Seller Centre

Seller Protection

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Overview

  • We have a new international return policy update. To streamline returns, we now require a US-based return address for some eBay.com listings.
  • To help keep feedback fair and accurate, our new policy allows buyers to revise non-compliant feedback before it's removed.

Introducing our new cross-border trade return policy

We’re streamlining our returns process for sellers based outside of the US.

What you need to know

We’ve updated our returns requirements to give your customers a smooth and reliable returns process that helps build confidence and encourages more sales.

Starting 3 November, if you ship your items from the US but you have a return address outside the US, you’ll need to provide one of the following:

  • A return address based inside the US
  • A pre-paid returns label
  • A partial or full refund without requesting the item be returned

 

If your return address is already based in the US, there’s no change for you. 

This policy only applies to items being fulfilled from an address within the US. Items shipped directly to a US customer from an address outside the US will not be impacted by this change.

Benefits for you and your buyers

Returning items internationally can be complicated for buyers and frustrating for sellers. Our updated policy is designed to make returns simpler and more transparent, helping you:

  • Boost customer satisfaction with easier returns
  • Build buyer trust with clearer tracking
  • Increase sales by giving buyers peace of mind

Next steps

To comply with our new policy, please make sure you either have a US primary returns address or a plan to provide a returns label for your buyers.

Plus, check out some of the protections we have in place to support your selling experience.

FAQs

  • Do I need to comply with the new return policy if I ship items from outside of the US?

    No. This policy only applies to forward-deployed items from an address within the US.

  • What happens if I violate the policy?

    If a buyer reports that you have violated the return policy by failing to provide a US return address, a free return label or a full refund, your seller standards may be impacted.

  • Can I still communicate with buyers and use my own label under the new policy?

    Yes. If you need to communicate with buyers or upload your own label, please turn on RMA (Return Merchandise Authorisation) in the returns preference settings.

Refined protection against mixed feedback

Feedback containing unfair comments will be hidden and sent back to the buyer to review.

What you need to know

We’re refining how mixed feedback affects your profile. When a buyer’s comment contains policy-violating content, we’ll ask them to edit it while keeping valid feedback. This helps preserve genuine comments and maintain credibility and trust with future customers. We’re making this policy change to align with global regulatory requirements.

What this means for you

Currently, buyer feedback that violates our policy will be removed entirely. Starting in October, mixed feedback, which contains both valid and invalid content, will be temporarily hidden from your profile and returned to the buyer for potential revision, without counting towards your feedback revision request limit.

If a buyer revises and resubmits their feedback it will be reviewed and republished, as long as it complies with our policy. Feedback that repeatedly violates policy will be permanently removed. We’ll also keep you updated whenever we reach out to a buyer for edits. 

In most cases, you won’t notice a change. Only a small amount of feedback may appear that would have previously been removed.

Check out our feedback policy to learn more.