Google has confirmed it is barring current buyers of its Google Glass spectacles from passing them on to somebody else. It’s not clear if the restrictions will still apply once the devices go on general sale.

At the moment the only way to get hold of the glasses is to be invited to purchase them (at $1,500) by Google, apparently based on whether you’ve put enough energy into hyping them up via social media.

That’s created a seemingly obvious opportunity for early buyers to turn a quick profit on eBay or similar sites. However, those who’ve attempted to do so have now been made aware of the full terms and conditions, including that ” you may not resell, loan, transfer, or give your device to any other person.”

If you breach these conditions, Google says it has the right to immediately deactivate the specs and you have no right to a refund even though they no longer work.

The policy is enforceable because the glasses need to be linked to a Google account for the software to work. If you tried to give them to someone else without them changing the account settings, well, they’d probably end up thinking they were in Being John Malkovich.

The Google rules do have one exception: you can give them to somebody else without charge and then have Google change which account is linked to the glasses. Google hasn’t explained how you can prove no money has changed hands.

Wired quotes one would-be seller who’d attracted a bid of $90,000 on eBay for his Google Glass spectacles. He hasn’t been approached by Google itself, but decided to pull the auction when he discovered the restrictions (and the likelihood of having a very angry buyer when he or she found out the glasses wouldn’t work.)

It’s not just users that face restrictions. Google has also said that to start with at least all third-party apps (known as Glassware) must be free of charge and contain no advertising. Although app developers can track data about the user, they can’t use this data for advertising or pass it on to a third party.

It seems most app developers think these rules won’t last, if only because they leave no obvious way for the app makers to get any cash for their work.