Single sign on comes to eBay

There will be a change to how you log onto eBay and the community forums and groups this week. eBay are going to tie the two together so that when you log into one you’ll automatically be logged into the other. It’s a small change but will assist with security on shared computers as when you log out of eBay you’ll automatically be logged out of the forums at the same time.

For those with multiple eBay accounts there will be an option in your eBay preferences to keep a separate sign in for forums. Many eBay users have multiple selling accounts to separate product lines which aren’t complimentary, and some have one account for selling and another for personal purchases. You’ll still be able to stay logged into the forums on your posting account while being logged into eBay on a separate account if you wish.

Although I like the option to choose single or dual sign in for the main site and forums, the log in issue could still do with improvement. Those with multiple accounts still have to log out of one to access another, or to use two or more different browsers (e.g. Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera) for different accounts. Answering My Messages causes problems with replies coming from the wrong account if you’re logged into your default browser on an alternative eBay ID. Constant logging out and logging in to access different accounts is time consuming and inconvenient.

An alternative would be the ability to have multiple eBay shops on a single eBay ID. This needs to be a cross site initiative – some sellers have an eBay ID and shop listing on eBay.co.uk, and another eBay ID that lists on eBay.com or another international site. They want to appeal to buyers by listing in local currency and possibly a local language without having French, German, Spanish and Italian listings mixed in with English language listings. It’s time for eBay to look at linking eBay IDs so that one account can manage multiple eBay IDs on a single log in.