When new sellers start selling on eBay, there are some limitations that they need to understand and follow. Using insights from ZIK’s eBay Competitor Research Tool can help you see how experienced sellers structure their listings to work within and eventually surpass these limits
All the new sellers on eBay are subject to some selling limitations that state the number of products they can sell every month.
Sellers are required to sell the products in quantities within limits set by eBay.
However, every business wants to grow and succeed, and to do this, they need to sell more than the limited quantities offered to new sellers getting started on the platform.
That is why all the new and existing sellers need to understand eBay selling limits and understand how to navigate their account in the beginning to quickly achieve higher selling limits.
The following article will run through how to increase eBay limits, step by step.
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Why Am I Limited to Selling 10 Items on eBay?
If you are a new seller on eBay, your limit will automatically be set to allow you to sell up to 10 items that are valued up to $500 per month.
This limit is imposed by eBay to enable sellers to show their credibility before they get wider access to eBay’s buyer pool.
This is, unfortunately, a game that new sellers have to play with eBay, and it is a rite of passage before you are able to start selling on the platform in earnest.
How you choose to utilize your allocated limit is up to you; you can either list 10 of the same item, or 10 separate items, or even a combination of both.
We recommend listing a few separate items, possibly giving each item a quantity of 2 or 3, so that you don’t have all your eggs in one basket.
This way if one item sells, you can adjust the quantity on another listing, and increase the quantity on the popular listing. This will allow the popular listing to gain in the search engines, allowing you to sell more units.
How Long Do eBay Selling Limits Last?
The eBay selling limits can last for 90 days or more if you are not actively trying to increase your eBay limits. This will depend on the performance of your account and whether you are fully utilizing the limits provided to you.
eBay reviews the seller’s account on the 20th of every month, and they can update your limit even if you don’t ask them to.
If you are generally running a good store, with great customer service, and are working towards a higher seller rating, you will be doing all of the things that eBay wants to see to allocate a higher monthly selling limit to your account.
How Can I Check My eBay Seller Limit
It is very simple to check your seller limit on eBay. Simply log in to your account and open the seller dashboard.
Then, hover your cursor to the “My eBay” tab and click on “Selling” in the drop-down menu.
All the selling limits and other data related to sales, traffic, promotions, and performance are available in the seller dashboard under the “monthly selling limits section”.
Every time you open your seller dashboard, you can see the monthly seller limits along with the limit left for the current month.
What Should You Know Before Applying to Increase the Seller Limit?
Here are a few things to consider before you apply for an increase in your eBay selling limits. Doing this correctly will allow you to maximize your chances for success.
Make Sure All Your Limits are Full.
So, the first thing you should note is to make sure that your current eBay selling limit is full. This can be done by listing your limit value or by listing the allocated quantities.
The key is to ensure that you are at capacity before requesting an increase.
If you have not reached this capacity, our first step would be to continue to list products in your store until you are. This will put you in the best position to increase your account’s selling limit.
No Unresolved Cases, Buyer Requests, Or Open Returns
You can check the open returns and replacements in the orders section. If there are any open returns or unresolved cases, you should try to close them before submitting a limit increase request.
Have a Good Seller Rating
You need to ensure that your seller account has a good rating. The rating and information of your account are available on the seller dashboard.
To apply for an increase in the limit, eBay selects the sellers that are “top rated” or rated “above standard” levels. If your account is rated “below average,” you can improve it by following these tips.
- Ship the products out on time as per the eBay shipping policies.
- Update the tracking information as per the policies.
- Close the unresolved cases without asking eBay to intervene between you and the customer.
For a more detailed explanation, you can check out these tips to improve your seller rating quickly.
Make Sure You Have the Items in Stock
The next thing that you should consider when looking to navigate eBay’s selling limits is to ensure that all of your active listings are, in fact, in stock.
You can check the stock from the listings tab. Check the “active listings” and “out of stock listings” in the “listing” tab. Then remove the “out of stock listings” and replace them with the available items.
A Verified PayPal Account
To apply for an increase in the eBay seller limit, you should have a verified PayPal account. If you are using eBay’s managed payments service, you don’t need to follow this step.
If you are not using the managed payment service, you should verify your PayPal account linked to your eBay seller account. Go to the eBay account settings page and then click on PayPal account on the left menu.
If the link for the PayPal account is not available, it means your account is already verified.
Click to download the eBook and master eBay product research for winning items.How Do I Increase My Selling Limits on eBay?
There are many tips that sellers can follow to increase the rating of their eBay account and the selling limit. Below are a few useful ways to go about increasing eBay selling limits that are tried and tested.
Automatic Increases
If the seller account meets all the requirements to be eligible for an increase in the limit, eBay automatically increases the account based selling limits. The eBay algorithm scans every store once a month to check out its metrics and performance.
As soon as you become eligible for an increase in your limit, you get an email alerting you to this. If eBay increases your seller limit automatically, it means you are in the right direction.
Your account is healthy, conversions are good, and customers are satisfied with your services.
Contact eBay Via Phone
You can contact eBay to increase the seller limit by phone. The option of calling on the phone is not available on all accounts. So you need to check whether it is available for you or not.
Look for the Help and Contact tab on your dashboard and click on it. Then scroll down to see the “Browse Help Articles” and click on Selling. Then scroll down further to “listing your item” and click on “Selling limits.”
Now scroll to the bottom of the page, where you will see various methods to contact eBay for increasing seller limit. One of the methods is contacting by phone, and other methods are via email or chat.
If the contact by phone method is not available under your seller limit section, try choosing a different Help and Contact Subject and scrolling to the bottom.
Once you contact them to increase the seller limit, they will scan your seller account and tell you whether you are eligible for an increase in limit or not.
What is the Phone Number to Call to Increase my Limit on eBay?
If you live in the USA, you can reach eBay at 866-540-3229 to request a limit increase.
How To Increase My Selling Limits On eBay Without Calling
Below are a few options that you can use to increase your limits without having to call.
1. Contact via Chat
A direct method to contact eBay for a seller limit increase is to contact their team through chat. You can chat live with their representative.
Accessing the chat functionality is currently only available on eBay UK; however, you can use it on your account world wide. To get here, navigate to the help section on eBay UK, and click on “contact us”.
You then click on Manage Account > Seller Levels > Performance Standards > Chat With Us.
This will open up a live chat with one of eBay’s representatives.
While chatting with the eBay representatives, you should be kind and courteous and show them that you are really serious about running your business on their platform.
Make sure you tell them that customer service is your top priority and you believe in solving the problems of customers through your product. A helpful template that we have used to increase our chances of success is as follows:
“Hi, I am selling on eBay, Amazon, Walmart, and my own website. I have a lot of items to list on eBay, which I ship from multiple warehouses around the US/World.
We are a family business, and this means a lot to us.
During this hard time, any limit increase can help us generate more income.”
2. Contact eBay via Email
Another method available in the Help and Contact section is the email option. Scroll to the bottom of the help article until you see the “Need more help” section.
Click on the “Email Us” link, which requires you to fill a form in which you can ask for the limit increase.
The eBay team usually replies within 48 hours, and if they don’t agree to increase your limit, you can try again after one month.
3. Increasing Limits via Your Seller Hub
You can natively increase your limits inside the seller hub by navigating down to the “monthly limits” section and clicking on the “request to list more” link.
Once you click on it, eBay will quickly scan your seller account and let you know in seconds whether or not they have increased their limits.
Please note that you can only use this option once a month. Regardless of whether the answer is negative or positive, you must wait at least 30 days before eBay scans your store again using this link.
So, be sure to follow all of the steps to verify that you qualify for a limit raise before trying.
What If I Am Not Eligible For The eBay Limit Increase
If you are not eligible for an increase in the seller limit, the following tips will take you well on your way to make yourself eligible.
- Try to sell your products more effectively.
- Reply to ALL customer queries
- Resolve any complaints or returns as soon as possible.
- Offer STELLAR customer service
- Follow all the eBay seller policies, terms, and conditions.
- After following the above steps, apply for an increase in the eBay seller limit.
Summing Up
Every seller wants to increase their selling limit and make profits. We know this.
It is also important to consider that eBay, TOO, wants you to increase your limits, as this means that you will be selling more on their platform, which essentially means more money in their pockets.
It’s in their best interest to allow you a higher limit, but it needs to be done in a way that provides buyers on the platform the best experience.
For this reason, following their policies and providing an amazing customer experience will take you far when it comes to increasing your limits. This applies to new eBay sellers or even those with a more established seller account.
eBay simply wants you to focus on improving your customer service, your product listings, and to follow their policies. Once you follow the tips in this article, eBay will automatically increase your seller limit without you even asking for it.
If your seller limit does not increase automatically, contact them via phone, chat, or Email.
eBay representatives will scan your account and check the performance metrics of your account, and if you are found eligible, they will increase your limit and notify you via email.
Break Free from eBay’s Selling Limits with Smarter Research
Hitting your monthly selling cap can be frustrating. The key is proving demand and building credibility with the right products. With ZIK’s eBay Product Research Tool, you can discover best-selling, low-risk items that help you maximize your current limits and accelerate your path to higher ones. Don’t waste your listing slots—use data-driven research to grow faster and unlock bigger selling opportunities.
Frequently Asked Questions on eBay Selling Limits
Here are some frequently asked questions on the limits of selling on eBay:
What is a selling limit on eBay?
A selling limit is the maximum number of items or total value you can list each month on eBay. Limits help protect buyers from inexperienced sellers. They expand automatically with strong performance, or you can request increases through Seller Hub.
What happens if I sell more than $600 on eBay?
If your sales exceed $600 in a calendar year, eBay is required to issue you a Form 1099-K for tax reporting. This includes total gross sales, not profit. You must report this income when filing your tax return.
Why can’t I sell more than $500 on eBay?
New sellers often face lower selling limits, sometimes capped at $500 monthly. eBay imposes these limits to reduce fraud and protect buyers. As you build a positive track record with good feedback and reliable shipping, your limits can be increased.
What is the IRS limit on eBay selling?
In the United States, the IRS requires eBay to issue a Form 1099-K if your gross sales reach $600 or more in a calendar year. This threshold applies regardless of profit, meaning all sales activity must be reported as taxable income.
How do I get rid of selling limits on eBay?
You can’t remove selling limits completely, but they increase as you build trust. Maintain strong seller performance with positive feedback, on-time shipping, and accurate listings. You can also request a limit increase through Seller Hub or contact eBay customer support directly.
How to get around selling limits on eBay?
You cannot bypass selling limits directly, but you can expand them by improving seller performance, requesting increases through Seller Hub, or contacting eBay support. Another method is opening an additional account, provided it follows eBay’s policies and maintains good standing.
How many items a month can I sell on eBay?
The number depends on your account’s selling limits. New sellers usually start with 10 items per month or $500 in total value. As you build positive feedback and reliable performance, eBay automatically reviews and increases your monthly selling allowance over time.