@nutrafituk wrote:
Hi all,
I’m posting this as an eBay business seller who goes to considerable effort (and cost) to remain fully compliant with eBay policies and UK regulations.
According to eBay’s Food policy and Prescription drugs, supplements, and OTC drugs policy, private sellers are not permitted to sell:
Food items (without being a registered food business), and
Medicines, vitamins, or sports supplements of any kind — these are restricted to business sellers only, with strict labelling, storage, and regulatory requirements.
Despite this, I have repeatedly come across private sellers actively offering food and sports supplements. These listings appear to be in direct breach of eBay policy.
What’s more concerning is that these listings have been reported multiple times, yet eBay has refused to take action, allowing them to remain live.
As a compliant business seller, this raises some serious questions:
Why are private sellers seemingly exempt from rules that business sellers must strictly follow?
Are there undocumented exceptions to these policies?
Or is this a case of inconsistent enforcement?
It’s increasingly frustrating to compete on an uneven playing field, where legitimate business sellers follow the rules while others appear free to ignore them without consequence.
I’d appreciate any insight from other sellers or moderators who may be able to explain what’s going on here.
Thanks.
Hi @nutrafituk
When you report a listing, it's routed to the relevant department for handling the query. They will then decide on the best action to take depending on the information available to them.
Unfortunately, we can't see any of the reports so I can comment on any action that was or wasn't taken. As we aren't part of the policy team and wouldn't be up to date on all the policies and so wouldn't be in a position to answer the above questions.
You can speak to the Customer Support teams through the usual channels, they will have agents who may be able to review reports and will have more information on the different policies.
Thanks,
Dave
