Question regarding trades involving BNet balance/ store item

[Dicrostonyx]

I'm not an expert, but WoW's EULA and ToS seem to state that it is a violation to sell any in-game item in exchange for any item of real-world value, or vice versa. You can only trade items within their own realm, so to speak.

So, for example, a TCG card with a code for a pet or mount can be sold on eBay for money, the code can be used in game to receive the game item, then that game item can be sold for gold, but you cannot (officially) sell the TCG code for gold or the in-game pet for money.

Recently I have seen a few posts on these boards with trade lists which include BattleNet Balance Cards, store bought pets and mounts, Recruit-a-Friend rewards, and a variety of rare items.

So my question is: are these sorts of trades allowed on these boards?

Please note that I don't have anything against these sorts of trades, in fact I might still have some old codes kicking around from some gifts that I bought years ago, but I do have a problem with inconsistency. Are these trades/ posts actively being allowed or have they simply persisted because no one has complained?

[Sibi]

There are a couple threads addressing this question.
The short answer is, the Mods have carefully reviewed and heavily considered these transactions and currently allow them to continue. Odds are good Blizzard knows what we do here and if they had a big problem with it they would contact the board Mods and tell them to make us stop. One of the stickies on the pet trading forum addresses this, I believe.

[Wowkemon]

Hi there! Pretty good question. That's where the Do not trade list comes into play. The items that are on that is the following:
-Murky
- Mini Tyrael
- Original CE Pets: Panda Cub, Mini Diablo, Zergling.
To my knowledge for these boards, Those are the only issues.

[Melmo]

The store pets for gold trade is considered fine because it is an in-game currency traded for an in-game pet. Trading $10 to a person for gold is not okay, but as long as pets are involved and both parties understand the risk it is okay. Same with Battle.net balance-- that can only be used for in-game store items, so it is an acceptable currency trade.

The main thing is no real money can be exchanged for gold/pets here, and all trades must involve one party receiving at least one pet in their trade. I personally enjoy helping people out with their store pets and getting pets or game tokens in return--not all people are willing (or can afford) to throw real money at WoW anymore. Hence why the game tokens are so awesome

[Peanutty]

http://www.warcraftpets.com/community/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13973 - Here's a fairly recent thread on the topic, and Breanni spells out what the site's stance is on these trades.

As Sibi noted above, the trade rules are also stated in stickied posts on the respective trading forums.

[Dicrostonyx]

Thank you very much, all (and Breanni in the linked thread).

As I said, I have no problem with doing it as long as site administration knows that it is going on and has a set policy, and as long as everyone involved is aware (or at least has the capacity to be aware, even if they didn't personally read that post) that technically it is a violation of the ToS. Not actually illegal, though, despite the fact that some people seem to use that term.