New Ebay rules?

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hiplainsdrifter

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 8, 2012
977
14
Are you other vintage tin buyers/sellers used to seeing this?
• The value of the item is the collectible packaging, not the content itself.

• The value of the packaging is higher than the current retail price of the content in the package.

• While the package has never been opened, the content inside is not for consumption.

• The collectible packaging is not currently available in stores.

• The buyer must be at least 18 years old. (As the seller, I'm responsible for making sure this rule is met).

• Both the buyer and the seller are following all applicable laws and shipping regulations for this transaction.
Me too. But I just took a look at their rules page and it is gone.

 

pipestud

Lifer
Dec 6, 2012
2,010
1,749
Robinson, TX.
Thanks for the heads up, hiplainsdrifter. I just did an eBay rules search and it sure does look to me like the rules have changed. Maybe I'm missing something but here's what eBay's tobacco policy now is and its really not very clear to me -
http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/tobacco.html#what

 

jackswilling

Lifer
Feb 15, 2015
1,777
24
Unfortunately??? it seems clear to me. No tobacco at all, never ever, even if originally packaged in a Fabergé egg. "No tobacco for you" says Ebay. The end of the crazy "P" market???

 

pipestud

Lifer
Dec 6, 2012
2,010
1,749
Robinson, TX.
Maybe eBay has changed its policy and just hasn't put the hammer down yet. One of the rules says this - "You can't sell cigarettes, cigars or smokeless tobacco on eBay. You are allowed to sell collectible tobacco packaging and some tobacco-related items as long as you meet certain conditions." And then, when I went to the tobacco tins pages on eBay it turned up this - 408 sealed tins being at auction -
http://www.ebay.com/sch/Tobacciana-/593/i.html?_nkw=Sealed+tins&_armrs=1&_dmd=1&_from=R10&_ipg=200&_pcats=1&_sop=10
So, I called eBay and had to wait 15-minutes before the young lady who answered the phone could get her supervisor to me. He said that the rules have not changed and then emailed me a copy of the policy which I have cut/pasted below -
-- The value of the item is the collectible packaging, not the tobacco itself.

-- The value of the packaging is higher than the current retail price of the tobacco in the package.

-- While the package has never been opened, the tobacco inside is not for consumption.

-- The collectible packaging is not currently available in stores.

-- The buyer must be at least 18 years old. (As the seller, I'm responsible for making sure this rule is met.)

-- Both the buyer and the seller are following all applicable laws and shipping regulations for this transaction.

-- US Domestic Shipping Only. This Item cannot be shipped outside the US.
The only difference that I can find from the earlier policy in the OP's post is that the US Shipping Only policy has been added. And that was added a year ago. So yeah, its all crystal clear to me. :wink:

 

hiplainsdrifter

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 8, 2012
977
14
Thanks for getting clarification Steve. That is weird that they basically didn't change the rules, but now the rules are hidden. That should make it even more murky when it comes to Ebay randomly pulling some sealed tins and leaving others. Good times.

 

pipestud

Lifer
Dec 6, 2012
2,010
1,749
Robinson, TX.
Yeah hiplainsdrifter, and I'm not convinced that the rules have not changed. The supervisor I spoke with could not tell me why the rules were not showing on eBay. He said that whenever there are general changes in any policies that they are given "official" changes once they have been made. There are so many hundreds of thousands of different kinds of products offered daily on eBay that I don't see how anyone can keep up with all the changes, official or otherwise. And, since the tobacco tins market is such a tiny portion of eBay's sales, they may have begun the "unofficial" changes regarding tobacco tin sales that we will see put officially in place in the future once they get to the small fry stuff.

 

jackswilling

Lifer
Feb 15, 2015
1,777
24
"The only difference that I can find from the earlier policy in the OP's post is that the US Shipping Only policy has been added. And that was added a year ago. So yeah, its all crystal clear to me."
That is good news for all concerned. Color me wrong. I was still going to send you a fair amount of my $$$ regardless.

I just clicked the link in you posted which stated the following "guidelines:"
"What are the guidelines?
Collectible tobacco packaging
Collectible packaging that's completely empty (no tobacco inside the package)

Allowed

Allowed
Any collectible tobacco packaging that still contains tobacco

Not allowed

Not allowed"

 

peteguy

Lifer
Jan 19, 2012
1,530
906
I spent a good half hour on the phone with ebay trying to get some answers. I was told that you can sell any tin as long as it is sealed and you show pictures proving that it is sealed. It must be listed as a collectible? You can only ship to the US and you also have to list the usual disclaimer. I was put on hold a bunch of times when told they needed to talk to someone in collectibles or a supervisor. I asked about 5 times if they were sure as I have had a phone call in the past telling me differently and I do not want to have my account suspended. I was told they are sure and that I can reference the phone conversation if I need to in the future.
I am still afraid to be the test dummy and will not list any tins there until I see some more consistency from ebay and see more sellers listing everyday tins that are not pulled. I noticed an influx over the last few weeks myself and wondered what was going on.

 

peteguy

Lifer
Jan 19, 2012
1,530
906
After reading the tobacco policy I am not sure how you can get away with selling any tin that has tobacco in it. Maybe they are circumventing this by calling it a collectible and that is why the ebay rep specifically mentioned it must be listed as collectible?

 

pipestud

Lifer
Dec 6, 2012
2,010
1,749
Robinson, TX.
jackswilling, I was actually teasing when I said the rules are crystal clear to me. That's why I added the winkie icon. Actually, nothing is clear to me right now... but then, that's my normal state of mind anyway. :cry:

 

pipestud

Lifer
Dec 6, 2012
2,010
1,749
Robinson, TX.
peteguy, I received a personal phone call from eBay, as did some other tobacco tin sellers, a year ago when eBay put the hammer down on collectible tin selling. And as the rules indicate, I was told that only no longer produced sealed tins will be allowed on eBay. No current production tins and no soft packages of any kind, whether they are still being produced or not. I was also told that the reason for their call to me was that while I currently had several no longer produced tins listed, that I had them listed as worldwide auctions and would have to change that to USA auctions only or they would have to yank them.
Finally, I asked why so many other sellers were getting away with selling current production tobacco and was told that there were only so many employees available to police their entire site, so, usually, a tobacco tin listing in violation of their policy will usually run its course unless someone reports the auction to them.

 

jackswilling

Lifer
Feb 15, 2015
1,777
24
^^^ @ Steve

I understood that, thanks. For now it seems to be business as usual. That you have an email from ebay should completely protect you if, and when ebay, cracks down, which may never happen. But you have been green-lighted, so Color Me Happy.

Jack Swilling aka John from Temecula and now West Plains.

 

peteguy

Lifer
Jan 19, 2012
1,530
906
I saw about 5-6 Esoterica bags sell within the last few weeks which was a real eye opener for me. I thought they were always pulled. Maybe this is just a lucky few weeks and some slipped thru. I just don't trust ebay at all so I am going to keep watching and see where this all goes.

 

andrew

Lifer
Feb 13, 2013
3,042
400
I can see them cracking down, I was finding packages of cigarettes recently on ebay, Black russians and others, I wouldn't be surprised if they pull all "sealed" collectible tins.

 

andrew

Lifer
Feb 13, 2013
3,042
400
You're not allowed to sell tobacco products on eBay, including collectible packaging that contains tobacco, because of strict government regulations. For details on what can and can't be listed, see our guidelines.
Our tobacco policy only applies to items sold on the U.S. eBay website (eBay.com). Our international websites may have different rules, so be sure to check each country's website to see what's allowed. Be sure to also follow our international trading policy.
If you're selling an item that's allowed, you can only offer domestic shipping. You're not allowed to ship these items outside the US.
Make sure your listing follows these guidelines. If it doesn't, it may be removed, and you may be subject to a range of other actions, including restrictions of your buying and selling privileges and suspension of your account.

Seems pretty clear to me.

 
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