When choosing a member name for ebay (or anywhere online for that matter!) you must use a great deal of care. What are some things you need to consider, and why?

Some suggestions are of trivial concern, others of more grave concern. They are in no special order and are merely listed in the order that they popped into my head :)

1. Is it child friendly? Many children have access to the internet, so it is best to keep names, comments, etc child friendly unless you are on an adults only membership protected site.

2. Does it reflect the real you? Your name shouldn't be carebearlover if you hate care bears, unless it gives you a laugh and you don't mind telling the whole story about how funny that was 5 years ago... 5 years from now. Also, watch fads. You may not want to admit that you watchmelroseplacenightly a few years from now!

3. Is it professional & convey what you want it to? If you plan on using your ebay account to sell (or any other site you choose a name on to represent a business presence in some way) than you want to be sure that you choose a name that is easy to remember, easy to spell and easily identified with your product or service. You work hard for customers. Don't become a victim of memory lapse!

4. Is it taken? Or is some close variation already in use? Whether your account is here or elsewhere, whether your account is for fun or profit, you want your OWN identity. You don't want to be infringing on, being confused with, or living in the shadow of someone else's name. If you are online for fun you will eventually find it annoying to have to explain that no you are not THAT ravorbladesinohio. And if you are online for profit you will have a whole bunch more problems. If the other company is good they are also probably known, at least to some degree. So anyone who heard of THEM first will now label you as a fake, a scammer, or best case scenario... a biter (my 80's is showing!) You will lose credibility, ruin your reputation, such that it is, and lose potential customers. You may even face legal charges if the other person wants to pursue the matter. Want traffic to your new business? Search engines may view you as just an affiliate of the other person/company, and will give you lower rankings because of it. And what if the other company ISN'T good? Than people may assume you are them under another name. You can inherit their bad reputation and customer issues. A simple search on the major sites, Google, Ebay, Yahoo, Twitter, etc, will help you ascertain if your name is taken or not. Be sure to search close variations of it too to be sure! If you are serious about having a business identity online, be serious about how you present yourself through your name and take the time to choose wisely.

5. Is it unique and therefore available on multiple sites? Again I suggest check for close variations and competition for the name to avoid confusion, hurt feelings, and even more problems. Other than those things, you don't want the hassle of having to come up with an alternate name for some sites just because you decided to bogart someone else's name or didn't do your research first.

6. Does it give away too much info? With all the social networking going on these days, it is easy to forget that you are still in a sea of strangers. Don't give out too much info too publicly. JaneDoeinSouthPhoenix may be too specific to give to everyone in the world, which is what you are doing when you publish anything (even a user name) online. Try to keep it to info you wouldn't be uncomfortable giving a stranger.

7. Is it too bland? Jane31 may be a bit generic for you down the line. Plus you won't be 31 forever. Why not try to jazz it up now instead of remaking all your accounts down the line?

You will use your online name for (probably) years to come. You may want to use the same name across multiple sites, or you may decide to use it professionally down the line even if you do not now. Make sure it is unique and problem free! Bottom line? Do your research before you a pick a name. It is easy to do a search on the major sites with just a couple variations. Be exciting, be unique!