If someone sues eBay because of something you did — like posting an illegal item or violating someone's rights — you are responsible for covering eBay's legal costs and any resulting damages.
This analysis describes what eBay's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
This clause places significant financial liability on individual users, including sellers, if their actions on the platform result in third-party claims against eBay — including claims from intellectual property holders, regulators, or other users.
If a third party sues eBay because of your actions on the platform, you may be required to pay eBay's legal fees and damages, which could be substantial for sellers handling high volumes of transactions or contested listings.
How other platforms handle this
If you're a business user, you will defend and indemnify Google and its affiliates, officers, agents, and employees from all liabilities, damages, losses, and costs (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or relating to: any allegation or claim that your content or your use of the services ...
You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Ancestry and its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, judgments, awards, losses, costs, expenses, or fees (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or relating to your v...
You agree to indemnify, hold harmless and, at our option, defend us and our affiliates, and our and their officers, directors, employees, stockholders, agents and representatives, as well as Partner Bank (collectively, "Indemnified Persons"), from any and all third party claims, liability, losses, d...
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"You will indemnify and hold us (and our parent, subsidiaries, affiliates, directors, officers, agents, employees, co-branders, and suppliers) harmless from any claim or demand, including legal fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of your breach of this User Agreement, your improper use of eBay's Services, or your violation of any law or the rights of a third party.— Excerpt from eBay's eBay User Agreement
REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: Broad user indemnification clauses in consumer contracts may engage EU and UK consumer protection frameworks that restrict terms creating disproportionate liability for consumers. In the US, such clauses are generally enforceable in commercial contexts but may face scrutiny in purely consumer-facing relationships depending on state law. The FTC Act's prohibition on unfair practices is relevant where indemnification obligations are not clearly disclosed. GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: Medium. For individual consumer-buyers this clause is unlikely to create material exposure in practice, as claims against eBay arising from typical buying activity are uncommon. For sellers — particularly business sellers handling branded goods, regulated products, or high transaction volumes — this clause creates meaningful legal and financial exposure if listings attract intellectual property or regulatory claims. JURISDICTION FLAGS: EU and UK consumer law may limit the enforceability of broad indemnification clauses against individual consumers. Business sellers in the US should treat this clause as a material contract risk, particularly in categories prone to IP claims such as electronics, fashion, and collectibles. CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: Business accounts should assess whether their general liability or errors and omissions insurance covers indemnification obligations arising from third-party platform claims. Procurement teams reviewing eBay seller agreements for business use should flag this clause as requiring risk quantification. COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Legal teams advising sellers should ensure clients understand that this clause effectively shifts legal defense costs to the user in third-party IP or regulatory disputes. They should also evaluate whether this indemnification obligation aligns with or conflicts with any separate commercial agreements between the seller and eBay.
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This clause places significant financial liability on individual users, including sellers, if their actions on the platform result in third-party claims against eBay — including claims from intellectual property holders, regulators, or other users.
If a third party sues eBay because of your actions on the platform, you may be required to pay eBay's legal fees and damages, which could be substantial for sellers handling high volumes of transactions or contested listings.
ConductAtlas has identified this type of provision across 71 platforms. See the full comparison.
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