Help

Register on eBay

About the registration process

Registering on eBay is easy and free. The registration process includes just a few simple steps:

Step 1: Enter your contact and personal information

Your contact information includes your name, address and phone number. Personal information includes your date of birth, which is required to verify that you are over 18 years of age.

Step 2: Enter your email address

You need to enter an email address that you can check immediately because eBay will send you an email that contains instructions on how to complete the registration.

Important: Having a working email account is especially important on eBay because email is used to notify you when you've bought an item and to find out postage and payment options from other buyers and sellers.

If the email address you entered during registration cannot be used to verify your identity, you will be asked to place your credit or debit card on file for identification purposes only.

Step 3: Read and accept the eBay User Agreement and Privacy Policy

You must accept both the user agreement and the privacy policy to continue registering.

Step 4: Choose a user ID, password and a secret question

You'll use your user ID and password every time you sign in to eBay. If you forget your password, eBay will ask you this secret question to verify your identity before providing your password.

Step 5: Check your email

You will need to check your email for a registration email from eBay and follow the instructions in the email to confirm your registration and complete the registration process.

Register Now

Getting started on eBay

eBay is the world's online marketplace; a place for buyers and sellers to come together and buy or sell almost anything.

Here's how eBay works:

• A seller lists an item on eBay, from antiques to cars, books to sporting goods. The seller chooses to accept only bids for the item (an auction-type listing) or to offer the Buy It Now option, which allows buyers to purchase the item straight away at a fixed price.
• In an online auction, the bidding opens at a price the seller specifies and remains on eBay for a certain number of days. Buyers then place bids on the item. When the listing ends, the buyer with the highest bid wins.
• In a Buy It Now listing, the first buyer willing to pay the seller's price gets the item.

Buying on eBay is easy and it's fun. Best of all, you'll never know what you can find.

Here's how to get started:

• Step 1: Register on eBay
• Step 2: Review Information for New Users
• Step 3: Learn How to Find and Buy Items

Step 1: Register on eBay

Registration is free and simple. Register now by clicking above, or if you're a member, please Sign In.

Step 2: Review Information for New Users

After you've registered as a new user, it's helpful to understand some things about eBay. Here are some key concepts about eBay:

• When you buy an item on eBay, you are buying from another eBay member, who is the seller. You are not buying from eBay.
• eBay is an agent for bringing together buyers and sellers. eBay does not buy or sell anything directly.
• To ensure that eBay provides a safe and fair trading environment for all eBay members, eBay has a User Agreement, which you agree to when you register, and rules and policies for everyone. When necessary, eBay will step in to enforce the agreement, rules and policies and to prevent fraud.
• Before buying, check that the item you're buying is allowed to be shipped into your country.
• To help keep you safe when buying and selling, eBay includes tools such as Feedback, a valuable indicator of your reputation for buying and selling on eBay, and buyer protection programmes, which are educational resources for shopping online safely. If something does go wrong, eBay includes a Security & Resolution Centre for helping you resolve a dispute.
• Make sure to keep your email address current. Having a current, working email is especially important on eBay because email is used to notify you when you've bought an item and to find out delivery and payment options from sellers.
• Be careful of deceptive or spoof emails that claim to be sent by well-known companies - including eBay - and that ask you to reply with personal information, such as your credit card number or account password.
• eBay includes thousands and thousands of items in a worldwide marketplace, and this can sometimes feel overwhelming to a new user. To help ease you into trading on eBay, after you register, go to My eBay, where you can track and manage your eBay buying, messaging, account information, preferences, and more from a single, secure location.

Step 3: Learn How to Find and Buy Items

Once you've registered and reviewed some key information about eBay, it's time to learn how to find the items you want to buy and how to buy them. See Buying - Getting Started.

Some things to keep in mind:

• Communicating with sellers: When communicating with the seller, remember that he/she may not speak your language. You might want to use translation software to translate key phrases. Free online translation services, like Babel Fish or Google Language Tools, aren't 100% accurate, so try to use simple, grammatically correct phrases to increase the chances of ensuring your translation is understandable.


• Shipping times: Don't forget that your package is being shipped from overseas, and may need to spend time in transit for custom checks. You might like to check with the seller on how long it would take to ship to your country before buying.


• Customs: It is important to be aware of what customs charges may apply for your country and product before you buy an item.

Learn More About Getting Started

Learn More About eBay

Searching for items by keyword

You can find items by searching. To search, enter a few words to describe the item in the Search box, which is found at the top of most pages. You can use very specific search terms to find a specific item, or search based on brand or product type to see a broader set of items.

You can also set preferences to find the right item quickly and organise your search information.

Start your search

To start your search

1. Find the search box at the top of most eBay pages.
2. Enter two or three words that describe the item and click the Search button.

   For example, to search for a DVD player, type DVD player and click Search.

   If you don't find what you're looking for, try other words like popular brands, or look at other ways to narrow your search with things like item condition (new, used, etc), colour, size, speed, memory, or other important aspects of the item you're searching for.

Using My eBay

My eBay is the place where you can view, track, and manage all of your eBay buying activity. You can also can see important eBay news and announcements and look at other items and sellers you might find interesting.

Here's a quick summary of what you can view and edit in My eBay:

All Buying: All of your buying sections at a glance.

Watching: Items that interest you.

Won: Items still awaiting payment or Feedback.

How to find My eBay

To go to My eBay from almost anywhere on eBay, click the My eBay button at the top of most eBay pages. You must be a registered member and signed in to be able to access the area.

Ways you can use My eBay

The following key points will help you understand a little bit more about how you can use My eBay:

View your buying information - My eBay organises your buying activity in one section. My eBay will organise all items that you have Bought or are Watching across all of the various eBay sites. My eBay uses a country flag to denote the eBay site where the item was listed.

Take action on an item - Almost every item has a drop-down menu containing a list of the actions you can take for that item, including making payment, view sellers other items, leave feedback for the seller and resolving a transaction problem in our Resolution Centre.

Delete, remove, and restore items - You can delete an item from any section in My eBay. In most sections, you can undelete the item for up to 60 days.

See how much money you've spent - In the Totals section, you can view the total amounts of your buying transactions, and the number of items you've bought and watched for the past 31 days.

Sort lists in a section - You can sort lists in a section in various ways to see the information that is most important to you. For example, you can sort by date, price or country, or see items still awaiting payment or Feedback.

Manage your eBay messages - The Messages page in My eBay is where you receive secure, relevant messages from eBay and from other eBay members. To view your messages go to My eBay and then click the Messages tab.

Manage your eBay account - In the Account section in My eBay you can manage your personal and financial information, your email preferences, and more. To view your account information, go to My eBay and then click the Account tab.

Using eBay Messages

The Messages page in My eBay is where you receive secure, relevant messages from eBay and from other eBay members. To view your messages, go to My eBay and then click the Messages tab.

Messages include information such as:

• Important alerts about your account that require your immediate attention
• Member-to-member communications (Ask a Question, Contact eBay Member, and Second Chance Offer)
• Customer Support correspondence and replies
• Useful information about buying
• News about upcoming activities, events, and product updates
• Policy changes and other special notices

My Messages can help you to keep your account secure

My Messages is an important tool for helping eBay members buy and sell safely and efficiently. You should check your messages often to make sure you don't miss something important. You cannot opt out of My Messages or block messages from specific members.

How Feedback works

What is Feedback?

Whenever you buy something, we ask that you leave Feedback about the transaction that reflects your experience with the seller. At the same time, we ask your trading partner to leave Feedback about you as well.

Over time, members of the eBay community develop a Feedback Profile, or reputation, based on the comments and ratings left by other members. The Feedback Score is one of the most important pieces of a Feedback Profile. It's the number in brackets next to a member's user ID and it's also located at the top of the member's Feedback Profile.

How are Feedback Scores calculated?

For each transaction, buyers and sellers can choose to rate each other by leaving Feedback. Buyers can leave a positive, negative, or a neutral rating, plus a short comment. Sellers can leave a positive rating and a short comment.

These ratings are used to determine Feedback Scores. In most cases, members receive:

• +1 point for each positive rating
• No points for each neutral rating
• -1 point for each negative rating

What if I buy multiple items from the same seller?

If you buy multiple items from the same seller, you should leave Feedback for each sale. However, we'll calculate the seller's Feedback Score differently depending on whether the sales occurred in the same week. For Feedback purposes, we define a week as Monday to Sunday.

Why leave Feedback?

Leaving honest comments gives members a good idea of what to expect when dealing with other members. Leaving Feedback is also a way to increase the goodwill of the eBay community by expressing your appreciation for a job well done. Finally, if you are a buyer, you can help spread the word about a seller you like, and if you are a seller, you can help recognise and reward loyal customers, which encourages them to buy from you again.

Should I leave neutral or negative Feedback for a seller?

Feedback comments become a permanent part of a seller's record. Contact your seller to try to resolve any issues before leaving neutral or negative Feedback. Please make sure that your comments are fair, based in fact, and relate to the specific transaction for which you received the Feedback request.

Can I leave more detailed Feedback for a seller?

You can rate your seller in four additional areas: item as described, communication, dispatch time, and shipping charges. These detailed seller ratings do not count toward the seller's Feedback Score, and are anonymous.

Detailed seller ratings from the same buyer are counted in the same way as Feedback. Only one every week is included in the seller's score.

The small print

Only registered members can leave Feedback. Buyers must wait at least 7 days before leaving a negative or neutral Feedback for a PowerSeller who has been registered on eBay for at least 12 months.

Communicating with your seller

Do you have a question about an item or need to talk to the seller? Here's how to contact eBay members.

Contact a Member

Getting answers about an item

If you have questions before, during, or after a sale, you can get answers by contacting the seller or reading the seller's questions and answers.

Here's how to get answers about an item:

• Read the listing thoroughly.
• On the listing page, under Seller info, click the Ask a question link.
• On the Get answers page, you can see questions and answers the seller has set up or already answered for other buyers.
• If you don't see your answer, click the Contact seller button. (Before a transaction, the seller may prefer not to answer questions directly and offer only online questions and answers.)

Example questions:

Note: You'll need to be signed in as an eBay member to ask the seller questions.

Tips & tools for better communication

Because both you and the seller may be in different countries, the seller may not be able to speak your language. Here are some tips and tools to help smooth the way:

• Use simple, clear language.
• Consider using a free online translation service like Babel Fish or Google Language Tools to translate simple phrases.
• The seller may not be in the same time zone as you are, and therefore will not be able to reply to your question straightaway. A time zone converter should help you work out when is the best time to contact your seller.

Learn more about communicating with your seller.

Problems with a transaction

The key to successful sales is effective interaction between buyers and sellers. Sometimes, though, misunderstandings can happen. Resolving them is a matter of good communication.

Here are some tips that can help you work things out with your seller.

Focus on the problem, not the person.

Start by assuming the seller is doing their best. Usually problems are a result of simple miscommunication. And anyone can have an emergency or a payment problem that's not their fault.

Make it clear to the seller that you see the situation as resolvable, and that you don't assume they've acted with bad intentions. They'll usually respond in turn, and you can resolve your problem quickly.

Talk about the situation you want to resolve and potential solutions, not what you think of the seller's character. Insulting the seller almost always makes the situation harder to resolve.

Think about the big picture.

No one enjoys having to work out problems, but you can keep your perspective. Rather than getting caught up in the feelings of the moment, remember this is just one transaction, with many more possible in the future.

Try to see your seller's side too. In the long run, you'll want to resolve this quickly, get the best results you can, and avoid negative Feedback.

Avoid using Feedback as a threat

Every eBay member's reputation is dependent on Feedback left by their sellers. Threatening someone with negative Feedback usually makes them less cooperative. It's also against our Feedback policy and can result in more problems for you.

Only leave negative Feedback once the issue is over, if you're unsatisfied with the outcome, and feel the other member acted unfairly.

Learn more about resolving transaction problems.