# place_bid

A financial tool on the Ebay MCP server.

Agent View of the PolicyLayer registry record for `place_bid`. HTML page: https://policylayer.com/tools/acato-ebay-mcp/place-bid

## Facts

- Tool: `place_bid`
- Server: Ebay (`acato/ebay-mcp`) — https://policylayer.com/tools/acato-ebay-mcp.md
- Homepage: https://github.com/acato/ebay-mcp
- Risk category: Financial (Critical risk)
- Registry record: grade D, identity unverified
- Server rate-limited: no
- Parameters: 0
- Recommended policy verdict: Approval-gated

## Example call (MCP tools/call, JSON-RPC 2.0)

```json
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "place_bid",
    "arguments": {}
  }
}
```

## Why place_bid is rated Critical

Placing a bid on eBay is a legally binding financial obligation. If accepted or if the bid wins, the user is committed to purchasing the item at that price. The server context (eBay buyer-side workflows with buy, bid, and offer tools) strongly confirms this is a financial action. The empty description lowers confidence slightly, but the tool name and server context make the classification clear.

From the tool's own definition: "Tool name 'place_bid' on an eBay server with sibling tools including 'buy_now', 'make_best_offer', and 'get_active_bids' — bidding on eBay constitutes a binding financial commitment."

## Use case

AI agents use place_bid to commit financial operations through Ebay, usually the final step of a payment, billing, or trading workflow. A call moves real money.

## Recommended policy (PolicyLayer)

Verdict: **Approval-gated**. Enforced by the PolicyLayer MCP gateway (https://policylayer.com/mcp-gateway) before a call reaches Ebay:

```json
{
  "version": "1",
  "default": "deny",
  "tools": {
    "place_bid": {
      "deny_if": [
        {
          "conditions": [],
          "on_deny": "Requires human approval."
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

## Other tools on Ebay (14)

- `start_user_auth` — Execute — https://policylayer.com/tools/acato-ebay-mcp/start-user-auth.md
- `buy_now` — Financial — https://policylayer.com/tools/acato-ebay-mcp/buy-now.md
- `make_best_offer` — Financial — https://policylayer.com/tools/acato-ebay-mcp/make-best-offer.md
- `get_active_bids` — Read — https://policylayer.com/tools/acato-ebay-mcp/get-active-bids.md
- `get_item` — Read — https://policylayer.com/tools/acato-ebay-mcp/get-item.md
- `get_lost_items` — Read — https://policylayer.com/tools/acato-ebay-mcp/get-lost-items.md
- `get_watchlist` — Read — https://policylayer.com/tools/acato-ebay-mcp/get-watchlist.md
- `get_won_items` — Read — https://policylayer.com/tools/acato-ebay-mcp/get-won-items.md
- `list_hosts` — Read — https://policylayer.com/tools/acato-ebay-mcp/list-hosts.md
- `search` — Read — https://policylayer.com/tools/acato-ebay-mcp/search.md
- `server_info` — Read — https://policylayer.com/tools/acato-ebay-mcp/server-info.md
- `add_to_watchlist` — Write — https://policylayer.com/tools/acato-ebay-mcp/add-to-watchlist.md
- `complete_user_auth` — Write — https://policylayer.com/tools/acato-ebay-mcp/complete-user-auth.md
- `remove_from_watchlist` — Write — https://policylayer.com/tools/acato-ebay-mcp/remove-from-watchlist.md

## For agents

This record is a snapshot. Live verdicts and the full registry:

- Check every server in your MCP config at once: `npx -y policylayer stack`
- Vet a server before you add it: install the mcp-precheck skill — `npx skills add https://policylayer.com` (skill text: https://policylayer.com/skill.md)
- Query the registry over MCP: endpoint `https://api.policylayer.com/mcp` — tools `check_mcp_server`, `check_mcp_stack`, `check_tool`, `search_registry`, `get_change_events`

---

Source: the PolicyLayer MCP registry — one continuously verified record per MCP server. Full record: https://policylayer.com/registry?q=acato-ebay-mcp · API: https://policylayer.com/registry/api · Policy library: https://policylayer.com/policies/acato-ebay-mcp