As part of its 2012 Fall Seller Update, eBay is banning would-be wizards from selling their wares. Several "metaphysical" categories are being dropped as of August 30th, and sellers will have to remove listings for "spells, curses, hexing, conjuring, magic, prayers, blessing services, magic potions, [and] healing sessions." Currently, the blanket Metaphysical category includes about 100,000 results, with vendors selling tarot readings, allegedly haunted items, $50 "rare genies," and protective jewelry. Sadly, eBay says that "transactions in these categories often result in issues between the buyer and seller that are difficult to resolve," resulting in the discontinuation.

Since most vampire transformation spells and similar items specify that physical changes won't take place except at the buyer's whim, it's apparently difficult to determine whether someone has really been swindled out of the ability to levitate or is just faking it. Besides magical goods, eBay is also limiting some other categories that are prone to abuse, like advice, advertising schemes, and home-based business information. The decision was announced a couple days ago, leading some supporters to start a petition to reinstate the metaphysical categories; it has gathered roughly a thousand signatures.