Managing User Information

This chapter discusses the means for working with and managing various types of user information, from the data for an eBay user to a user's preference settings.

Every person who participates in an item auction—as a seller, a buyer, or a bidder—must first be a registered eBay user to do so. Registering as an eBay user confers on that person a unique identifier by which that person is known in the eBay environment. Additionally, various properties store information about the user, such as the date the user registered on eBay and whether that user is also an eBay Store owner. These user properties can be retrieved by another user, on the eBay site or through an application. (For more information about users, see Users and eBay User Roles.)

Users have the ability to control many aspects of their eBay experience through preference settings. These settings are made on the eBay site, on a user's My eBay page. A number of important settings can also be made from an application. One example of a user preference is a seller's decision whether to have his or her other items cross-promoted when one of their items is viewed or sold.

All eBay sellers have payment accounts at eBay. These accounts are the vehicle through which a seller pays for items listed and sold on eBay. A user may retrieve account information via the eBay site and account information can also be retrieved by an application. For information on retrieving email addresses, see Email Privacy Policy.

eBay Stores allows a seller to set up a virtual, online storefront in which that seller conducts business. In setting up a store, the seller defines custom categories, in which that seller may list items that prospective buyers see in and purchase from the storefront. These custom categories are Store details that can be retrieved by an application. To list an item in a Store, the seller must know the ID for the custom category in the Store. An application can retrieve this data and supply it for selection by the seller when the seller is in the process of defining a new item.

Retrieving User Information

Managing User Preferences

Getting Account Information

Getting Information about a User's Store

Email and Address Privacy Policy

For information on GetUser, including executing the call and business logic, see the chapter GetUser.

User-Contributed Notes