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Set Up eBay Business Policies

Use this article to turn on eBay business policies and create your payment, shipping, and return policies so you can apply consistent terms across every listing.

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Written by India Neckel

Overview

Use this article to turn on eBay's business policies feature and set up your payment, shipping, and return policies. Once they're created, you can apply the same terms to every listing in a couple of clicks instead of filling them in one by one.

What you'll do:

  1. Create a payment policy

  2. Create a shipping policy

  3. Create a return policy


Before you start

  • You'll need an active eBay seller account to set up business policies — they live in your eBay account settings, not in Listing Monster.

  • You must be signed in as the account owner (or have admin access) to change account-level settings like this.


Prefer to Watch? 2-Minute Video Walkthrough 🎥

Create a payment policy

A payment policy sets which payment methods you accept and your payment terms, so buyers see this on every listing you apply it to.

  1. Go to Seller Hub > Account > Business policies.


  2. Under the Payment tab, click Create payment policy.

  3. Enter a Policy name you'll recognise later (for example, "Standard payment").

  4. Choose your accepted payment methods.

  5. Set your payment terms (we recommend you untick immediate payment, so you can use the policy for auctions as well as Buy it Now).

  6. Click Save.

Your new payment policy now appears in the list and is ready to apply to listings.


Create a shipping policy

Prefer to Watch? 2-Minute Video Walkthrough 🎥

A postage policy sets your handling time, postage costs, and the services you offer, so you don't have to re-enter this information for every listing.

  1. Go to Seller Hub > Account > Business policies.

  2. Under the Shipping tab, click Create postage policy.

  3. Enter a Policy name.

  4. Set your handling time (how many days you need to post an item after it sells).

  5. Choose your domestic shipping services and set the cost for each (flat rate, calculated, or free).

  6. Add international shipping services if you post overseas, or leave this off if you only sell domestically.

  7. Click Save.

Your postage policy is now saved and ready to apply to listings.


Create a return policy

Prefer to Watch? 2-Minute Video Walkthrough 🎥

A return policy sets whether you accept returns, your return window, and who pays for return postage.

  1. Go to Seller Hub > Account > Business policies.

  2. Under the Return tab, click Create return policy.

  3. Enter a Policy name.

  4. Choose whether you accept returns.

  5. If you do, set your return period (for example, 30 days) and who pays for return postage.

  6. Choose your refund method (money back, or exchange).

  7. Click Save.

Your return policy is now saved alongside your payment and shipping policies.


Expected result

✅ You now have a payment, shipping, and return policy saved under Business policies in your eBay account. You can select any of these three policies from the drop-down menus when creating or editing a listing, instead of setting terms from scratch each time.


💡 Tips and best practices

  • Create a couple of shipping policies for different item types (for example, one for small lightweight items and one for bulkier items) so you're not manually adjusting postage costs on individual listings.

  • Keep your policy names specific and descriptive — you'll be picking from a drop-down list every time you list, so "Standard payment" is easier to spot than "Policy 1".

  • Review your return period and who pays for return postage against eBay's seller protections before saving, since this affects how disputes are resolved.

  • Update your policies in one place when your terms change, rather than editing each live listing individually — every listing using that policy updates automatically.


⚠️ Troubleshooting / FAQs

Can I rename or delete a policy once it's synced with Listing Monster?

No. Once a payment, postage or return policy is synced with Listing Monster, don't rename or delete it in eBay. It’s important to keep policy names the same, so your multi-step sales automations, discounts re-listing can continue to run. Contact the Listing Monster team on chat first if you have any concerns about editing a synced policy.

My new policy isn't showing up when I try to apply it to a listing

Newly created or edited policies can take a few minutes to sync across eBay before they appear in listing menus. Wait a few minutes and refresh the listing page, and if it still doesn't appear, go back to Business policies and confirm the policy actually saved (it should be listed under the relevant tab). If it's not listed there, re-create it following the steps above.

Can I have more than one shipping, payment, or return policy?

Yes — you can create as many policies as you need for each type and choose which one to apply per listing. This is useful if, for example, you want a lightweight-item shipping policy and a separate one for bulkier items, as suggested in the tips above.

What happens to my listings if I delete a policy?

eBay requires you to reassign any listings using a policy to a different policy before you can delete it. You can't delete a policy that's still actively applied to a live listing.


Related articles

  • Create Your First Listing

  • Assign a Merchandising Strategy

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