eBay MC Codes Explained: MC011, MC999, MC113 and More (UK Seller Guide 2026)

If eBay has emailed you a wall of text with a code like “MC011” buried in the subject line, your first instinct is to Google the code, and you will find a dozen blogs each stating a confident, slightly different definition. Here is the honest version. eBay uses these codes internally to tag the kind of notice it is sending, but it has never published a public glossary mapping each code to a meaning. So every “MC011 means X” you read, including this page, is built from eBay’s own notice wording plus what thousands of sellers consistently report, not from an official eBay list.

This guide decodes the codes that are well established, tells you how serious each one is and what to do, and, just as importantly, flags the ones that are not reliably documented (MC022 is the classic example) rather than inventing a meaning for them. For the full recovery playbook, appeals and timelines, see the companion guide, eBay account suspended? What to do next.

An MC code is simply the reference eBay attaches to an account notification. It usually appears in the email subject line or at the top of the message in your eBay Messages. The code tells eBay’s systems (and, once you know the pattern, you) what category of notice it is: a verification restriction, a billing hold, a listing removal, a suspension, and so on.

Three things are worth knowing up front:

• eBay does not publish a code list. Its official account holds, restrictions and suspensions page explains the states in general but never says “MC011 means X”.
• The same code can be sent for different reasons. MC999 in particular is a catch-all, so two sellers with the same code can have very different specific problems.
• The message body always wins. The code narrows it down; the text of your actual notice, and any documents it asks for, is what you respond to.

These are the codes with a consistent, well-corroborated meaning across eBay’s notice wording and repeated seller reports. Severity is a guide, not a guarantee: your own notice states the specifics.

MC011 is a temporary selling restriction, not a ban. You can normally still sign in, but you cannot create or revise listings and your payouts are held until the account is reinstated. It is a trust-and-safety hold: eBay wants more confidence that you can fulfil orders reliably, or that your identity and sourcing are genuine. Typical triggers are a sudden jump in sales on a newer account, tracking or fulfilment defects (missing, late or invalid tracking), a run of cancellations or item-not-received cases, or a request to verify who you are and where your stock comes from.

What to do: read the notice for the specific concern, add valid tracking for everything you have sold, and gather clean documents (government ID, proof of address, and supplier or wholesale invoices that show you can source what you list). Then appeal through the link in the message, acknowledge the issue and set out how you have fixed it. Most MC011 restrictions are recoverable; ignoring one is what lets it escalate.

MC999 is a catch-all code. It tells you eBay has taken enforcement action over a suspected policy or User Agreement violation, but not which one, so the impact ranges from a recoverable restriction to a serious suspension depending on the case. Common reasons behind an MC999 are a suspected counterfeit or prohibited item (often after a rights-owner report), a request for proof of sourcing you have not answered, links to another suspended account, or unusual account activity.

What to do: find the exact reason in the notice, assemble proof of legitimacy (supplier invoices dated within the last 365 days, ID, business details), and submit a clear, professional appeal. Do not open a replacement account, which turns a single restriction into a linked-account problem.

MC113 is the code sellers report on a permanent suspension email, the one that says the account has been “permanently suspended because we noticed activity that we believe is a risk to our community.” eBay frames the decision as final, and honestly the reinstatement odds are low. eBay usually gives no specific cause beyond that line, and the claimed triggers (linked accounts, an IP or counterfeit report, prohibited items, or a suspected security issue) are not consistently confirmed.

What to do: reply to the notice or contact eBay through official channels to ask, once and politely, for the specific reason; confirm no other account you own is linked or suspended; and, if you can identify a plausible cause, send a concise appeal with evidence (for example supplier invoices proving authenticity against an IP claim). Expect slow responses, and be very wary of anyone who “guarantees” getting an MC113 overturned.

MC013 is commonly reported as a serious, effectively permanent suspension for major or repeated policy violations, such as selling counterfeit, prohibited or restricted items, or failing multiple account reviews. Sellers describe it as a step above MC011: where MC011 is a reversible verification hold, MC013 is closer to eBay’s indefinite-suspension wording. One caveat: corroboration is community-level and at least one source conflates MC013 with a simple identity check, so let the message decide rather than the code.

What to do: confirm the notice is genuine (check eBay Messages and the official Help site rather than clicking email links), then appeal with a clear plan of action and supporting evidence. Treat it as serious and be realistic about the odds.

MC197 is a billing restriction, not a trust-and-safety action. It means you owe eBay money: overdue selling fees, a failed or expired automatic payment method, or a buyer refund eBay covered and now needs back. It is one of the easier ones to fix because it is about a balance, not a policy judgement.

What to do: clear the balance with a one-time payment in Payments (My eBay or Seller Hub) and update the payment method on file. The account is normally reinstated once eBay receives payment, provided there is no separate policy issue.

MC045 is a listing-removal notice. eBay has taken down a specific listing because it breached a listing policy, most often a prohibited or restricted item, or an intellectual-property or counterfeit issue. On its own it is a per-listing action rather than a full account suspension, but repeated MC045 removals can escalate into selling restrictions.

What to do: open the message to find the exact listing and the specific policy cited, remove or correct the listing, and review eBay’s prohibited and restricted items policy so it does not recur.

Some codes get searched a lot but have no dependable meaning. We would rather tell you that than guess.

MC022. There is no reliable, documented meaning for MC022. eBay does not publish a code list, and unlike its neighbours MC011 and MC021, the code MC022 does not appear in the community glossaries sellers have maintained over the years. Anyone confidently telling you “MC022 means X” is guessing. If you have a notice tagged MC022, ignore the code and read the content: open the message in your eBay Messages and the email eBay sent to your registered address, note the specific reason and the action it asks for, then work out whether it is a hold, a restriction or a suspension using the suspended-account guide.

MC067. This one is worse than undocumented, it is contradictory. Different sources variously call MC067 a duplicate-listing violation, an off-platform-contact or fee-avoidance warning, a non-payment notice, and a trademark takedown. Because the third-party definitions genuinely conflict, do not trust any single “MC067 means X” claim; read the exact policy your notice cites.

Beyond the well-corroborated set above, sellers have maintained community lists of eBay notice codes for years. These are useful as a rough guide, but they trace back to older, single-origin glossaries rather than to eBay, so treat them as indicative and let your actual message confirm the reason.

Whatever the code, the process is the same:

1. Read the actual message, not just the code. Open the email and the copy in your eBay Messages. The specific reason and the requested action are in the body.
2. Work out the state. Is it a payment hold, a restriction, or a suspension? The fix for each is different. Our suspended-account guide has a hold-vs-restriction-vs-suspension table.
3. Do exactly what it asks. Pay a balance (MC197), remove a listing (MC045), or upload ID, proof of address and supplier invoices (MC011, MC999).
4. Appeal with evidence, calmly. Acknowledge the issue, explain the cause, and show what you have changed. All-caps outrage slows things down.
5. Never open a second account. That is the mistake (MC081) that makes everything worse.

And watch the slow numbers that quietly cause restrictions in the first place: unpaid fees (MC197), refunds and cancellations. That is exactly what DashVue was built to keep visible.

No. eBay documents account holds, restrictions and suspensions in general on its help pages, but it does not publish a public glossary mapping MC011, MC999 and the rest to meanings. Any code list you find, including this one, is built from eBay’s notice wording and seller reports, so your own message always takes precedence.

Usually not. MC011 is a temporary selling restriction that is recoverable in most cases once you provide the tracking and documents eBay asks for and appeal. It can harden into a longer restriction if you ignore it, which is why acting quickly matters.

You can submit an appeal, but eBay frames an MC113 permanent suspension as final and the success rate is low. It is still worth asking (once, politely) for the specific reason and checking no linked account is involved, but be realistic and be wary of paid services promising guaranteed reinstatement.

MC011 is specifically a temporary selling restriction tied to verification and fulfilment reliability, and it is usually recoverable. MC999 is a generic enforcement code that can sit over anything from a recoverable restriction to a serious suspension, so it tells you less on its own, you have to read the message to know how serious your MC999 is.

• eBay UK: Account holds, restrictions and suspensions : the official description of why eBay restricts or suspends accounts and how payouts are held. This is the authoritative source for the states; eBay does not map the MC codes.
• eBay UK: Payments on hold : how funds holds work, including on restricted or suspended accounts.
• eBay UK: Prohibited and restricted items : the policy behind listing removals (MC045) and many suspensions.
• The individual code meanings are drawn from eBay’s own notice wording and widely repeated seller reports across eBay Community forums and reinstatement specialists. Because eBay publishes no official glossary, codes with conflicting or absent documentation (MC022, MC067) are flagged as such above.

eBay’s enforcement processes and code usage change over time. Your own notice and the live eBay help pages above always take precedence over any guide, this one included.