Duplicate listings occur when a seller posts more than 10 listings for identical items. The best way to list identical items is through eBay's Storefront, Fixed-Price or Multiple Item listings formats. Although there are reasons to list identical items at same time, enabling a single seller to list too many identical items at one time hurts buying experience.

If a seller lists in more than one category, categories must be relevant. Any additional identical listings will be ended by eBay. There are a few exceptions: Sellers who list general admission tickets in Tickets category may list up to 20 identical listings, and sellers of vehicle light bulbs may list up to 25 listings simultaneously.

No kids allowed: eBay requires that all users be at least 18 years of age.

Unpaid items: Winning bidders or buyers who fail to follow through with transaction face consequences. Nonpaying bidders receive two warnings from eBay before they are suspended. When a bidder doesn't pay, seller may request a credit from eBay for their Final Value Fee by filing an Unpaid Item alert.

Nonperforming seller: Significantly misrepresenting an item by not meeting terms and item description in listing, or failing to deliver an item for which you accepted payment, is a violation of eBay policies and may also be considered criminal fraud.

Outages: When eBay system experiences service outages, there is a structure in place to compensate users with credits on listing fees and/or listing extensions, based on type and length of outage.

Profanity: The use of language that is racist, hateful, sexual or obscene in nature in a public area is prohibited.

Prohibited and restricted items: As an eBay user, you are ultimately responsible for making sure that items you sell on eBay are legal according to all applicable jurisdictions and permitted by eBay policies.

Soliciting off-site sales: You may not circumvent eBay fees by using contact information obtained from eBay or any eBay service to complete a sale outside of eBay.

Threats: eBay policies prohibit making threats of physical harm to another user.

If you violate an eBay policy by either your action or content of your listings, you will typically receive an informational alert explaining violation and detailing any further action to be taken on your part. When deemed appropriate, eBay will end listing, and your listing fee will be refunded.

Drilling Down If you're familiar with eBay then you're probably aware that you can find just about anything on virtual auction block using their handy category listings. In many cases you can find an item by simply drilling down through site until you reach proper subcategory. Unfortunately, many sellers don't seem to bother doing any research when it comes time to choosing a listing category.

Time and again, sellers have been known to put up items for sale in categories with little or no traffic, or in areas where their prospective bidders would never think to look. Moreover, eBay has been creating an ever-growing array of subcategories. While this strategy might help you place products in appropriate section, it also might prevent general-interest browsers from ever finding your listings.

The first thing you should do before you even begin to compile a listing is to check out where your competition hangs out. Generally, all you need to do is go to eBay search, type in a suitable keyword or phrase, and see what pops up. (To ensure you get enough results, search for both auction titles and descriptions; after all, you never know whether a seller might have poorly titled an auction or left out a significant keyword.)

Of course, there's always possibility that your search will uncover some pretty bizarre listings that have nothing to do with item you plan to sell. More often than not, however, a search will locate a wide range of similar merchandise, in some instances turning up exact same item you intend to list at online auction.