Setting up eBay business policies as a reseller.

eBay describes business policies as reusable templates for the payment, shipping and return details you show buyers. You can apply a template to new listings or to many existing listings, so you do not fill in the same terms listing by listing.¹ You can create several templates if your terms differ by type of item.¹

eBay's developer documentation splits them into three types: payment, fulfillment (shipping and pickup) and return. It says a seller should have at least one policy of each type and may create several of each, and that each policy has a name you choose plus an ID eBay assigns.²

You have to opt in before you can use them. eBay's help page says opting in applies to your whole account, but policies belong to a marketplace: each marketplace needs its own set, so a seller on ebay.com who also sells on another eBay site creates separate policies there.¹

When a program creates a listing through eBay's Inventory API, the offer it creates carries the IDs of your payment, shipping and return policies. eBay's documentation describes filling in the listing policies section of the create offer call with policy IDs.² The same page says sellers must opt in to the policy management program, which lets eBay associate the policies you create with the items you list.² In plain terms: without policies there is nothing to point a new listing at.

eBay's help page points to the business policies dashboard in the Account section of My eBay.¹ In a US seller account we checked, the page is titled "Manage your business policies" and is reached under My eBay, Account, Selling.³ On that page we saw:³

• Filter pills labeled All policies, Payment, Return and Shipping.
• A "Create policy" button with a dropdown.
• Links labeled "Merge shipping policies" and "Delete inactive policies".
• A table with the columns Actions, Type, Name, Description, Status and Listings.
• An "Opt out" link at the top right of My eBay.

Example policy names in that account were Default Payment, Free Music Shipping and Free Returns.³ eBay changes its screens without notice, so your account may look different.

Per eBay's help page, you choose a policy type from the Create policy dropdown, give the policy a descriptive name and a short description, add the details and save it.¹ The help page suggests a name such as "Shipping policy, International".¹

Two option lists we saw on the create policy screens:³

• Handling time: options run from same day up to 40 days.
• Return window: No returns, 14 days, 30 days or 60 days.

We did not record other options, such as shipping services or who pays return shipping, so this guide does not list them. Open the screens in your own account to see what is offered for your marketplace.

On the create-listing form, the payment policy field shows the policy name along with how many listings use it, and has a menu beside it.⁴

You can edit, copy, reassign or delete policies. If you update a policy, listings that use it are updated automatically, but some listings cannot be revised.¹ When an update cannot apply to a listing, eBay gives that listing an automatic "Copy of" policy that is a duplicate of your policy before the update, so the buyer's terms for that listing do not change.¹ The developer documentation describes the same behavior as eBay creating a clone of the original policy with a new ID.²

A policy used by active or scheduled listings cannot be deleted until you assign those listings a different policy.^{1 2} To clear out leftovers, eBay's help page points to "Delete inactive policies" on the manage page, but the help page does not say which policies it removes.¹ We saw a "Merge shipping policies" link on the same page but eBay's help page does not describe it, so check what it does in your account before using it.

eBay's help page says your active listings are not affected by opting out, that your policies are deleted, and that if you opt back in you create new policies and reassign your listings.¹ Rebuilding a set of policies and reassigning listings is work you can avoid if you do not need to opt out.

These are our suggestions, not eBay rules.

• Name policies by what they do. A name like "Free returns 30 days" tells you what a listing promises without opening the policy.
• Keep the set small. A few reusable policies are easier to maintain than one per listing, because an edit reaches every listing that uses the policy.
• Check the Listings column before editing. It shows how many listings a change will touch.
• Price your terms. Free shipping or a longer return window changes your margin, so run the numbers in the eBay fee calculator and plan packing costs with the shipping supplies guide. For carrier choices, see eBay shipping for resellers.

Strooply uses eBay's API to upload photos, create the offer, apply your policies and publish the listing after you explicitly confirm. See how Strooply works for the full flow. If eBay has not turned business policies on for your account, the app shows a screen titled "Turn on business policies on eBay" with a link to copy and open in your browser, and a "Not now" button, so you can set them up before publishing. If they are on but you have not set up your policies yet, the app walks you through a "Set up your eBay policies" flow. Research and drafts stay available while publishing is on hold.