eBay lets you decide how and when you'd like to receive notifications and alerts. You can receive notifications in your email using your email account. You can also receive alerts by instant messenger.

The alerts and emails you can receive include the following:

• Status of items you’re bidding on, watching, or selling

• Feedback reminder emails or removal alerts

• Promotions and events

• User Agreement or Privacy Policy changes

To change your communication preferences, sign in to eBay, go to the My eBay page, and click Preferences. You can also select whether to receive emails in HTML or text-only format.

IM alerts

IM stands for "instant messaging." You can subscribe to have message alerts sent to your chat window to notify you when an auction ends or you’ve been outbid. If you subscribe to IM alerts, your chat window will open and you will see the IM alert.

Note: To subscribe to IM alerts, you need an account with an instant messenger provider, such as Skype. This account needs to exist before you subscribe for IM alerts.