As you can tell from eBay's mission statement, you should be able to trade practically anything you can think of on the eBay site. You can't trade literally everything, of course; there are some types of items that eBay refuses to deal with. Read on to learn more.

eBay's Product Categories
eBay organizes its listings by product category. There are a few dozen major categories, each of which is subdivided into dozens of more targeted subcategories. For example, the major category of Cameras & Photo is subdivided into a variety of smaller categories, such as Camcorders, Digital Cameras, Film Cameras, and so on. To make it easier to find specific items, these subcategories are further subdivided into even more targeted subcategories; for example, the Digital Cameras subcategory is subdivided into subcategories for Point & Shoot, Digital SLR, Parts & Repair, and so on.

When you're selling an item, you drill down through the categories and subcategories until you find the one that best fits the item you're selling. When you're looking to buy an item, you just keep clicking through the subcategories until you find the type of item you want to buy.

What You Can't Trade on eBay
Of course, you can't sell just anything on eBaythere are some items that eBay prohibits you from selling. This list of what you can't buy or sell on eBay makes a lot of sense; most of these items are illegal, are controversial, or could expose eBay to various legal actions.

eBay's list of prohibited items includes the following:

Academic and beta software

Alcohol

Animals (except for tropical fish and domestic aquatic snails) and wildlife products

Artifacts protected under federal laws

Bootleg or counterfeit recordings of CDs, videos, computer software, or other items that infringe on someone else's copyright or trademark

CDs, DVDs, and screen saver programs that contain multiple images of celebrities or models

Catalog listings

Counterfeit currency and stamps

Drugs and drug paraphernalia

Embargoed goods and goods from prohibited countries

Firearms and ammunition

Government and transit documents, IDs, licenses, and uniforms

Hazardous materials

Human body parts and remains

Items that contain the image, likeness, name, or signature of a person, unless the person has authorized the product in question

Law enforcement badges or equipment

Lockpicking devices

Lottery tickets

Mailing lists and personal information

Mod chips, game enhancers, and boot discs for video game systems

Movies and music stored on recordable media, such as CD-R discs, DVD+/-R discs, videotapes, and so on

Multi-level marketing, pyramid, and matrix programs

OEM software originally included with a new PC

Postage meters

Prescription drugs and devices

Recalled items

Satellite and cable TV descramblers

Slot machines

Stocks and other securities

Stolen property

Surveillance equipment

Teacher's edition textbooks

Tobacco

Used cosmetics

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