Buying on eBayPublished April 26, 2026· 6 min read

How to Follow a Seller on eBay (Save Searches & Get Notified)

Following a favorite eBay seller is the difference between checking their store every day and getting a push notification the moment they list a new item. Here's how to follow sellers on desktop and the eBay app, set up new-listing alerts, and manage your saved-sellers list.

By Chris Taylor, founder of FlowLister and active eBay reseller

Following vs. saved searches: pick the right tool

eBay's two notification systems sound similar but solve different problems:

Feature	Following a seller	Saved search
What triggers an alert	That seller lists anything new	Any seller lists items matching your keywords
Best for	Tracking 1 specific shop or seller	Hunting deals across the marketplace
Limit	Hundreds of sellers (effectively unlimited)	100 saved searches per account
Where it lives	My eBay → Saved → Saved Sellers	My eBay → Saved → Saved Searches

Most power users run both: ~10 saved sellers (favorite shops) and ~20 saved searches (specific items they're hunting for). The combination catches both new listings from trusted sellers and deals from anyone in the marketplace.

How to follow a seller on eBay (3 platforms)

Desktop browser

Open the seller's store. The fastest path is typing ebay.com/usr/USERNAME (replacing USERNAME) directly into your browser. Or click the seller's name on any of their listings.
Look for the 'Save this Seller' button or heart icon next to the seller's name and feedback score. It sits at the top of the store/profile page.
Click the heart. It fills in to confirm — and the button text usually changes to 'Saved' or 'Following.'
(Optional) Click the bell icon that appears nearby to turn on alerts for new listings.
To verify: open My eBay → Saved → Saved Sellers tab. Your newly-followed seller is at the top.

eBay mobile app (iOS/Android)

Open the eBay app and tap any of the seller's listings, or use the magnifying-glass search → Members tab → search for the username.
Tap the seller's name to open their store.
Scroll until you see the 'Save Seller' or heart button below the store header.
Tap once. The heart fills in.
To enable push alerts: app Settings → Notifications → Saved sellers → toggle on.
Find your follow list under: bottom-bar 'My eBay' → 'Saved' → 'Saved Sellers.'

Mobile browser (without app)

The mobile-web flow is identical to desktop — open the seller's store via ebay.com/usr/USERNAME or by tapping the seller name on a listing.
Scroll to find the heart icon. Tap it.
If you see 'Get the eBay app for alerts,' you can dismiss it — alerts also work on email-only without the app.

Notification settings: which channel for which use case

After following a seller, eBay gives you four ways to be notified about their new listings. The right choice depends on how time-sensitive your buying is:

Email

What you get: Digest email when a saved seller lists new items. Default: daily summary; some accounts get instant.
Setup: My eBay → Saved → Saved Sellers → bell icon, OR Settings → Communication preferences
Best for: Casual buyers who don't want phone notifications cluttering their day

Mobile push (eBay app)

What you get: Real-time push notification within ~1 hour of a new listing going live
Setup: eBay app → Settings → Notifications → Saved sellers (and OS-level notifications must be enabled for the eBay app)
Best for: Resellers and collectors hunting limited inventory where speed matters

Browser push (web)

What you get: Real-time browser notification when logged in. Limited compared to app push.
Setup: Browser permission prompt the first time you save a seller, OR Settings → Communication preferences → Push
Best for: Desktop power users who keep eBay open in a tab all day

None (silent follow)

What you get: No notifications — saved seller still appears on your Saved Sellers tab for manual browsing
Setup: Toggle the bell off after following, or skip enabling alerts entirely
Best for: Bookmark-style follows where you'll check the seller's store on your own schedule

Why follow eBay sellers in the first place

Five real-world reasons people follow sellers on eBay:

Limited-stock alerts. Vintage clothing, rare cards, and collectible drops sell within hours of listing. Push notifications give you a head start over buyers who only check periodically.
Trust + repeat purchasing. Once you identify a seller with reliable shipping and accurate descriptions, following them turns a one-off purchase into an ongoing source.
Bundle discounts. Some sellers offer combined-shipping discounts when you buy multiple items. Following lets you wait for them to list 2-3 things you want, then bundle.
Niche specialty shops. Sellers who specialize in vintage Casio watches, 90s denim, or pre-1980s baseball cards usually have a deeper inventory than a generic seller. Following keeps you in their orbit.
Reseller competitive intel. If you sell on eBay yourself, following 5-10 competitors in your niche shows their pricing and listing cadence in real time. (See the full seller-research workflow.)

The Saved Sellers tab: where everything lives

Once you've followed a few sellers, the Saved Sellers tab in My eBay is your home base. It shows:

Every seller you follow, sorted by most-recently-active by default.
Their 5-10 newest listings inline, so you can browse without clicking into each store.
Last-active date, useful for pruning sellers who've gone dormant.
Bell icon for toggling alerts on/off per seller — handy when you want broad following but selective notifications.
Remove button for unfollowing without visiting the seller's store.

Pro tip: every 6 months, review the list and unfollow sellers who haven't listed anything in 90+ days. The tab gets noisy fast otherwise.

How to unfollow an eBay seller

Two clicks either way. The seller is not notified when you unfollow.

From the seller's store: click the heart icon (now filled) to toggle it off. Confirm by watching the heart return to its outline state.
From My eBay: open Saved → Saved Sellers, find the seller, click the X or “Remove” button next to their name. eBay asks for confirmation once, then removes them.

Unfollowing also turns off any pending alerts for that seller.

Frequently Asked Questions

Following a seller adds them to your Saved Sellers list in My eBay and turns on optional new-listing alerts. You'll see their store on your My eBay homepage and (if alerts are on) get an email or push notification when they list new items. The seller is notified that someone follows them, but does not see your specific username unless they check their followers list.

No. A saved search alerts you when any seller lists items matching your keywords (e.g., 'vintage Casio watch'). Following a seller alerts you only when that one seller lists anything. Use saved searches for finding deals across the whole marketplace; use follow-seller for tracking favorite shops.

Yes — sellers can see a count of total followers, and on Seller Hub they can see usernames of people following their store. There's no notification sent each time someone follows, and the visibility is one-way: followers don't see other followers.

After following a seller, go to My eBay → Saved → Saved Sellers → click the bell icon next to the seller's name to enable email alerts for new listings. On the eBay app, push notifications can be toggled in Settings → Notifications → Saved sellers. New-listing alerts send within 1-4 hours of the listing going live.

Two ways: (1) on the seller's store page, click the 'Saved' or heart icon to toggle it off, or (2) go to My eBay → Saved → Saved Sellers, hover over the seller, and click the X or 'Remove' button. The seller is not notified when you unfollow.

Three common causes: (1) you're not logged in — the heart icon only appears for signed-in accounts; (2) you're on the listing page instead of the store/profile page — the save button lives on the seller's store, not on individual listings; (3) the seller has a private profile or closed account, in which case you can't follow them.