What cannot be sold
Last updated 27 August 2026
Listings are screened automatically before they go live and sampled afterwards. Some of what follows is UK law, some of it is our own line — where it is ours, we say so and say why. Trying to get round the screening, rather than simply getting it wrong, is grounds for suspension on its own.
Microcity is in development and is not yet open to the public. This page describes how the platform works today and will be reviewed by a solicitor before launch.
Banned outright
- Drugs and drug paraphernalia. Controlled drugs, psychoactive substances, prescription-only medicines, and equipment whose purpose is taking them.
- Weapons. Firearms and their parts, ammunition, stun guns, pepper spray, flick knives, knuckle dusters and anything else on the offensive weapons list.
- Live animals, and animal remains. Also products from protected species — ivory, tortoiseshell, certain furs and skins.
- Tobacco, nicotine and smoking products. Cigarettes, hand-rolling tobacco, heated tobacco, snus, shisha and its hardware, vapes, nicotine pouches and cigarette papers. This is our line, not only the law's: age-restricted goods need age verification at the door, and a marketplace of independent sellers is the wrong shape for that. We would rather not sell them than sell them badly.
- Counterfeits and unlicensed copies. Replica branded goods, copied media, software keys sold apart from their licence, shared account credentials.
- Stolen goods, and devices that are locked or blocked. A phone reported lost or stolen is worthless to the buyer and the sale is a criminal offence for the seller.
- Gas appliances and gas installation parts. Fitting one is Gas Safe registered work. A boiler or gas hob sold to a member of the public over the internet is an accident waiting for a date.
- Used child car seats. A seat that has been in a collision looks identical to one that has not.
- Emissions defeat devices, odometer tools and number plates that are not road legal.
Allowed, but held for review
These are not banned. They are checked by a person before they go live, because they are legal to sell only under conditions we have to see evidence of.
- Mains electrical goods. A used appliance sold by a business must have been PAT tested. Say so in the listing and keep the certificate.
- Part-worn tyres. Legal to sell, but only marked and inspected to the regulations. Most listings we see are not.
- Cosmetics, skincare and fragrance. Must be sealed, in date, and not a tester or sample. Certain ingredients and peroxide strengths are restricted to professional sale.
- Medical devices, and anything making a health claim.
- Vehicles. Must have a V5C in the seller's name. An insurance write-off category must be declared in the listing.
- Airbags, gas struts, lithium battery packs, aerosols. Dangerous goods for carriage — most couriers will not take them, and posting one undeclared is an offence.
- Anything under an active safety recall.
If your listing is held
You will see the reason on the listing itself. Most holds clear the same working day once you have added what was missing — a test certificate, a category declaration, a clearer photograph of a serial number. Editing the wording to slip past the check, rather than fixing the underlying problem, is treated as evasion.
Reporting something
If you have found a listing that breaks these rules, tell us at help@microcity.co.uk with the listing reference. Reports from buyers catch things automation does not, and we would rather hear about it than not.
Related
Questions? help@microcity.co.uk