The “price via DM” penalty became one of this week’s biggest social media talking points and left nearly every small business owner on edge.
After seeing the 8.2 million TL fine announced by the Ministry of Trade, a lot of people selling products on Instagram started asking, “Am I going to get fined too?” Let me give you the clear answer right up front:
No, this news does not concern the vast majority of businesses selling boutique items, textiles, jewelry, cosmetics, or handmade products. But to understand why it doesn’t concern you, you need to know exactly what was actually being penalized.
Who exactly was fined?
In its inspections, the Ministry imposed a total of 8.2 million TL in administrative fines on 42 real estate businesses and 40 car dealerships found to have posted listings in violation of the rules, 100,000 TL each.
Pay attention here: there’s only one category that got fined, and that’s businesses selling real estate and used vehicles. Not a single boutique, not a cosmetics brand, not a furniture seller is on that list. Because it’s simply not possible.
The real issue isn’t “DM”! it’s EİDS
The phrase “price via DM” that stood out in the headlines isn’t actually the heart of the matter, just its visible surface. What the penalty is really based on is the Electronic Listing Verification System, known for short as EİDS.
EİDS is a system that verifies the identity of the person selling a property or a used motor vehicle through an online listing, along with their authorization to post that listing. The system started in 2023 with identity verification for real estate listings, added authorization verification in 2024, and was fully rolled out in early 2025 to the point where you can’t post a listing without authorization verification.
Here’s the critical point: EİDS’s scope is defined by legislation, and that scope covers only real estate and used motor vehicle listings. So by its very definition, the system will never cover a pair of shoes, a handbag model, or a necklace. That’s why a jewelry brand writing “price via DM” has no legal connection to this penalty whatsoever.
For real estate and vehicle sellers, it’s not just about price
For the businesses that do fall within scope, the issue isn’t only about hiding the price. There are three things the Ministry wants:
- The sale price must appear clearly and understandably in the listing,
- The post must include an EİDS-verified listing link,
- The image, description, price, and link must all be consistent with one another.
For example, using a photo of a luxury home to grab attention and then placing an unrelated listing link beneath it is also treated as a violation during inspections. The Ministry also stated that accounts making non-compliant posts may have their access blocked through Meta.
So what should you do?
If you don’t sell real estate or used vehicles, you can keep writing “price via DM.” This penalty has nothing to do with you for now. If you use giving out your product’s price via DM as a sales strategy on Instagram, that’s entirely your own choice.
But if you’re in the real estate or vehicle business, the picture is different. You now need to treat social media as an official listing space: write the price openly, add the EİDS-verified link, and make sure your image matches the listing. Otherwise, a 100,000 TL administrative fine is on the table.
Whether you’re covered by these regulations or not, the rules for selling on social media are changing every day, and these regulations are just the beginning.
If you want to structure your content so that it complies with current regulations and actually drives sales, feel free to reach out to me for social media consulting. With the right content strategy, you can both mitigate risks from the start and grow your account.
Sources:
https://www.altso.org.tr/duyurular/eids-sosyal-medya-paylasimlari/
