eBay overseas warehouse approval for international sellers

The short version

• eBay’s Overseas Warehouse Block Policy covers items shipped from a warehouse in a country different from the seller’s registered address with eBay.
• It took effect on April 1, 2025, for sellers registered in a long list of countries and regions. For sellers registered in India, Israel, Ukraine, Türkiye and Singapore, the date is July 15, 2025.
• Sellers with no history of selling this way need eBay’s approval.
• A warehouse cannot apply for you. The application and the decision are between you and eBay.

What the Overseas Warehouse Block Policy is

eBay published the policy on its site for export sellers. It applies to items that a seller ships from a warehouse in a country different from the seller’s registered address with eBay. eBay says the aim is a good experience for international buyers.

What counts is the address at which your eBay account is registered. A seller registered in Türkiye who ships orders from a U.S. warehouse is covered.

Who it applies to and since when

• April 1, 2025. The policy starts for accounts registered in the countries and regions on eBay’s list. New sellers there are required to apply for approval to ship items from an overseas warehouse. The list is long, so check it for your country.
• July 15, 2025. From this date the same procedures apply to sellers registered in India, Israel, Ukraine, Türkiye or Singapore, both existing and new.

eBay’s page separates existing sellers from new ones.

• Existing sellers. eBay says it examined existing accounts automatically. Accounts with a good history of selling from a warehouse abroad (eBay calls this forward deployment) were allowed to continue.
• New sellers. Sellers with no such history need to apply for eBay’s approval.

The page does not say how eBay treats an older account that has never sold from an overseas warehouse. eBay’s wording depends on selling history, so expect to need approval if your account has none.

What “forward-deployed inventory” means

The 2025 page uses the term without defining it. An eBay notice to sellers in Southeast Asia, published on October 27, 2022, describes it as an item shipped from an overseas warehouse to a buyer in a country different from the one where the seller is located. It is stock you place in a warehouse abroad before it sells, so that orders ship from there.

That is different from buying an item from a retailer after each sale, which eBay does not allow. The item location guide explains the difference.

How approval is requested

eBay’s page says only that these sellers need to apply for eBay’s approval. It does not give a form, a link or a contact for the application, and the regional copies of the page say the same.

Ask eBay directly: your account manager if you have one, otherwise seller support, from the account you want approved. Ask in writing how to apply and what eBay wants to see.

What eBay does not publish

• The criteria for approval, including what makes a selling history “good.”
• The documents it wants to see.
• How long a decision takes.
• What happens to a listing or an account that ships from an overseas warehouse without approval.

The separate $500 limit for items shipped to the U.S.

A second eBay policy applies to many of the same sellers. Since August 27, 2025, items valued at $500 or more, including the shipping fee, need what eBay calls additional seller enablement before they can be listed for shipping to the U.S. The earlier threshold was $2,500.

The limit applies to sellers whose registered address is in one of the regions and countries listed on eBay’s page, Türkiye among them, and who do not yet have a dedicated eBay account manager. eBay says active listings that do not meet the requirement are ended automatically and can be relisted after enablement. The same page gives the contact address for starting that process.

The page ties the limit to the seller’s registered address and to the U.S. as the destination. It does not mention where the item is stored. Stock already in a U.S. warehouse may still fall under the limit, so check with eBay.

Who does what

Mistakes to avoid

• Shipping a large first shipment before asking eBay whether your account can sell from that country.
• Treating a warehouse agreement as eBay’s approval.
• Assuming an old account is exempt.
• Paying someone who promises approval.