How to Register for an eBay Account

1 of 11 in Series: The Essentials of Joining the eBay Community

Before you can buy or sell on eBay, you need to register. You can register as a business or as an individual on eBay; however, if you don’t quite have a business up and running, you may want to register simply as an individual.

Type www.ebay.com in the address box of your browser and press Enter.

The eBay home page appears in your browser window.
Click the Register button (the big red button on the right).

Click the Register button, and soon you'll be trading online like a pro!

This begins the sign-up process.
At the top of the first registration page, after eBay shows the steps of the registration process, fill in some required information.

Here’s what eBay wants to know about you:
- Your full name, address, and primary telephone number. eBay keeps this information on file in case the company (or a member who is a transaction partner) needs to contact you.
- Your e-mail address (yourname@myISP.com).
If you register with an anonymous e-mail service such as Yahoo! Mail, Gmail, or Hotmail, you’re taken to a page that requires additional information for authentication. You must provide valid credit card information for identification purposes. Your information is protected by eBay's privacy policy, and your credit card won’t be charged.

After you input your personal information, you’re ready to create your eBay persona.
Scroll down the page and create your new eBay user ID.

Type your proposed user ID and check if it’s available.

Because many of the “good” user IDs are taken, eBay supplies a button on the registration form to check on the availability of your preferred ID.
Choose a password, enter it in the Create Your Password box, and then type it a second time in the Re-enter Your Password box to confirm it.
Create your unique secret question and input the answer.

The secret question you select here is used by eBay to identify you if you ever have problems signing in.

If eBay requires your credit card information (for identification that you’re a real person), it will ask on the next screen.
Type your date of birth and fill in the Verification code.
Make sure all the info you entered is correct.
Indicate that you agree to eBay’s Terms and Policies.
Click the Register button to move on to the next screen.

If you’ve made a mistake, eBay gives you the opportunity to correct the information by using the Edit Information button.

If eBay finds a glitch in your registration, such as an incorrect area or zip code, you see a warning message. This is part of eBay’s security system to ward off fraudulent registrations. Use the Back button to correct the information — if you put in a wrong e-mail address, for example, eBay has no way of contacting you, so you don’t hear a peep from eBay regarding your registration until you go through the entire process all over again.
In the eBay User Agreement and Privacy Policy section, carefully read the terms and click the I Agree to These Terms button at the bottom of the page.

You're transported to a screen stating that eBay is sending you an e-mail; eBay takes less than a minute to e-mail you an activation notice. When you receive the eBay registration activation e-mail, be sure to print it, and don't delete the e-mail — save it somewhere special.
With your confirmation number in hand, head back to the eBay Registration page by clicking the link supplied in your e-mail.

If your e-mail doesn’t support links, go to the Confirm your email address page. After you reconnect with eBay and it knows your e-mail address is genuine, you’ll be heartily congratulated with an eBay e-mail. It’s time to start shopping!