concerns what you can or can’t sell on the site.
Here is a list of items completely prohibited by eBay:
Adults only
Drugs and drug paraphernalia
Embargoed goods
Firearms, ammunition, replicas and militaria
Government identification, licences and uniforms
Government, transit and postal-related items
Hazardous materials
Items encouraging illegal activity
Lock-picking devices
Mailing lists and personal information
Medicine and healthcare products policy
Offensive material
Police-related items
Prescription drugs
Prohibited services
Stolen property
Weapons and knives
In addition, the following items can only be listed under strict conditions:
Aeroplane tickets
Alcohol
Animals and wildlife products
Artefacts, antiques, cultural items and grave-related items
British titles
Catalogue sales
Charity or fundraising listings
Clothing, used
Contracts and tickets
Cosmetics, used
Counterfeit currency and stamps
Credit cards
Digitally delivered goods
Electrical and electronics equipment
Event tickets
Food
Football tickets
Franking machines
Human parts and remains
Manufacturers' vouchers
Plants and seeds
Promotional items
Property
Recalled items
Slot machines
Stocks, bonds, securities and related certificates
Tobacco
Train tickets
Travel
Unlocking software
Obviously most UK small firms wouldn’t consider selling human remains or grenade launchers, but it’s worth going through this list as selling agreements on items such as football and aeroplane tickets are strictly controlled.