There are millions of buyers and sellers on eBay, making it a well-known global commerce platform. Vintage or unused items lying around the house are likely to be purchased by someone, especially if you offer a good deal. You can easily make payments and ship items.
In this article, we provide you with a step-by-step guide on how to set up an eBay account.
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Sign up for a seller account on eBay
Signing up for eBay is easy and free. Your account can be used to browse, bid, and sell on eBay. The main requirement is that you have to be 18 years or older. Just fire up your Internet browser and go to www.ebay.com and follow these steps:
Step 1: Click the Register link in the top-left corner.
The Create an Account page appears
Step 2: Enter your personal information in the fields provided.
You’re required to give your full name and email address, which eBay keeps on file if it needs to communicate with you. Your password must be between 6 and 20 characters and must contain at least one letter and either a number or a symbol. Choose a password that no one can randomly guess.
Once you enter that information and click the Create Account button, eBay will continue to prompt you for information like your mailing address, preferred categories, and, if you are registering a business account, your business information. Fill out the forms as presented, including how you plan to pay for your eBay fees (PayPal, bank account, or credit/debit card).
Step 3: Click the Submit button to continue.
Your eBay account is created and eBay assigns you an initial unique user ID. The ID is the name you use to do business on eBay. It can be a variation of your own name (such as johndoe1), the name of your business (e.g. mybusiness.com), or the name of a category where you plan to sell (e.g. buddyselectronics).
You aren’t stuck with your assigned choice. eBay allows you to change your user ID once every 30 days, which does not affect your user rating. Simply go into My eBay, click the Account tab, and then select Personal Information to change your ID.
Step 4: Click Continue.
The eBay home page appears with a message (“Hi”) and your first name in the upper-left corner of the screen.
Check your email for a message from eBay with links to pages explaining what you can do next.
After you register on eBay, you have to perform some additional details before starting your first auction or opening a storefront.
Set up PayPal on eBay
PayPal, the eBay-owned division that handles online payment processing, lets you send or receive money based on your online sales, on or off eBay. You can maintain an account on PayPal for free — you pay only a transaction fee (typically 2.9 percent to 4.1 percent) when you receive payment. You can also sign up for a merchant account from your bank, where you can process credit cards directly.
You must have either a PayPal or merchant account if you want to sell on eBay; PayPal is the recommended payment method. According to research from eBay, 90 percent of all eBay auctions offer PayPal as a payment method, and 80 percent of all transactions are paid for through PayPal.
Both eBay and PayPal require you to provide a credit card number and your bank account information to create an account. We recommend setting up a second bank account at a smaller bank and getting a Visa or MasterCard debit card through this account so that you can keep track of your eBay activity separately from your main banking transactions.
Set up your profile page
eBay allows you to have a profile description, photo, and cover photo to help advertise your own eBay store, talk about your online sales activities, and detail your reputation for doing business on the auction website. Your profile photo can be an image of your retail storefront, your company logo, or one of your products.
To edit your profile information, go to http://www.ebay.com/usr/yourebayusername and click the Edit Profile button under your username to be able to update the description, profile, and cover photo.
You can post a description of up to 250 characters, attach a profile photo, and add a 1,200-x-1,200-pixel cover photo if you like. Simply click Done editing to save all your changes.
Start boosting your sales
As soon as you set up your eBay account, there is nothing to stop you from growing your business on eBay. In our official guide to selling on eBay, you can read about great tips and tricks for getting the most out of your eBay listings.