First, yes I know there are Ebay forums. But I am not a member of those and I know lots of folks here have quite a bit of Ebay experience so I thought I'd ask.

I've never really worried about this for a few bike parts, but I now want to sell a bunch of higher value items on Ebay and I am not keen about attaching my home address or my actual name to listings/sales. I've been doing a bit of web research and I believe what I would like to do is get a P.O. box, use that for sales, and use my existing Ebay account for sales and open a second one for purchases. There is some conflicting info out there, but I believe I can add a PO box address to both Ebay and PP and use that as my mailing address, as long as I still have my home street address (my CC/banking address of record) registered. And I think I can set up my Ebay preferences to use my handle as my name.

Anyone know for sure if this will work, or have other helpful ideas? Many thanks.

Why don't you test the idea by setting up account using PO Box addresses as you intend. For test purposes, they don't have have to be real. Any address formatted, PO Box 123, Someplace, CA 90201 will do as long as city, state and zip match.

Then if it's accepted, you can rent the boxes and edit your profile.

I don't understand this. To the best of my knowledge, as a buyer I cannot find out the seller's true name or address or other personal information. Of course, I could be wrong.

I sold my city property a few years ago. Since then, my mailing address has been a PO box number and, as a buyer, I have had no problem so far. That said, I have not sold anything on Ebay, for a long time, so cannot comment on the part of the concern.

The way I have my account set up (which is probably the default), if I sell an item and print a mailing label, it includes my name and return address. That has been true for most or maybe all the items I have purchased from individuals as well.

I tried FBinNY's suggestion. It seemed to work but it also froze my account (maybe while PP attempted to verify the address?) so I wasn't able to change back to my real address. I wound up calling PP and was told that I can in fact use a PO box address, as long as it's a real one. The address change needs to be made at both PP and Eb according to the agent who helped me.

If you are so concerned, you can just use your own mailing labels; eBay makes it easy to purchase labels, but you aren't required to use this service. Or just go to the post office and mail them.

Apparently it's not that simple. I am told Ebay will give your contact info out to prospective bidders if they ask for it, and provide this form to request it.

Here is a comment from Ebay on the subject:

Typically the seller shouldn’t have anything to worry about, as we only allow members of eBay to request contact information. We allow any transaction partner (including a bidder) to request the buyer/seller’s contact information. This includes a phone number, and the address. This is for all members of the site, and something we’ve found be very helpful overall. There’s not a way to opt out of this as we expect it of everyone on the site, namely because we’re only a venue and don’t buy or sell the item directly.

If it is a concern then use one of the intermediary people or businesses who sell other people’s stuff for them. A part time employee at a bike shop I used to work at seasonally did this for high end bikes. He took the pictures, handled the posting and auction, tool care of any bidder questions, handled all payments and shipping. I don’t know what his fee was for all of this.

Who would want to buy high value items over the internet from someone hiding their identity?

+1

Furthermore, a new account means no stars next to the handle.

Per ebay policy, only the winning bidder gets your contact information, not any prospective bidder.

It is my understanding that the only way for buyers and sellers to have access to one another's personal information is if there is a dispute and the buyer wants to communicate with the seller to resolve the issue.
Buyer agrees that their information will also become public to the seller.
This has been the only time that I have been able to get personal information from the bay.
Maybe things have changed....buyers no longer can contact other members unless there is a dispute.
JM2C's, Ben

I understand that only the winning bidder gets it automatically, but If what I found on the web and posted earlier (#7) is true, they will give it out to any member who asks.

I hope you are right. This seems like a much more reasonable policy.

Reread your link, only if you are doing a transaction together.

+1

I would never buy a high end item from a new seller. I require a lot of sales and 99.8% rating. It's just not worth the hassle to deal with unproven sellers.

Or potentially doing a transaction. This statement makes it pretty clear you needn't be the winning bidder to request contact info. (Again, this is info I found on the web and I am not sure it's current policy.)

We allow any transaction partner (including a bidder) to request the buyer/seller’s contact information.

As a long time ebay buyer and seller, I've never had an issue of any kind. My address is not readily available on ebay. It becomes visible on Paypal if I buy something, obviously.

I never use ebay labels. I just write out my own and attach it.

I hate to say this out loud, but I think you're over-thinking a non-problem.

Good to hear they locked your account.

A few years ago there were major problems with hacked legit accounts showing up on e-bay doing fake sales.

One thing about selling stuff.

For local users, deal locally however you like.

For Non-local users, don't worry about it.

I've never had a single issue with 'identity' on eBay...

I'd be more concerned with someone who's trying hide to their identity....