diff --git a/packages/api-server/src/routes/ebay.ts b/packages/api-server/src/routes/ebay.ts
index 06ebdca..9b95b8c 100644
--- a/packages/api-server/src/routes/ebay.ts
+++ b/packages/api-server/src/routes/ebay.ts
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ export async function ebayRoute(req: Request): Promise<Response> {
       keywords,
       buyItNowOnly,
       canadaOnly,
+      maxItems,
     };
     const items = hideUnstableResults
       ? await fetchEbayItems(SEARCH_QUERY, 1, opts, {
@@ -82,13 +83,7 @@ export async function ebayRoute(req: Request): Promise<Response> {
         { status: 404 },
       );
 
-    const results = hideUnstableResults
-      ? items
-      : maxItems !== undefined
-        ? items.slice(0, maxItems)
-        : items;
-
-    return Response.json(results, { status: 200 });
+    return Response.json(items, { status: 200 });
   } catch (error) {
     console.error("eBay scraping error:", error);
     const errorMessage =
diff --git a/packages/api-server/test/routes.test.ts b/packages/api-server/test/routes.test.ts
index e194448..3402f35 100644
--- a/packages/api-server/test/routes.test.ts
+++ b/packages/api-server/test/routes.test.ts
@@ -382,21 +382,20 @@ describe("API routes", () => {
     expect(body.message).toBe("Search didn't return any results!");
   });
 
-  test("ebayRoute respects maxItems=0 in default mode", async () => {
+  test("ebayRoute forwards maxItems to core in default mode", async () => {
     const { ebayRoute } = await import("../src/routes/ebay");
 
     fetchEbayItems.mockImplementation(() =>
-      Promise.resolve([{ title: "a" }, { title: "b" }]),
+      Promise.resolve([{ title: "a" }]),
     );
 
-    const response = await ebayRoute(
+    await ebayRoute(
       new Request(
-        "http://localhost/api/ebay?q=laptop&maxItems=0",
+        "http://localhost/api/ebay?q=laptop&maxItems=2",
       ),
     );
 
-    const body = await response.json();
-    expect(body).toHaveLength(0);
+    expect(fetchEbayItems).toHaveBeenCalledWith("laptop", 1, expect.objectContaining({ maxItems: 2 }));
   });
 
   test("ebayRoute passes through scraper payload unchanged in unstable mode", async () => {
@@ -420,6 +419,30 @@ describe("API routes", () => {
     expect(body.unstableResults).toHaveLength(2);
     expect(body.results[0].title).toBe("a");
     expect(body.unstableResults[0].title).toBe("d");
+    expect(fetchEbayItems).toHaveBeenCalledWith("laptop", 1, expect.objectContaining({ maxItems: 4 }), {
+      hideUnstableResults: true,
+    });
+  });
+
+  test("ebayRoute forwards maxItems to core in unstable mode", async () => {
+    const { ebayRoute } = await import("../src/routes/ebay");
+
+    fetchEbayItems.mockImplementation(() =>
+      Promise.resolve({
+        results: [{ title: "a" }],
+        unstableResults: [{ title: "b" }],
+      }),
+    );
+
+    await ebayRoute(
+      new Request(
+        "http://localhost/api/ebay?q=laptop&unstableFilter=true&maxItems=2",
+      ),
+    );
+
+    expect(fetchEbayItems).toHaveBeenCalledWith("laptop", 1, expect.objectContaining({ maxItems: 2 }), {
+      hideUnstableResults: true,
+    });
   });
 
   test("ebayRoute returns 404 when unstable results are empty", async () => {
diff --git a/packages/core/src/scrapers/ebay.ts b/packages/core/src/scrapers/ebay.ts
index 5c12af6..c8d538b 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/scrapers/ebay.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/scrapers/ebay.ts
@@ -394,6 +394,7 @@ export default async function fetchEbayItems(
     keywords?: string[];
     buyItNowOnly?: boolean;
     canadaOnly?: boolean;
+    maxItems?: number;
   } | undefined,
   unstableMode: { hideUnstableResults: true },
 ): Promise<UnstableListingBuckets<EbayListingDetails>>;
@@ -408,6 +409,7 @@ export default async function fetchEbayItems(
     keywords?: string[];
     buyItNowOnly?: boolean;
     canadaOnly?: boolean;
+    maxItems?: number;
   },
   unstableMode?: UnstableListingModeOptions,
 ): Promise<EbayListingDetails[]>;
@@ -422,21 +424,12 @@ export default async function fetchEbayItems(
     keywords?: string[];
     buyItNowOnly?: boolean;
     canadaOnly?: boolean;
+    maxItems?: number;
   } = {},
   unstableMode: UnstableListingModeOptions = {},
 ) {
   const requestsPerSecond = REQUESTS_PER_SECOND > 0 ? REQUESTS_PER_SECOND : 1;
 
-  const finalizeResults = (
-    listings: EbayListingDetails[],
-  ): EbayListingDetails[] | UnstableListingBuckets<EbayListingDetails> => {
-    if (!unstableMode.hideUnstableResults) {
-      return listings;
-    }
-
-    return classifyUnstableListings(listings);
-  };
-
   const {
     minPrice = 0,
     maxPrice = Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER,
@@ -445,8 +438,22 @@ export default async function fetchEbayItems(
     keywords = [SEARCH_QUERY], // Default to search query if no keywords provided
     buyItNowOnly = true,
     canadaOnly = true,
+    maxItems,
   } = opts;
 
+  const finalizeResults = (
+    listings: EbayListingDetails[],
+  ): EbayListingDetails[] | UnstableListingBuckets<EbayListingDetails> => {
+    const limitedListings =
+      maxItems !== undefined ? listings.slice(0, maxItems) : listings;
+
+    if (!unstableMode.hideUnstableResults) {
+      return limitedListings;
+    }
+
+    return classifyUnstableListings(limitedListings);
+  };
+
   const cookies = await loadEbayCookies();
 
   // Build eBay search URL - use Canadian site, Buy It Now filter, and Canada-only preference
diff --git a/packages/core/test/ebay-core.test.ts b/packages/core/test/ebay-core.test.ts
index 95708e1..e03a603 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/ebay-core.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/test/ebay-core.test.ts
@@ -552,4 +552,86 @@ describe("eBay Scraper Cookie Handling", () => {
       ],
     });
   });
+
+  test("respects maxItems in default mode", async () => {
+    global.fetch = mock(() =>
+      Promise.resolve({
+        ok: true,
+        text: () =>
+          Promise.resolve(`
+            <html><body>
+              <li class="s-item">
+                <a href="https://www.ebay.ca/itm/1"></a>
+                <h3>First Bundle</h3>
+                <span class="s-item__price">CA $100.00</span>
+              </li>
+              <li class="s-item">
+                <a href="https://www.ebay.ca/itm/2"></a>
+                <h3>Second Bundle</h3>
+                <span class="s-item__price">CA $110.00</span>
+              </li>
+              <li class="s-item">
+                <a href="https://www.ebay.ca/itm/3"></a>
+                <h3>Third Bundle</h3>
+                <span class="s-item__price">CA $70.00</span>
+              </li>
+            </body></html>
+          `),
+      }),
+    ) as typeof fetch;
+
+    const results = await fetchEbayItems("laptop", 1000, { maxItems: 2 });
+
+    expect(results).toHaveLength(2);
+    expect(results[0]).toEqual(
+      expect.objectContaining({ title: "First Bundle" }),
+    );
+    expect(results[1]).toEqual(
+      expect.objectContaining({ title: "Second Bundle" }),
+    );
+  });
+
+  test("respects maxItems in unstable mode", async () => {
+    global.fetch = mock(() =>
+      Promise.resolve({
+        ok: true,
+        text: () =>
+          Promise.resolve(`
+            <html><body>
+              <li class="s-item">
+                <a href="https://www.ebay.ca/itm/1"></a>
+                <h3>First Bundle</h3>
+                <span class="s-item__price">CA $100.00</span>
+              </li>
+              <li class="s-item">
+                <a href="https://www.ebay.ca/itm/2"></a>
+                <h3>Second Bundle</h3>
+                <span class="s-item__price">CA $110.00</span>
+              </li>
+              <li class="s-item">
+                <a href="https://www.ebay.ca/itm/3"></a>
+                <h3>Third Bundle</h3>
+                <span class="s-item__price">CA $70.00</span>
+              </li>
+            </body></html>
+          `),
+      }),
+    ) as typeof fetch;
+
+    const results = await fetchEbayItems(
+      "laptop",
+      1000,
+      { maxItems: 2 },
+      { hideUnstableResults: true },
+    );
+
+    expect(results.results).toHaveLength(2);
+    expect(results.unstableResults).toHaveLength(0);
+    expect(results.results[0]).toEqual(
+      expect.objectContaining({ title: "First Bundle" }),
+    );
+    expect(results.results[1]).toEqual(
+      expect.objectContaining({ title: "Second Bundle" }),
+    );
+  });
 });