Past eBay auction home business tutorials have concentrated on deciding what to sell, what price to charge, what payment methods to accept...but once we've decided on all of this, we've got to go out to eBay and create an account!

Starting an account on eBay is a simple process, and even better, it's free! If you're 18 or older and you've got Internet access, you can have an active eBay account in just minutes. Just go to www.ebay.com, click on "Register Now", and you're off!

Having said that, here's what to expect during the registration process and a few hints on choosing a username.

eBay will ask you for a valid email address. Almost everyone has an email address through a free service such as Yahoo or Microsoft Hotmail.. and that "almost everyone" includes scammers. For that reason, if you use a free email service, eBay will require credit card information from you in order to validate your identity. eBay's registration is free, so you won't be charged. (As an eBay seller, you'll need to provide eBay with a valid credit card number anyway. Buyers aren't required to do so.)

You'll need to create an eBay ID. Your potential customers are going to see this name every single time they look at one of your postings, so don't get too crazy. If you hate the one you come up with, you can change it after you've had the current one for 30 days. Don't get into the habit of changing it too often, because that does make some potential buyers suspicious.

You'll be prompted to create a password, and also to choose a "secret question" that eBay will ask you in case you forget your password. I'm not a big fan of sites that have secret questions for you to choose from rather than writing your own, but most sites do that. Whatever you do, don't choose the "What is your mother's maiden name?" question. The answer to that is easier for someone else to get than you might think.

You'll be asked for your date of birth, just to make sure that you're of legal age to do business on eBay.

Finally, you'll be asked to agree to eBay's User Agreement. It's boring, but you should read it before checking the "I Agree" button. Once you do this, you're almost in! eBay will now send a verification email to the address you gave them, and you must click on a link inside that email in order to finish the signup process.

Congratulations! You're now ready to post items on eBay. You're going to see some odd symbols and numbers next to your eBay auction username, and we'll talk about those and what they mean in my next free eBay auction tutorial!