eBay has a pre-existing policy against "Items with racist, anti-Semitic, or otherwise demeaning portrayals, for example through caricatures or other exaggerated features, including figurines, cartoons, housewares, historical advertisements, and golliwogs"...
https://twitter.com/srussolillo/status/1367551456375697412
there is an exception for "Media such as historical photos, magazines, books and art, provided that such material doesn't perpetuate or glorify violence, intolerance or racial stereotyping," which I'm not entirely sure how you apply.
For example, you can sell a copy of Mein Kampf on eBay. Does the question of whether a book "perpetuate[s]... intolerance" depend on the buyer's likely use for the book rather than the author's intent?
My instinct is that eBay ought to continue to allow the sale of these books (which you could buy in a bookstore as of two days ago) but I don't know how you would write a policy to distinguish them from, for example, racist figurines.
Also, is this policy limited to *visual* portrayals? If eBay wants to get into the business of prohibiting books or films that are considered to have demeaning portrayals of certain groups, it's going to end up making a lot of essentially editorial decisions.
Anyway, I think technology companies have overrated the importance of consistency. If I ran eBay I would allow the continued sale of the books, at least for now while they are the subject of a live controversy and their news value is significant, but not change the policy.
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