The rules to contact eBay buyers off platform are strict, and most of the obvious routes are closed. eBay’s policy on offering to buy or sell outside of eBay says you may not use contact details from eBay transactions to solicit off-platform sales, and its spam policy says you may not add members to mailing lists without permission.
eBay’s User Agreement adds that you may only send marketing to users who have consented, “and only using eBay Services.”
So you cannot email past eBay buyers about your new store. What remains is narrower: eBay’s own opt-in channel, and being easy to find for buyers who look for you.
Last checked: September 27, 2026. Every eBay statement below was read on eBay’s own policy pages on that date. eBay revises these pages, so read the current versions before you act.
Why this question matters more than it looks
When a seller plans a move from eBay, repeat buyers are often the most valuable thing they want to keep. The instinct is to tell them where you went.
On eBay, that instinct runs into several policies at once, and each covers a different route: messages, listings, email, and the contact details you received from sales.
It helps to read them as eBay intends them. eBay’s policy page explains that sales moved off eBay expose both buyer and seller to fraud risks and fall outside eBay’s protection programs, and that eBay wants to keep its role in connecting buyers and sellers. You do not have to like that. You do have to plan around it while your account is open.
The four eBay policies that apply
At the time of writing (September 2026), four eBay documents cover this question. Each is short and worth reading in full.
1. Offering to buy or sell outside of eBay
eBay’s Offering to buy or sell outside of eBay policy (checked on 2026-09-27) opens: “Offering to buy or sell outside of eBay is not allowed. Buyers and sellers also can’t share contact information, including email addresses and phone numbers, prior to completing a transaction on eBay.”
The same page lists what is not allowed, including:
- using contact details from eBay transactions to solicit off-platform sales
- referencing or promoting outside sales websites in communications
- linking to the same or related items for sale elsewhere
- offering catalogs for direct ordering outside eBay
2. The spam policy
eBay’s spam policy states: “Spam, or unsolicited marketing email, is not allowed on eBay.” It defines spam as an email that is both unsolicited and commercial.
Among the prohibited activities, it lists adding members to mailing lists without permission and sending emails unrelated to a purchase or sale on eBay. It names one marketing channel members may use: the eBay Store newsletter, for members who opt in.
3. The Links policy
eBay’s Links policy says listings or products “can’t contain links that direct customers to a site other than eBay, even if the link is not clickable.”
Its exceptions are narrow: other eBay pages, product videos from approved platforms, eBay approved freight services and legally required information. A link to your own store is not among them.
4. The User Agreement
The eBay User Agreement (checked on 2026-09-27) carries two sentences that decide most of this question. First: “You may not disclose or distribute a user’s information to a third party for purposes unrelated to our Services.
Additionally, you may only send marketing communications to users who have consented to receive them in accordance with applicable laws, and only using eBay Services.”
Second, a fee clause: “if you offer or reference your contact information or ask a buyer for their contact information in the context of buying or selling outside of eBay, you may be liable to pay a final value fee applicable to that item, even if the item doesn’t sell.” In other words, a violation can carry a fee as well as an account consequence.
Common ideas, checked against the rules
Here is how the usual plans line up against those documents at the time of writing.
| What you might try | What eBay’s pages say | Where it lands |
|---|---|---|
| Emailing past buyers about your new store | Marketing only to consenting users, only using eBay Services; no soliciting off-platform sales with eBay contact details | Not allowed |
| Messaging buyers through eBay with your store address | Messages with external links or contact information are listed as prohibited in the spam policy | Not allowed |
| Adding your website to listings or your Store page | Links policy: no links to other sites, even unclickable ones | Not allowed |
| Importing eBay customers into your store and emailing them | Same User Agreement and spam rules apply to the information, wherever it is stored | Not allowed without the consent eBay requires, via eBay |
| eBay Store newsletter to subscribers who opted in | Named as the permitted marketing channel in the spam policy | Allowed, within eBay’s rules on content |
| A printed insert in the parcel pointing to your site | Not named in the pages above; the ban on catalogs for direct ordering outside eBay is the closest line | Unclear. Ask eBay in writing before doing it |
The row about importing customers deserves attention. Shopify’s migration guide for eBay describes exporting customers along with products. Moving a record into a new system does not change the terms under which you received it. Having the data is not the same as being allowed to market to it.
The insert question, handled carefully
Package inserts are the route sellers discuss most, and the policy pages above do not name them. That silence is not permission. eBay’s outside-sales policy prohibits offering catalogs for direct ordering outside eBay and using eBay transaction details to solicit off-platform sales, and a card saying “buy direct from our site next time” reads a lot like both.
If an insert matters to your plan, ask eBay’s Seller Help directly, describe the exact wording, and keep the reply. Do not rely on forum posts or another seller’s experience, because enforcement decisions are made on your account, not theirs.
Email law is a second, separate layer
Even where eBay allows something, the law where you and your buyers live still applies. Marketing email is regulated in many countries, for example under CAN-SPAM in the United States and under data protection and electronic marketing rules in the UK and the EU.
These rules differ on consent, on what counts as an existing customer relationship and on what an email must contain.
This is general information, not legal advice. If you plan to contact anyone who bought from you on a marketplace, ask a lawyer who handles marketing and privacy work in your country to review the plan first.
What you can do instead
The routes that remain are slower, and they are the ones that work without putting your account at risk.
Use eBay’s own opt-in channel for eBay buyers
The spam policy names the eBay Store newsletter as the permitted marketing channel for subscribers who opted in. It keeps the relationship inside eBay, which is exactly the point: you stay in touch with repeat buyers where eBay allows it, for as long as you keep selling there.
Be findable for the buyers who look
Some repeat buyers will search for you by name. A consistent business name, a store that ranks for that name, and social profiles that exist independently of eBay mean those buyers can find you without you contacting them.
Where your customers come from after you leave a marketplace covers those channels; it was written with Etsy sellers in mind, and the channels are the same.
Build a list that is yours from day one
Every customer who buys on your own store, and agrees to hear from you, is a contact you hold under your own terms and the law. That list starts at zero, and that is fine. An email list from zero: the first 90 days walks through how to start one properly.
Keep eBay open while the store grows
Nothing forces you to close eBay the day your store opens. Running both lets repeat buyers keep buying where they already buy, while your store builds its own customers. Keep in mind that eBay’s fees continue while listings are live; eBay seller fees explained breaks them down.
The honest conclusion
Most of your eBay buyers will not follow you to your own store, and eBay’s rules are designed so that you cannot ask them to. If your plan depends on moving them, the plan needs a rethink before the move, not after. That is not a reason to stay on eBay forever.
It is a reason to measure how much of your business eBay’s buyers really are, and to build new customers on your store before you rely on it.
FAQ
Can I email my eBay buyers about my new website?
Not under eBay’s rules. The User Agreement says marketing may only go to users who consented, using eBay Services, and the outside-sales policy prohibits using contact details from eBay transactions to solicit off-platform sales.
Can I put my website link in my eBay listings or Store?
No. eBay’s Links policy says listings can’t contain links to a site other than eBay, even unclickable ones, and the outside-sales policy prohibits linking to items for sale elsewhere.
Can I put a flyer for my store in eBay parcels?
The eBay policy pages reviewed here do not mention package inserts, and the outside-sales policy prohibits catalogs for direct ordering outside eBay. Ask eBay’s Seller Help in writing before relying on an insert.
What happens if I break these rules?
eBay’s outside-sales policy lists possible consequences including listing removal, warnings, activity restrictions or account suspension. The User Agreement adds that referencing contact information for sales outside eBay can make you liable for a final value fee.
Is there any approved way to market to eBay buyers?
The spam policy names the eBay Store newsletter as the channel for marketing emails to members who opt in. It keeps the contact within eBay, subject to eBay’s content rules.