What you need to know before deleting your eBay account
If you close your eBay account, you cannot sell or buy on the site or access your account — it will be permanently deleted. You will also lose your feedback as well as your purchase and sales history. If you’re good with that, here are a few conditions you must meet before closing your eBay account:
- Your fees and selling costs have been paid.
- Your available funds are at zero.
- You don’t have open bids on any items.
- You don’t have pending transactions (open bids, pending payments, returns, disputes, or payouts still being processed to your bank account).
- Your account information is up to date (you will receive information regarding your account’s closure to your email address).
- You have canceled all your subscriptions related to your eBay account (eBay Stores, Selling Manager Pro).
These conditions apply for both buyers’ and sellers’ accounts. If you meet all of the above criteria, you can delete your eBay account.
How to delete your eBay account
If you have decided to permanently delete your eBay account, follow this easy guide on how to do so using your PC or Mac computer:
- 1.
Go to the eBay website and sign in.
- 2.
Hover the cursor over your name in the upper-left corner and click “Account settings.”
- 3.
Click on “Close account.”
- 4.
A page on closing your account will open. Read the information provided, scroll down to the blue “Close account” button, and click it.
- 5.
From the drop-down menu, select a reason category why you are closing your account.
- 6.
In the next window, select a specific reason to delete your eBay account, confirm that you want to close it by checking the box next to “I want to close my eBay account,” and click “Submit.”
That’s it! You will receive an email or eBay message with an update on your account closure within 24 hours.
You can also delete an eBay account in the eBay app. Here’s how:
- 1.
Open your eBay app and tap the three parallel lines icon at the top-left corner of the screen.
- 2.
Scroll down to the “Help” button and tap it.
- 3.
In the “Help & contact” window that opens, type in “Close account” in the search bar.
- 4.
Tap “Closing your account.”
- 5.
Scroll down to the blue button “Close account” and tap it.
- 6.
From the drop-down menu, select the reason category why you’re leaving.
- 7.
In the next window, select a specific reason for deleting your account, tick “I want to close my eBay account,” and tap “Submit.”
Congratulations! Your request to delete your eBay account has been successfully submitted. You will receive an email or a message with an update regarding your account closure within 24 hours.
How to close your eBay seller account
If you want to close your eBay Seller account, follow these steps:
- 1.Go to “My eBay” and click on the “Account” tab.
- 2.Click on “Close account” under “Account preferences.”
- 3.Follow the same instructions as in the above section.
Remember that you cannot have any pending transactions or payments, open bids, or unsolved disputes. Also, check your account details to ensure your contact information is up to date and you are ready to permanently close your account.
What happens after you delete your eBay account
When you submit your account closure request, eBay customer service sends you an update on your request status within 24 hours. It will send you the update to the same email address you provided when signing up, or you will receive an eBay message in your eBay app inbox.
Usually, it takes up to 14 days for eBay to close an account from the moment it receives your request. However, if in the previous 30 days to closing your account you performed any transactions, payments, claims, or disputes, eBay may take up to 60 days to close your account, so you still may be vulnerable to eBay buyer scams.
After this period, your account will be permanently closed. If you change your mind during the process, you can contact eBay customer service and ask it to reopen your account. It will reopen the account unless it has been restricted or suspended. If you have closed your eBay Seller account, you have an additional 7 days after account closure to request that eBay reopen your account.
If you do not ask eBay to reopen your account within the closing period (or if you were an eBay seller, within seven days after closing it), you will have to create a new account. If you want to continue shopping online, check out our blog posts on how to shop safely online and the safest ways to pay online.
Data deletion policy
Be sure to look into eBay’s data deletion policy before closing your account. E-commerce companies often track and keep user data for data mining purposes, so be aware of eBay’s approach regarding your data.
eBay deletes your data using approved methods, such as direct deletion, anonymization, pseudonymization, and aggregation. It informs you after your data has been deleted and account closed. EBay also advises its users to delete their cache, cookies (including third-party cookies), and internet browser history after deleting their eBay account.
However, eBay retains some of your information, namely a record of your request and eBay’s response. It also retains some of your personal information to comply with financial and legal retention obligations. This information may include:
- Basic account information (name, email address, and registration date).
- Transaction history (listings, bids, purchases, sales, and feedback).
- Financial information (payment records, invoices, and receipts).
- Dispute resolution information (communication between parties and resolution outcomes).
- Security and policy-related information (account activity, such as suspension and restriction, and eBay policy violations).
For more on eBay’s privacy policy and the data it collects, visit the eBay website and read the user privacy notice. You can also contact eBay directly and ask for your data to be deleted.
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