I listed two vintage necklaces today on eBay, both about 30 years old. Both necklaces had some old generic bone beads on them. Almost immediately, eBay ended the auctions and sent me an email stating that I had violated their policy of selling animal parts which were banned.
I’d already had some auctions ended last month because they were made with vintage ivory. Ebay has now basically banned all sales of ivory, even if it’s old. Of course, I learn about this policy by getting into “trouble” with eBay because I’m not aware of their new ban. Ebay has lowered their rating of my compliance with their policies……………..
After much discussion with eBay about bone, I found that it’s still OK to sell vintage bone jewelry. But eBay’s guidelines say that you should clearly state in the listing title the origin of the bone and make sure that the bone did not come from the endangered species list. In addition, you should also cover the origin of the bone in your listing text too.
I have no problem with eBay banning the sales of products made from endangered animals. I totally support it. However, I hate eBay’s lack of communication and employees who aren’t even sure of the policy. Ebay’s written policy is very vague and gives THEM a lot of wiggle room to make arbitrary decisions on what’s allowed or not. On top of that, there are hundreds of eBay auctions going on right now featuring bone jewelry that doesn’t comply with their new standards.
