Hand Sanitizer, Face Masks Banned From eBay To Stop Price Gouging Amid Coronavirus Fears
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – eBay is cracking down on sellers who might be trying to profit off concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.
In a message sent to sellers Thursday, the site said it will block new listings and remove current listings that mention coronavirus or sell face masks, hand sanitizer, and disinfecting wipes.
"We will continue to monitor the evolving situation and quickly remove any listing that mentions COVID-19, coronavirus, 2019nCoV (except books) in the title or description," the message read. "These listings may violate applicable US laws or regulations, eBay policies, and exhibit unfair pricing behavior for our buyers."
The move coincided with the California attorney general warning people against trying to inflate the price of these items, as there are restrictions on doing so while California is in a state of emergency.
"It is not open season," AG Xavier Becerra said. "With Gov. Newsom's declaration yesterday of a state of emergency throughout California, price gouging restrictions have gone into effect statewide in California."
Plenty of store shelves across the Southland are bare — with no hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes or masks — but some of those same items can still be found online with sky high prices.
"Businesses cannot exploit this state of emergency to unlawfully raise prices and attempt to unscrupulously profit off of this emergency," Becerra said. "These price gouging restrictions make it illegal for businesses to raise the prices of most goods and services by more than 10%."
eBay also has restrictions against listings that make false or unsubstantial health claims. The site said it hopes to mitigate false health claims related to the coronavirus by monitoring listings that mention the virus.
"Like so many companies, we have been closely monitoring the coronavirus issue as it continues to develop," a representative for eBay said in a statement Friday. "As always, our first priority is to ensure the safety of our employees and customers around the world. eBay is taking significant measures to block or quickly remove items on our marketplace that make false health claims. We are making every effort to ensure that anyone who sells on our platform follows local laws and eBay policies."
Buyers who spot any concerning product pages can also report listings to eBay for review.
