eBay's new rules: Eliminate "Adults Only" category, ban pornographic items

Recently, according to a new policy email sent by eBay to sellers, starting from June 15 , 2021 , eBay will cancel the "Adults Only" category and prohibit the sale of pornographic items.

The email also includes a chart showing the types of prohibited items and which products can be transferred to other categories. Here are a few key points of information:

- Items containing adult DVDs, magazines, video games and domain names will not be allowed to be sold on eBay ;

- Adult artwork and collectibles may be re-listed in categories other than "Adult" only if they do not contain pornographic content and follow certain guidelines ;

- Adult clothing, jewelry, sex toys, and accessories can be modified and moved to other categories if they follow certain guidelines ;

- Adult books and music can be modified and moved to other categories if certain guidelines are followed.

The ban states that "most adult items are prohibited," including "sexually explicit anime, comics, books, movies, animation, picture books , etc. , which will be considered items for adults only ," and also prohibits the sale of movies such as "Game of Thrones" and "Blue is The Warmest Color."

However, it is allowed to sell tasteful nude products in the art area , but the nude postures of the artworks sold must be acceptable to the public. In addition, the platform allows the sale of unopened sex toys that do not have obvious sexual connotations in their packaging .

Everyone has different opinions on the definition of pornography . Even on the more open eBay platform, censorship is notoriously tricky . Rash reforms may provoke strong resistance from the public. Apple is a lesson learned. In 2018, when Apple solved the pornography problem in the application Tumblr , its traffic dropped sharply and blogs were full of curses.

Today, eBay has finally made up its mind to rectify pornographic transactions on its platform. The person in charge of the platform said that eBay is committed to maintaining a safe and trustworthy market , and the implementation of the ban on the sale of pornographic items is to create a safe shopping environment for consumers. Banning all adult content will prevent those illegal merchants who publish pornographic content from making profits.

In this regard, eBay sellers should note that starting June 15, 2021, the platform will automatically remove items from the "Adult Only" category and prohibit the sale of items with sexual content or sexually suggestive postures. "The Everything Else > Adult Only " will no longer be available as a category , and new products will not be allowed to be posted in the "Adult Only" category.

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