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How To Annoy The Folks Who Run eBay

Compared to the auction website of today, eBay's early website was a virtual "Wild West". Just like all businesses, eBay has evolved. They could not possibly have anticipated all the different items that sellers would attempt to offer for sale. Just as soon as that first creative soul put up a human kidney, eBay had to take down the auction and then implement a rule saying "no human body parts" could be auctioned.

This article title is somewhat in jest, but just like an annoyed parent eBay will spank your hand if you try and auction certain items. The way they do that is to take down your auction. Repeated offenders risk the suspension of their account, the eBay equivalent of having your driver's license permanently revoked.

The range of human creativeness is amazing, and the most brilliant think tank could not possibly have anticipated all of the auctions that eBay has had to develop rules against. They've had to create their policies over time as imaginative sellers became more daring. Many auctions might have been hoaxes but the auctions produced a lot of talk and publicity and pushed the boundary of what eBay was willing to tolerate.

Many of eBay's policies have a firm foundation in federal and state law and eBay, the corporation, would get in hot water if they allowed certain items to be sold. Being smart business people they have to prohibit auctions on many things that common sense would tell you is just not a good idea to try and auction. For example:

* The next time you are cleaning out your garage and find that military rocket launcher and bazooka you stashed away, and want some quick cash, you'll have to find somewhere other than eBay to sell them. In 1999 eBay officially banned such items. P.S. The federal government wouldn't be too pleased, either.

* Have an old, half-used tube of lipstick knocking around in a drawer you'd like to get rid of? eBay is not the place to do it. Federal law says you can't sell used cosmetics, so eBay follows the same rule.

* There may be some entrepreneurs selling illegal drugs on street corners, but eBay won't let them set up an auction online to sell their wares. Sorry, no controlled substances or paraphernalia allowed.

* Remember the kidney mentioned above? eBay has pulled down auction after auction offering every human body part you can think of, and some you'd probably rather not think of. Human organs are a big no-no, and have been for quite awhile. As a general rule if it is part of or comes out of a human body, eBay says just keep it to yourself.

* Those darn kids, sometimes they can be so aggravating. In 1999, bidding on a human baby reached $109,000 before the auction was pulled and, we assume, Child Protective Services paid someone a surprise visit. Wouldn't you think some things would be so clearly self-evident that eBay would not need a rule to prohibit it? Sadly, auctioning your children is not one.