Guide to Selling Men’s Glamour Magazines on Ebay

We often get asked for advice about selling men’s magazines on Ebay so we have put together a guide to explain Ebays policy on selling adult magazines. This should give you a few tips to hopefully make selling your magazines easier and less stressful.

Can I sell my adult magazine collection on Ebay?

The answer to this is yes but only certain publications. Ebay currently allows the sale of Mayfair magazines, Penthouse and Playboy/Playgirl magazines in the men’s magazine category. If you stick to these titles you can list your mags. The trick is to prevent them getting removed and avoid being penalised.

Can I sell other adult magazine publications on Ebay?

Leaving aside what we would class as vintage pinup magazines as we are focusing here on ‘topshelf’ or porn magazines, the answer from Ebay is a firm no. The reality is you can list other titles but eventually they will be removed and your account will be penalised.

Frustration factor #1: But other sellers are listing and selling all kinds of stuff!

Indeed, a quick search of the Ebay listings in the men’s magazine category will show all kinds of adult magazines. The fact of the matter is Ebay have not got around to checking/removing these listings.

They find out about offending items through a combination of automated checks on words in listings, human checks and reports from Ebay community and reports from other sellers (Especially the ones that have had their listings removed!)

What if I go ahead and list my magazines anyway?

You may get lucky and sell some. Eventually Ebay will notice and start to remove your listings usually in multiples.

I listed some adult magazines for sale and they have been removed, what will happen?

If it’s a first offence you will get a polite warning and a prompt to check the Ebay policy on selling men’s magazines. The first punishment (after the friendly warning) is usually a 1 day suspension, further offences carry 3-30 day suspensions. Continued disregard of the rules risks full account suspension/closure. Your account now has a marker on it so future listings will receive quicker attention from the compliance department.

This is where things start getting a bit awkward. Ebay will expect you to remove any of your other current listings that do not meet the policy requirements. Most sellers will miss or ignore this, sometimes triggering a rapid second ‘offence’. Penalties can accumulate, a seller with 30 offending listings can have all 30 removed in 1 go and receive a 1 day suspension. Likewise another seller could have their 30 listings removed several at a time over a period of days resulting in a 1 day penalty, 3 day and 30 day penalty within a small space of time.

It is also quite possible to receive a 30 day suspension and after reaching the end of it to then have another listing (either active or sold) removed and have another 30 day suspension applied immediately.

I sold my Ravers, British Hardcore Magazines etc!

Better move fast and dispatch them. When Ebay remove adult magazines this can include sold items. When removed it is like they never existed, all links and references to that listing result in a 404/not found page. Your buyer will receive an email telling them that the item has been removed. The item will also disappear from your ‘sold’ section so there is no indication of who bought it or where to send it. Check your Paypal account!

So, it’s better to sell just the allowed Magazines like Mayfair. Nice and easy!

Unfortunately not, there are further rules to comply with.

Your listing for your adult men’s magazine must have nothing offensive or sexually explicit, text or image wise in the listing title or description.

The listing photo/image of your magazine can not have any nudity on it. You cannot hide any nudity by cropping the image, blurring sections or partially covering the cover with another magazine. You are not allowed to cover the nudity with anything (paper, coins on nipples! etc)

Frustration factor #2: They removed my magazine for nudity but the model has clothes on!

See through bras, mesh tops, nipple slips can all lead to removal of the listing of your men’s magazine and the relevant penalties being applied. This removes a huge volume of issues that would otherwise be allowed but in reality can get you in trouble with Ebay if you show the front cover of those issues.

So if I only sell the allowed publications and follow the rules my items will not get removed.

Unfortunately you may find the listings for your Mayfair/Penthouse/Playboy magazines still get removed. This can be due to overzealous automated checking or human error from Ebay staff who misinterpret their own policies.

The good news here is that if you contact customer services you can get your item relisted and any penalty removed. Top tip: Use the online chat it’s quicker and gets better results.

By following the above guide you now know which magazines you have a better chance of selling without adversely affecting your Ebay seller account.

If it all sounds like too much aggravation and you have a sizeable collection of adult magazines you want to sell, please contact us. We may be interested in buying them.