multiple eBay accounts

One question that is raised time and time again concerning selling on eBay is can you have multiple eBay accounts open in your name. This is a question that is raised after a seller moves from simply selling items around the house and into the realm of selling different niche products. Perhaps you're wondering why you would even want to have access to multiple accounts. Keep reading for the answers to these questions.

Can you have multiple eBay accounts open in your name?

eBay places no restriction on the amount of eBay accounts that you can have open in your name, though you will have to ensure that all of the accounts are in good standing with eBay at all times. Having only negative feedback, for example, would not be classed as good standing. It's useful to know that no buyers will be able to tell that you have multiple eBay accounts open, only eBay will know.

You should be aware that in order to set up multiple accounts on eBay you will need to have multiple email addresses. You can certainly set up several accounts with webmail providers such as Gmail and Hotmail, but the easiest way to do this would be to buy a domain name, providing you with the ability to create infinite email addresses that can all be forwarded back to your one account. For example, you might buy the domain name OnlineAuctionUK, providing you with the ability to have email addresses such as yourname@onlineauctionuk.com or something more product specific such as laserprinters@onlineauctionuk.com.


So can you have multiple eBay accounts open in your name? Yes! But why would you want to?

Why bother having multiple eBay accounts?

There are many reasons why multiple eBay accounts are particularly useful, but most of them are linked to the same principle which is that humans, as a rule, are nosy creatures. The majority of prospective buyers will have a look at the feedback of the seller before placing a bid, potentially browsing at other products that they have sold or bought. For this reason it makes sense to have at least two eBay accounts if you are setting up a business, one for your personal buying and selling, and one for your business buying and selling.

Let's have a look at some of the other reasons that you might want to have access to accounts with different names:

- Some auctions on eBay sell for a really low price due to misspellings or poor descriptions. If you want to buy cheaply and sell on using only eBay then you will not want to be buying and selling from the same account.

- Having a username linked to the product that you are selling builds a certain amount of trust. LaserPrintersUK, for example, would let people know that you are a specialist in laser printers.

- Any negative feedback that you receive on one account won't be transferred to the others. That's not an excuse for poor customer service, but can help if an unfortunate auction affects your rating for the worse.