If you had airbags listed on eBay, they were pulled on September 24, 2026. Your inventory is still worth what it was worth last week — you just need a new place to sell it. Here’s an honest comparison of the options, from someone who’s been buying SRS parts from recyclers for years.
Option 1: Your own website
Fees: Hosting plus card processing (about 3%). Effort: High. Buyer reach: Whatever you can drive yourself.
Full control, no marketplace fee. The problem is traffic. A body shop in Ohio searching “2021 RAV4 passenger airbag” isn’t going to find yourrecycler.com on page one — eBay was doing that part for you. This works if you already have a shop site with traffic; it doesn’t work as a replacement for eBay’s search volume.
Option 2: Recycler inventory networks (Car-Part, Hollander)
Fees: Subscription. Effort: Low if you’re already on them. Buyer reach: Shops and other recyclers, not the public.
If you’re a full-line recycler you’re probably already listing here. These networks are built for trade buyers running interchange lookups. They’re not where a DIY owner or a small independent shop goes to find a part at 9 p.m., and airbag policy on these platforms is something you should confirm directly — they’re watching the same NHTSA story eBay was.
Option 3: General marketplaces (Facebook, Amazon, OfferUp)
Check each platform’s current policy before you bother. Airbags are pyrotechnic devices, and general marketplaces have been tightening on them for the same liability reasons eBay cited. Even where a listing goes through, you get no structured fields for donor VIN or OEM part number, no buyer filtering by vehicle, and a buyer pool that mostly wants a $50 phone case.
Option 4: A marketplace built for recycled OEM airbags
Fees: 5% of item price when it sells. Nothing to list, nothing monthly. Effort: Low — import your eBay CSV. Buyer reach: People searching specifically for airbags.
This is what OEMAirbag is. I built it because the recyclers I buy from needed somewhere to go, and because the fix for the counterfeit problem that killed eBay’s category is traceability, not a ban. Every listing carries:
- Full donor VIN (public on the listing)
- OEM part number, airbag position, and grade
- Actual photos of the part and its label — no stock images
- Your store name, city/state, shipping terms, and return policy
Buyers search by year/make/model, position, or OEM number, and only see verified recycler inventory.
How the money works
You connect your own Stripe account when you set up your store. When something sells, the buyer’s payment goes directly into your Stripe account — OEMAirbag never holds your money, never runs a “balance,” and never decides when you get paid out. Our 5% is taken from the item price at the time of sale (not from shipping, not from tax). If you refund the order, our fee is refunded to you proportionally. Disputes and chargebacks are handled between you, the buyer, and Stripe, exactly as they would be on your own site.
Fee comparison on a $500 airbag:
| Channel | Marketplace fee | You keep (before card processing) |
|---|---|---|
| eBay (before the ban, Parts & Accessories rate) | ~13% | ~$435 |
| OEMAirbag | 5% | $475 |
| Your own site | 0% | $500 — if the buyer finds you |
Moving your eBay inventory over
Export your active listings from eBay Seller Hub as CSV. Upload it in your OEMAirbag Seller Hub → Bulk Import. The importer maps eBay’s column headers automatically, shows you every row, and tells you which ones are missing a donor VIN or part number. Rows that are complete publish immediately; incomplete rows sit as drafts until you fill in the gaps. A 500-listing export takes about fifteen minutes to review.
The rules you have to follow wherever you sell
Leaving eBay doesn’t change the law; it just means nobody else is checking for you. Across the U.S., the rules that matter for a seller are:
- Undeployed OEM only. Deployed, repacked, remanufactured, flood, and recalled airbags can’t be sold in any state.
- Donor VIN on every unit. Florida requires it by statute (36-month records with airbag ID, donor VIN, and buyer identity); New York’s pending law requires it; it’s the only defense against being lumped in with counterfeit sellers.
- Disclose “recycled/salvaged” on the listing and the invoice.
- Keep buyer records 36 months minimum (Florida), five years to be safe (Michigan).
- Ship ground only, UN3268 hazmat marking. No USPS, no air.
- New York is the one state where recycled airbags currently can’t legally be sold or installed; treat NY orders accordingly.
Full state-by-state breakdown, with statute citations: U.S. rules for buying and selling used OEM airbags. OEMAirbag’s listing requirements (VIN, part number, label photo, attestation, ground-only shipping, order export) are built to produce those records automatically.
What I’d actually do this week
- Open an OEMAirbag store and connect Stripe (ten minutes).
- Import your eBay CSV so your inventory is live and searchable.
- Keep your Car-Part/Hollander listings if you have them — trade buyers are still there.
- Put a “we sell OEM airbags” line on your own site and Google Business profile pointing at your OEMAirbag store.
Buyers who used eBay are searching for a replacement right now. The sellers who are listed when they arrive are the ones who’ll pick up that volume.
Bogdan Karman runs KarmanAuto, a nationwide mail-in SRS module repair and programming service in Portland, Oregon, and built OEMAirbag. OEMAirbag is independent and not affiliated with eBay.