What you can't (or shouldn't) sell online

This is a reference guide, not legal advice. Most things people try to sell online are fine. The short list below is the small set of categories that can get your listing pulled, your account banned, or your package returned to you with a postage-due sticker on it. Knowing the list before you list saves the effort of finding out the hard way.

One real example: the Fisher-Price Rock ‘n Play

The Fisher-Price Rock ‘n Play infant sleeper is the cleanest illustration of how a recall changes what you can legally list. The CPSC announced the recall on April 12, 2019 (notice 19-130 at cpsc.gov/Recalls), after the product was tied to more than thirty infant deaths. About 4.7 million units were sold before the recall. Many of them are still in basements, attics, and consignment piles a half-decade later.

Listing one today, even in pristine condition with the original box, is illegal under federal law. The Consumer Product Safety Act prohibits selling, distributing, or even gifting a recalled product. The marketplace ban shows up first (every major platform pulls the listing on detection), but the underlying federal violation is what makes “I didn't know” an inadequate defense. A 30-second search at cpsc.gov/Recalls before listing any baby or kid gear avoids the entire situation.

The recalled-product trap

The Rock ‘n Play is famous; most recalls aren't. The CPSC issues several new ones each week. Categories that show up in recall notices most often: cribs and bassinets, car seats with safety issues, kitchen appliances with fire risk, certain children's products, electronics with battery problems, and corded window blinds. Each of those is a category where a 30-second check at cpsc.gov/Recalls pays for itself.

A second concrete example, picked at random from a category nobody thinks about until they're about to list one: in 2022 the CPSC recalled a run of SunVilla solar-LED market umbrellas (sold exclusively at Costco) because the embedded battery posed a fire and burn hazard. The full notice is at cpsc.gov/Recalls/2022/SunVilla-Corporation-Recalls-Solar-LED-Market-Umbrellas. If a slightly-used patio umbrella is the kind of thing that ends up in a garage and then on Facebook Marketplace, the lookup is the difference between a casual flip and a federal violation.

Used car seats are worth a special note: many platforms ban them outright as a category, recalled or not, because the post-crash safety profile is hard to verify after the first owner. If you're trying to clear a kid's outgrown gear, donating to a verified recycling program is usually the answer.

Items most likely to get pulled

Universals. Every major platform bans these, and the bans come straight from federal or state law in most cases:

• Counterfeits. Fake designer goods, knock-off electronics, replicas described as authentic. Trademark law covers this; platform policy enforces it.
• Recalled products. See above. Illegal in most cases regardless of disclosure.
• Stolen goods. Goes without saying, but worth saying.
• Weapons beyond legal resale. What this includes varies by state and platform; if you have to ask, the answer is usually no.
• Prescription drugs and controlled substances. Federally regulated; no resale path on consumer marketplaces.

If you're in this part of the list, the article isn't for you: the answer is "don't." The rest of the article covers the trickier categories: items that are legal to own but tricky to ship, or fine on one platform but banned on another.

Legal to own, restricted to ship

These are perfectly legal to own and use, but can't cross state lines or fly in commercial cargo without a specific shipping class:

• Hazmat. Anything that could ignite, leak, or pressurize: certain paints, cleaners, adhesives, solvents. USPS publishes the full list at usps.com/ship/shipping-restrictions.htm.
• Lithium batteries. Loose batteries, spares for an old laptop, power banks. FAA PackSafe regulates how these ship.
• Firearm accessories. Even non-firearm parts (magazines, certain optics) have state-by-state restrictions on whether they can ship.
• Aerosols and pressurized containers. Hairspray, deodorant, spray paint, anything propellant-based. Hazmat under shipping rules.
• Perfumes and colognes. Hazmat under shipping rules, even though they're sold retail. Many sellers don't realize this until the package gets returned.

How to actually ship perfume

Perfume is the most common hazmat item people accidentally try to ship as a normal package. The category is alcohol-based liquids in glass; under USPS Publication 52, those ship as a Limited Quantity hazmat class via Ground Advantage only. As of April 2026, the rules in practice:

1. Pack the bottle in its original retail box if you have it; otherwise wrap in bubble and place in a cushioned outer box.
2. Apply a Limited Quantity Ground marking on the outer box (a square-on-point label with the “Y” symbol; available free at most USPS counters or printable from carrier sites).
3. Declare as “Consumer Commodity, Limited Quantity” on the shipping form, not as “Other” or “Cosmetics.”
4. Hand it to USPS Ground Advantage (no Priority, no Air, no Express). UPS Ground also accepts; UPS Air does not.

The most common rejection reasons are missing the Limited Quantity marking, declaring it as “Other Goods” on the form, or selecting a service that includes air transport. Get those three right and a $40 perfume bottle ships for the same cost as any other 1-pound package.

The lithium-battery decision in three branches

The FAA PackSafe page (faa.gov/hazmat/packsafe) splits lithium batteries into three cases. The right shipping path depends on which case applies:

• Loose battery, sold by itself: ground service only (USPS Ground Advantage, UPS Ground, FedEx Ground), in approved packaging that prevents short-circuit (terminals taped, individual sleeves or boxes). No air service.
• Battery installed in a device: can usually ship by air or ground if the watt-hour rating is under the consumer threshold (100 Wh for most cells), packed so the device can't accidentally power on in transit. Most laptops, phones, and power tools fall here.
• Damaged, swollen, or recalled: can't ship at all by any service. The carrier will refuse if they detect it; if it ships and a fire results, the seller is liable. Local battery-recycling drop-off (Best Buy, Home Depot, and most municipal hazardous-waste sites) is the safe path.

Platform-specific bans

What each marketplace allows varies, and the lists shift over time. Categories that show up on someone's prohibited list more often than not: alcohol, food (some platforms allow non-perishable, others ban entirely), used cosmetics, animals, certain media, slot machines and gambling devices, items with religious symbols (varies), and used baby gear in many cases. Don't try to memorize every platform's list. Bookmark the prohibited-items page for whichever platform you list on most, and check it before listing anything unusual.

When "yes" is the answer

Most restricted items can ship. They just need the right service and the right labels. The fastest way to get an answer that actually applies to your specific item, packaging, and destination is to walk it into your local USPS, FedEx, or UPS counter and ask. Counter staff can walk you through the shipping class, the labeling, the pricing, and any destination-specific rules that might affect what you're sending. Carrier websites cover the general rules; the counter conversation (or a call to customer service) is what catches the edge cases.

"Restricted" doesn't always mean "stop." It usually means "do it correctly." Five extra minutes at the counter is roughly always worth it on the items where the answer is yes.

For the shipping side (rates, free packaging, when insurance pays for itself), the next read is shipping used goods without losing money.