Picking a Pickproof Password

Choosing a good password is not as easy (but is twice as important) as it
may seem. Whoever has your password can (in effect) “be you” at eBay —
running auctions, bidding on auctions, and leaving possibly-litigious feedback
for others. Basically, such an impostor can ruin your eBay career — and
possibly cause you serious financial grief.

Many passwords can be cracked by the right person in a matter of seconds.
Your goal is to set a password that takes too much of the hackers’ time. With
the number of available users on eBay or PayPal, odds are they’ll go to the
next potential victim’s password rather than spend too many minutes (or
even hours) trying to crack yours.

As with any online password, you should follow these commonsense rules to
protect your privacy:

✦ Don’t choose anything too obvious, such as your birthday, your first
name, or (never use this) your Social Security number. (Hint: If it’s too
easy to remember, it’s probably too easy to crack.)
✦ Do make things tough on the bad guys — combine numbers and letters
(use uppercase and lowercase) or create nonsensical words.
✦ Don’t give out your password to anyone — it’s like giving away the keys
to the front door of your house.
✦ Do change your password immediately if you ever suspect someone has
it. You can change your password, by going to the Account Information
area of your My eBay page or to the following address:
signin.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.
dll?ChangePasswordAndCreateHint
✦ Do change your password every few months just to be on the safe side.

Selecting Your User ID

Making up a user ID is always a pleasant chore. If you’ve never liked your real
name or never had a nickname, here’s your chance to correct that situation.
Choose an ID that tells a little about you. Of course, if your interests change,
you may regret too narrow a user ID.
You can call yourself just about anything, but remember that this ID is how
other eBay users will know you. Here are some guidelines:
✦ Don’t use a name that would embarrass your mother.
✦ Don’t use a name with a negative connotation, such as scam-guy. If
people don’t trust you, they won’t buy from you.
✦ Don’t use a name that’s too weird, you know, something like babyvampire-
penguin. People may chuckle, but they may also question your
sanity.
✦ eBay doesn’t allow spaces in user IDs, so make sure that the ID makes
sense when putting two or more words together. A friend of mine
intended to register as “gang of one.” She forgot the hyphens, so her ID
reads gangofone.