---
slug: prohibited-goods
title: Prohibited and restricted goods
version: 1.1
effective: 2026-10-26
summary: What cannot be listed on the marketplace, what can be listed only with conditions, and what happens to a listing that breaks the rule.
---

# Prohibited and restricted goods

The marketplace carries goods that a warehouse can store and a carrier can move. A shopper must be able to own and resell them lawfully in the United States. This page lists what is excluded and what carries conditions.

## Prohibited

These goods cannot be listed. A listing that contains them is withdrawn, and a repeat is a breach of the Terms.

- Firearms, firearm parts, ammunition, explosives and fireworks.
- Controlled substances, prescription drugs, and products that claim to treat a disease without an approved label.
- Tobacco, nicotine and vaping products, and alcohol.
- Counterfeit goods. Genuine goods the seller lawfully owns may be sold without the brand's permission (the first-sale rule); a brand with a legal complaint uses the brand registry.
- Recalled goods, and goods under a manufacturer's destruction order.
- Stolen goods and goods the seller does not hold title to.
- Live animals, animal parts from protected species, and human remains.
- Personal data, accounts, access codes and gift cards.
- Hazardous materials that need a licensed carrier: classes 1, 2.3, 6.1 inhalation hazard and 7.

## Restricted

When the condition beside the item is met and stated on the product, these goods can be listed.

- Perishable food: the product states the best-by date and the storage condition, and returns are excluded.
- Other hazardous materials (aerosols, flammable liquids, lithium batteries, corrosives): the product states the hazard class, and the offer is pickup only or ground shipping by a carrier that accepts the class.
- Medical devices sold over the counter: the product states the model and the expiry where there is one.
- Adult products: the product is kept off the public pages and the feeds and is readable only by a signed-in shopper who asked for the category.
- Goods with a known safety defect: the product states the defect under known defects and is sold as Defective.
- Branded goods in quantity: the seller states the source (retailer return, overstock, closeout) on the product.

## How the rule is applied

When a seller accepts the policies at sign-up, it agrees to this page. A check at import refuses a prohibited category before the product is saved, and holds a restricted one until the seller confirms its statements; until the signed-in display for adult products is built, the check refuses them too. Our team reads a report about a listing within one business day. A listing that breaks the rule is withdrawn, with the reason in writing to the seller. A withdrawn product stays in the seller's catalog as a draft. When the rule allows, the seller corrects and relists it.

## Changes coming

A platform list will name the categories where returns are excluded by rule.

## Questions

Write to hello@commercebook.ai.