According to eBay's web site:
Listings for antiquities have to meet the following criteria:
· Items have to be authentic.
· Sellers have to include either a photo or a scanned image of an official document that clearly shows both the item's country of origin and the legal details of the sale (it has to be approved for import or export).
Authentic artifacts, fossils, and relics have to meet the following criteria:
· The item has to match the time-period category that it's listed in.
· If the item has been reworked or modernized in any way, this information has to be called out and fully described in the listing.
Reproduction of an artifact, fossil, or relic has to meet the following criteria:
· The listing title and description have to clearly state that the item is a reproduction.
· The item must be listed in the appropriate Reproduction or Fantasy category.
The site also lists specific restrictions on Native American artifacts, stipulating what eBay considers not allowed:
Describing items in the following terms because they make it hard for buyers to find authentic versions:
· Alaska Native style
· American Indian style
· Native American style
· Other descriptions that may suggest the item was made by a Native American
Are these guidelines are being followed? We invite our readers to take a few minutes to peruse the eBay site and see for themselves.
In 2002, Christopher Chippindale & David Gill said: “eBay does not closely supervise what is offered” in their seminal study on the subject “On-line auctions: a new venue for the antiquities”. Nine years later, has anything changed?
It is high time for eBay (and its many counterparts) to put action behind its own policies and guidelines. Posting them on the web site alone simply does not suffice.
