Frequently Asked Questions

How am I protected from abusive buyers?

If eBay finds a buyer's behaviour is abusive, we'll take action against the buyer, and we'll remove any related negative or neutral feedback, defects, and open cases in service metrics.

What if something happens that is outside of my control?

We will protect you by removing negative and neutral feedback and defects when things happen that are outside your control, such as weather or carrier delays, or an eBay site issue or programme error.

Enhanced protections for business sellers

If you're delivering on your service promises and creating good buying experiences, you'll have access to additional seller protections.

Business sellers are eligible for these enhanced protections when all the following criteria are met:

You have an eBay business account with a UK registered address
Your seller performance level is Above Standard or Top Rated
You don't have a "Very High" rating in any of your service metrics
You listed the item on eBay.co.uk

A buyer falsely claims an item was not as described

An item is returned after it was used or damaged by the buyer

Protections for all sellers

Abusive buying activity

When we determine that a buyer has violated the abusive buyer policy, we'll remove any associated negative or neutral feedback and defects, including any open cases in service metrics. For abusive buyers, we may also limit their ability to request returns on eBay. In serious cases or repeated abusive behaviour, we may suspend the buyer's account.

You can assist us by reporting the buyer - opens in new window or tab and clearly describing what they are doing. This will help us investigate potential policy violations and take actions to protect you.

See the abusive buyer policy for examples of buyer behaviour that isn't allowed.

An item is returned after it was used or damaged by the buyer

A buyer retracted their bid or didn't pay

A buyer demanded something not offered in the original listing

Events outside your control

An item arrived late but tracking shows that you dispatched it on time

Severe weather or carrier disruptions caused the item to arrive late

Other protections

eBay Money Back Guarantee requests

eBay Assured Fit

Protections for payment disputes

If a buyer files a payment dispute and the transaction is eligible for protection under our Payment dispute seller protections, we'll cover the amount of the dispute, waive the dispute fee, and remove negative and neutral feedback related to the transaction.

Learn more about seller protections for payment disputes.

Eligibility for protections

While most transactions on eBay are eligible for seller protections, the following types of items and listings are not covered:

Items that violate any of our prohibited and restricted items policies
Items that are excluded from eBay Money Back Guarantee. Examples include: items not listed on ebay.co.uk, vehicles, Real Estate, Businesses & Websites for Sale, Classified Ads, Services, Digital Content, Intangible Goods, and some Business Equipment categories. See our eBay Money Back Guarantee policy for full details

If you do any of the following you may lose your eligibility for seller protections:

Operate with a false identity
Fail to follow through with your service promises (such as not honouring your return policy)
Have a history of serious policy violations, such as selling counterfeits, using prohibited forms of drop shipping or taking sales off eBay
Ship the order using a slower service than the one selected at checkout
Abuse or fraudulently use the seller protections – for example, you have a history of:
- Reporting buyers for false 'Item not as described' requests when you had not described the item correctly
- Unfairly deducting too much from the buyer's refund when an item is returned in a different condition. In these cases, the deduction should only be used to recoup the actual lost value of the item
- Misusing or manipulating the eBay Assured Fit programme

See our Seller protections abuse policy for more information.

If eBay steps in to help with a return or item not received request:

You'll no longer be able to deduct an amount from the buyer's refund when an item is returned used or damaged by the buyer
If eBay determines that you're responsible for refunding the buyer, we won't remove negative and neutral feedback and it will count as a "case closed without seller resolution"

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