How to Delete an eBay Account
Looking to delete eBay? There’s an important list of things that must be true about your account before you can.
By Corbin HartwickUpdated on July 31, 2024
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Okay, so maybe you’re not sold on eBay. Maybe you’re having difficulty navigating sales where you have to bid on auctions or haggle over prices with Best Offers. Or maybe you’re an eBay seller who’s just struggling to make much of a profit. Maybe you want to try an alternative to eBay to see what it has to offer. Whatever the reason, if you want to close up shop on eBay for good, this guide will walk you through all you need to know about how to delete your eBay account.
Warning
If you have the eBay app on your mobile device, deleting it won’t close your eBay account. This also won’t cancel any of your pending transactions, or any of your active subscriptions to selling tools (if you have a seller account). Furthermore, it won’t absolve you of any fees, refunds, or other costs that you may owe eBay or its users.
You need to resolve any outstanding issues with your eBay account, THEN close your account, THEN delete the app.
Let’s start with some other things you should do with your eBay account before you start the process of closing it.
Important things to know before you delete your eBay account
There are some requirements you have to meet if you wish to delete your eBay account without involving its customer service department. The two universal ones are:
- You must not have any pending transactions, including active bids, pending orders/refunds/returns/payments, open order disputes, or outstanding payouts.
- Your account must not be restricted or suspended.
Additionally, if you have a seller account:
You must have no funds available on your account.
You must have paid off all applicable fees and selling costs.
You must have canceled all subscriptions to any subscription-based services you purchased.
Your account must meet minimum seller performance standards.
How to delete your eBay account
While the process of getting your eBay account deleted can start out slightly differently, depending on which kind of device you’re using, it ends up being relatively the same in the end. That is, it involves visiting the “Closing Your Account” eBay customer service page, clicking the Close Account link, indicating why you want to close your account, confirming you really want to close your account, and then submitting your account closure request.
Pro Tip
If you’re planning on deleting your account because something isn’t working right for you on eBay, try getting in touch with eBay’s customer service team first. They may be able to help you sort out your issue so you don’t have to delete your account in order to deal with it. We have a guide on contacting eBay customer service to walk you through the process.
To demonstrate, here’s what the process looks like when doing it on a web browser:
Go to www.ebay.com and log into your account.
Click your name in the top-left corner to open the main menu, then click Account Settings.
![Accessing your account settings on eBay]()
Under the “Account Preferences” heading, click Close Account.
![Link in your eBay account settings to close your account]()
This will take you to the eBay customer service article on closing your account. Scroll down until you see the blue Close Account button, then click it.
![Link in the eBay customer service article on closing your account]()
On the next screen, click the drop-down menu labeled “Tell Us Why You’re Leaving” and select one of the options. Then click one of the options under “Select A Reason”. Click the check box labeled “I Want to Close My eBay Account”, and then click Submit.
![Filling out the form to request closure of your eBay account]()
Pro Tip
If you’re trying to delete your eBay account on the app, tap My eBay, then Help to get to eBay’s customer service center. From here, you will have to manually find the “Closing Your Account” help article.
One way to find it is by tapping the Account category, then Closing Your Account under the “Settings” heading (you may have to tap View All or rotate your device if you can’t see it at first). Another is to tap the “Search eBay Help” search bar, type in “closing your account”, and then tap the relevant article title.
From there, just follow steps 4 and 5 above.
Within 24 hours of receiving your account deletion request, eBay will send a message to the email address on file with your account to let you know if your request has been accepted or not. eBay will also send an email to that same address once your account has been permanently closed and your data has been deleted.
7 critical FAQs that may apply to you before you delete your eBay account
Here are seven other things you might want to know about deleting your eBay account.
1. Is there a different process for how to delete an eBay seller account?
No. Whether your account is for buying, selling, or both, the methods for how to cancel an eBay account are the same. The only difference is that, for a seller account, you must meet some additional requirements to be able to close your account without needing to contact eBay customer service.
Namely, you must have paid off all fees and other selling costs charged to your account, canceled all active subscriptions to additional eBay seller services, and not have any available funds left on your account. In addition, your account must meet eBay’s minimum seller performance standards.
2. How long does it take for my eBay account to be permanently deleted?
Generally, it takes about 14 days from when eBay receives your request to delete your account before your data is erased and your account is closed. However, it can take as long as 60 days if you and/or eBay have to resolve any outstanding transactions, payments, claims, or disputes on your account from the previous 30 days.
3. What happens to my profile data when I delete my account?
eBay deletes, anonymizes, and/or pseudonymizes all personal data associated with your account that it is legally obligated to get rid of. This includes your feedback score, any reviews of your transactions, your purchase history, and your selling history (if you have a seller account).
However, eBay is legally required or allowed to retain some personal information for various purposes (e.g. comply with regulations, prevent fraud, and resolve outstanding transactions). eBay will delete this information “when it’s no longer needed”, but you may be able to ask for this data to be erased earlier as per your rights outlined in eBay’s privacy policy.
Pro Tip
eBay also recommends clearing the cookies, cache, and browsing history of any web browser you’ve used to log into your eBay account. This helps to safeguard information about your account in the event someone gains unauthorized access to your device(s), so they can’t use it to impersonate you on eBay.
eBay has links to instructions for clearing cache, cookies, and browsing history on several commonly-used browsers in its “Technical Issues” customer service article.
4. Can I delete a suspended eBay account?
You may still be able to close your eBay account if it’s suspended by contacting eBay customer service. However, you’ll likely have to resolve any outstanding issues with your account – including perhaps following the requirements to have your account reinstated – before eBay will close it.
5. Can I recover a deleted eBay account?
If you submit a request to cancel your eBay account and then change your mind, contact eBay customer service as soon as possible. If eBay hasn’t permanently deleted your account yet (remember, it can take 14-60 days), it may be able to reopen the account for you. Note, however, that your request will likely be rejected if your account was not in good standing (i.e. it was restricted or suspended due to you violating eBay’s policies or having unresolved issues) when you initially asked for it to be closed.
6. Can I delete my eBay account and start over with a new account?
In most cases, you should be able to close an eBay account and open a new one – even one with (some of) the same credentials, once your previous account has been permanently deleted. However, if your previous account was not in good standing when it was deleted, you may not be allowed to open a new account.
7. Does eBay delete inactive accounts automatically?
Yes. As per eBay’s user agreement, eBay will delete accounts that have been inactive for “a substantial period of time”. This vague wording here, though, means there is conflicting information about how long this time period actually is. Also debated is whether or not eBay sends you an email to warn you that your account will be closed for inactivity unless you log in within a certain time period (usually 30 days).
There does, however, seem to be consensus on why eBay has this policy: to prevent fraudsters from hijacking dormant accounts, and then scamming people by abusing the trust and authority built up on those accounts.
Top 5 alternatives to eBay for buying & selling online
If you’re on the hunt for another online marketplace to buy and/or sell on after parting ways with eBay, here are some popular recommendations.
- Amazon – eBay’s biggest rival, Amazon is a buying-and-selling marketplace that also sells digital goods, its own line of electronics, and several other services.
- Bonanza – A marketplace that specializes in rare and unique items, and that also prides itself on having more seller-friendly policies than eBay.
- Etsy – A community of buyers and sellers of handmade goods and hard-to-find collectibles.
- Zazzle – A marketplace where many goods can be made custom; some with unique designs, and others with designs based on popular media franchises.
- AliExpress – A wholesale marketplace where you can get goods directly from Chinese manufacturers at bargain prices.
We have more information about the above-mentioned online buying & selling platforms (and several others!) in our guide to the best websites like eBay. Or, if you end up sticking with eBay, you can learn lots more about it in our other eBay guides!