A disclaimer in eBay's IPO registration statement points out that the company does not monitor what is actually for sale on its Web site - which is why the company is able to boast such enormous gross margins in the first place. Instead, a staff of some 130 manage an almost totally automated auction operation in which more than 900,000 items are listed for sale and more than 41,000 change hands every day. Items range from hollow-point ammunition to switchblade knives, from burglars' tools to the skins and ivory of endangered species. Add your comments to the bottom of this page. Wagner says he complained repeatedly to eBay but never received a response.
Penalties can range from warnings to expulsion from the site.
I'll have to investigate the matter further. Though individually vetting all items listed for sale on the site would obviously be time-consuming and costly, it doesn't seem an extraordinarily burdensome task to identify simple categories of goods that should be flagged for a closer look. Apparently the buddy system leaves something to be desired. Further and separate penalties apply for the advertising of such knives to the public as well. Many appear to be manufactured in Italy.