I recently had simultaneous listings for two gas masks: a M40 and a M17. The M40 listing was removed because eBay said it violated the Military items policy. I said OK, maybe this mask is too new and I did not relist the item even though many of these were sold and are currently listed on eBay. eBay said absolutely nothing about the M17 mask listing. Then 2 weeks later, eBay suspends my account because of the M17 listing. Again, an eBay rep told me it violated the Military items policy even though I told him that thousands of M17 masks (which date to as far back as the early 1960s) have been sold on eBay (67 in the last 3 months). Then the rep sends me a link to Part 121 of the ITAR, which lists all military items prohibited for sale. I read this long document carefully and the only reference to gas masks was for the M50 and M53 gas masks (described in Category XIV, paragraph f-4-i). I e-mailed eBay this information but have not received a reply. I had asked the eBay rep if all military gas masks are prohibited items. He said yes. So my question is this: ARE ALL MILITARY GAS MASKS PROHIBITED FOR SALE like the rep told me, or ARE THEY ONLY PROHIBITED FOR ME ? Sometimes, it seems eBay practices very selective enforcement of its prohibited items policy. I've had an ultrasonic stethoscope and a lock pick set listing removed even there had been, and are currently hundreds of these items listed on eBay by big time sellers from China.
