Let sellers show their connected social accounts

Buyers trust a seller more when they can see the person behind the profile. With connected accounts, sellers can link the Google or Facebook account they already have, and buyers see which ones they linked.

Connecting only proves that the seller could sign in to that account once. It doesn’t check their identity, so it is always labelled Connected, never Verified. For real ID checks, use verification requests or automatic ID checks.

What you need

• Verification requests switched on in Settings › General, under Trust & safety. Connected accounts are stored with the verification requests, so they only work while those are on.
• Google or Facebook (or both) switched on and set up in the Social login add-on. See Social login. Sellers can only connect the providers that are switched on there. Sites that set up LinkedIn sign-in in the past can offer LinkedIn too; it can’t be added from the panel any more.

Switch it on

1. In the admin panel, go to Add-ons, open the Security tab and click Trust & safety.
2. In Connected accounts, switch on Let sellers connect social accounts. Underneath, the page lists the providers that are available now. If it asks you to switch on a provider in the Social login add-on first, do that, then come back.
3. Optionally, switch on Show a mark for a connected account (see below).
4. Click Save.

Setting	What it does
Let sellers connect social accounts	Adds a Connected accounts box to each member’s Trust & verification page, and shows the connected accounts to buyers.
Show a mark for a connected account	Off by default. Sellers with a connected account and no verified badge get a separate outlined Social account connected mark next to their name. It never counts as verified, so features for verified sellers only (such as verified-only auctions) stay closed to them. If your site has a verifiedbadge user field, only the sellers you ticked get the mark.

What sellers do

1. They open Trust & verification from their account menu.
2. In Connected accounts, they click Connect Google or Connect Facebook.
3. They sign in at that provider and allow access, then come back to the page, which says Your Google account is connected.

Only the account’s id at the provider is kept, to show it is connected. Your site doesn’t keep the provider’s access tokens, and it doesn’t post anything to the seller’s account.

• A seller who signed up with Google or Facebook already counts as connected to it. That one can’t be removed, because they sign in with it.
• Any other connected account has a Remove link. After removing it, it is no longer shown on their profile.
• One Google or Facebook account can only be connected to one member. Trying to connect it to a second one shows This Google account is already connected to another member.

What buyers see

On the seller’s profile and on their listings, after the seller’s badges, buyers see a label such as Connected: Google, Facebook. Hovering over it explains that the seller connected these accounts and that it is not an ID check.

With Show a mark for a connected account on, a seller without a verified badge also gets the outlined Social account connected mark next to their name. A seller who is verified keeps their verified badge instead.

Connected accounts don’t appear in Verification requests: there is nothing for you to approve.

Related guides

• Verified members: verified badges from documents you check yourself.
• Automatic ID checks: Stripe Identity or Onfido check sellers’ IDs for you.
• Social login: set up Google and Facebook sign-in.
• Member profiles: what buyers see on a seller’s profile.