Upgrading from personal account to a store of same name

[more_4_u]

Hi as the title says ,i am trying to upgrade to open a store subscription in my private seller name ,the program tells me that a store already exists in that name but a search on that name tells me that the store does not exist ,anyone??????

[kopenhagen5]

You can open the store with the same eBay ID and just call your store something else until the other name becomes available.

When a name is no longer an account I think it takes at least 6 months before it can used by someone else again.

When I search a past seller, I always search using their ID not the store name.

But, seeing as you haven't sold for over a year, there is no point in opening a store as you will be restricted to 10 listings per month until you have a record of more sales. You will also have a 21 day hold on funds.

So just list on the account and sell some items first.

[11dustyattic]

When a seller closes a store, that store name kind of remains, or the store is paused, so if the seller wants to reopen the store they can, still with the same name. So although you can't find that store, a seller sort of holds the rights to it. I would imagine they would release those store names when the account is closed, but even then could be confusing for previous customers. Particularly if it's a name like Bob's Tackle or something 😁 You'd be expecting to find Bob back in business only to find Bob is enjoying retirement and your order is coming from China 👍

Disclaimer: that was a name I plucked out of my head and believe me, I don't even know what's going on in there

[11dustyattic]

I forgot to say, good luck trying to find a name that's not taken. lol my store was called 'Dusty attic cobwebs & all' 😂😂 What a ridiculous store name. From memory I got frustrated trying to find a free name

[kopenhagen5]

Good point dusty and you're probably right.

Store names would differ from eBay ID names.

OP, I would be trying a similar name such as more_for_u_10  or perhaps use stars more*for*u or more_for_you.

[digital*ghost]

There might be a store name that is stylised slightly differently, but is still counting.

Also, you can't open a store that's the same as a member ID, even if it's your own member ID.

It doesn't work in the reverse though.

That means, if you want a store name that is More 4 U (and it's not already taken), you need to change your user name first, then you can open the store in that name. Later, if you try to change your user name back to more_4_u , it should work (but just in case it doesn't, pick a name you'll be happy with - I'm about 96% sure I'm right, so there's a chance I'm not  ).

[davewil1964]

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@digital*ghost wrote:

There might be a store name that is stylised slightly differently, but is still counting.

Also, you can't open a store that's the same as a member ID, even if it's your own member ID.

It doesn't work in the reverse though.

That means, if you want a store name that is More 4 U (and it's not already taken), you need to change your user name first, then you can open the store in that name. Later, if you try to change your user name back to more_4_u , it should work (but just in case it doesn't, pick a name you'll be happy with - I'm about 96% sure I'm right, so there's a chance I'm not  ).

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My store name is the same as the ID used for it. The one I wanted had been defunct for years, but was still unavailable. I might have changed my user ID after that; I can't remember.

I couldn't, however, use the same name as an email address.

[digital*ghost]

I looked through eBay's info and actually found a relevant page    (spoiler alert - my 96% self-assuredness was not justified lol). 

According to eBay:

Here are some things to keep in mind when deciding upon your Store name:

It must start and end with a letter or number.
It can't start with four or more consecutive letter As.
It can't start with an e or E followed by more than a single number.
It can't contain the following characters: <, > or @.
It can't be the username of another eBay member, or be misleadingly similar to the user ID of another eBay member.
It can't contain "www" anywhere in the name.
It can't contain two or more consecutive spaces or non-alphanumeric characters.
It can't end with a top-level domain abbreviation used on the internet such as .com, .com.au, .net, etc.
It can't be a name that is identical or misleadingly similar to another company's name which is protected by trademark law. Also, you can't use a name that contains the word 'eBay', or one that is misleadingly similar to 'eBay'. See our policies on intellectual property rights and using eBay's intellectual property for more information.
It can be your eBay username as long as it meets the requirements above.

So I toddled off to the eBay username requirements and this is them

What you can't include in your username:

The @, &, ', (, ), <, or > character
Spaces or tabs. Tip: You can use a hyphen to represent a space instead
Elements that imply an email address or web address for example, xyz.com including but not limited to .com, .net, .org, .edu or any variation for example, _com or -com. (Your username can, however, contain an element of an email address or web address that, when viewed outside the context of the email address or web address, identifies you or your brand for example, xyz)
Phone numbers (numeric or alphanumeric)
Consecutive underscores __
An underscore _, hyphen -, or period . at the beginning of the username (for example, -pezcollector)
The word 'eBay', 'PayPal', 'Skype', 'Gumtree' (only eBay employees may use these in a usernames).
The letter 'e' followed by numbers
Obscene or profane words that violate eBay's guidelines (see eBay's rules on profanity)
The same username as another seller or similar to an eBay Store name
A term that is similar to, or might be confused with, a third-party's trademark or brand (for example, CocaColaSeller)

So.... I was wrong, or at the very least got it the wrong way around - change name first, then open store. 

[digital*ghost]

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@digital*ghost wrote:

So.... I was wrong, or at the very least got it the wrong way around - change name first, then open store. 

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Wait...

Think I just got it wrong twice in a row. 

What I meant was, if you want your user name and store name to match, the user name needs to be in place before you open the store. 

That also means there shouldn't have been an issue opening the store under their username, except if it (or a very similar one) already exists. 

[*tippy*toes*]

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@kopenhagen5 wrote:

You can open the store with the same eBay ID and just call your store something else until the other name becomes available.

When a name is no longer an account I think it takes at least 6 months before it can used by someone else again.

When I search a past seller, I always search using their ID not the store name.

But, seeing as you haven't sold for over a year, there is no point in opening a store as you will be restricted to 10 listings per month until you have a record of more sales. You will also have a 21 day hold on funds.

So just list on the account and sell some items first.

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That is not true Kopes. Once you have a selling limit, you keep that limit, even if you don't sell for awhile. If the OP has a selling limit of 100, even if they don't sell for 2 years, they retain that limit. 

If there is a year or so delay between selling, then yes, they could end up with the 21 day hold on funds again, but they keep their selling limit.

I have an account that I've sold 2 things on, and bought 2 things on. I haven't used that account for about 18 months. It still has a selling limit of 100 (it was issued with that, I didn't link it to my active accounts). Mr Tippy's account is the same. He still has a limit of 100, even though he's only sold 3 things about 2 years ago.