eBay’s ban on listing airbags and airbag inflators takes effect today, Thursday, Sept. 24. The company announced the change earlier this month in a post on its seller community forums, according to a Sept. 14 Repairer Driven News (opens in new tab) report, and said the rule applies across the whole airbag category.
The only reason eBay has given is that the decision came “following a comprehensive review of the risks these products may pose to eBay users,” a line from its statement quoted by NPR (opens in new tab), The Drive (opens in new tab), and Repairer Driven News (opens in new tab). NPR (opens in new tab) noted that eBay has not said what motivated the move; the company declined an NPR (opens in new tab) interview but said in an emailed statement that it would enforce the policy through seller compliance audits, filtering algorithms, and AI-supported monitoring.
Steering-wheel airbag covers are also barred, according to Repairer Driven News (opens in new tab) and The Drive (opens in new tab). Some related parts, including airbag control units, crash sensors, diagnostic modules, and passenger sensors, can still be listed in the U.S., but only by sellers eBay has already pre-approved. eBay told sellers to take down affected listings by Sept. 24 and said it would remove any that remained, Repairer Driven News (opens in new tab) reported.
The coverage places the ban against months of scrutiny of faulty airbag parts, though the outlets credit different sources for the eBay link. The Drive (opens in new tab) reported that an April NHTSA (opens in new tab) report blamed substandard Chinese airbag inflators for 10 deaths and two serious injuries in a dozen crashes over three years, the count at that time, and said that report found at least one of the inflators had been bought on eBay. NHTSA (opens in new tab) has since identified an 11th death, in an Aug. 27 crash in Dallas involving a Chevrolet Equinox, Repairer Driven News (opens in new tab) reported. NPR (opens in new tab) also cited the April NHTSA (opens in new tab) findings but credited The Wall Street Journal, which it said traced several faulty and possibly counterfeit components in July, with finding that one had been purchased on eBay as an aftermarket part. The Drive (opens in new tab) separately cited the Journal’s July account of a Chevrolet Malibu driver who was badly injured by an airbag that the dealership selling him the car had bought through eBay.
Amazon, Meta’s Facebook Marketplace, Alibaba, and Temu already prohibit airbag sales, NPR (opens in new tab) and The Drive (opens in new tab) reported. An Insurance Institute for Highway Safety engineer told NPR (opens in new tab) that airbags work like pyrotechnic devices and that defective inflators can break apart and send fragments toward occupants. A Consumer Reports safety advocate told NPR (opens in new tab) that platform bans alone may not keep bad airbags off the market.