Amazon, Etsy, eBay: Address Rules for Marketplace Sellers

Why Marketplaces Ask Sellers for Addresses

Marketplaces play three roles at once. They pay sellers, so they ask who is behind the business. Amazon's registration guide asks whether you are a beneficial owner, a legal representative, or both. They send tax forms such as Form 1099-K. And they handle buyer returns, so the return address matters.

Returns add a layer a bank account does not have. A return address can print on the shipping labels you buy through the platform. Etsy calls its Shipping From address your “return shipping label address.” The address in this field is the one customers see when a package arrives.

Form 1099-K is the tax side. The IRS says an online marketplace “is required to send you a Form 1099-K if the payments you received for goods or services total over $20,000 in more than 200 transactions.” The IRS adds that “they may send you a Form 1099-K with lower amounts and/or transactions.” The IRS says the marketplace must send your copy by January 31. The IRS page we read does not say which address the form goes to, so keep the address on each seller account current.

The Four Address Types to Keep Straight

Amazon, Etsy, and eBay use different field names. This guide sorts the addresses a seller deals with into four types, plus a personal address for identity checks. In the pages we read, none of the three platforms names a separate payout-bank or sales-tax address field. The table shows which field names we found in each platform's own pages. Knowing what each type does helps you keep them straight.

What Amazon Seller Central Asks During Registration

Amazon's registration guide walks through five steps. Addresses come up in three of them: business information, seller information, and identity verification.

In the business information step, the guide says to “Enter the address that appears on your business license.” For an LLC, that is usually the address on your state registration, as we read it. The business name step asks for “the exact name used to register your business with the relevant government office.”

In the seller information step, you enter personal details from “a government-issued ID like a passport.” One of those details is a “Residential address.” That field is about you as the primary contact, and it is separate from the business address.

In the billing step, the guide says the payout bank account “must be in your name or the name of your business.” We did not find a bank address field in the guide.

In the identity step, Amazon asks you to upload a government-issued ID and “Proof of residential business address dated from the last 180 days, like a bank or credit card statement.” You then take a photo of your face and ID, or you join a video call with an Amazon associate.

In the Amazon pages we read, we did not find a rule on P.O. boxes in the business address field. We also did not find how Amazon sets the return address on labels, so check it in your account before the first sale.

How Etsy and eBay Compare on Seller Addresses

Etsy splits the address into separate fields. The label address is the Shipping From field, which Etsy calls your “return shipping label address.” The shop location is a different field. Etsy says, “Adding a location helps your shop and listings appear in local searches.” You pick a city from a dropdown list. If yours is not there, Etsy says to “choose the nearest city or town that does appear.” Etsy also notes that buyers in your local area may see this location on your listings without the country name. Shipping profiles have a third setting. In a shipping profile, you “Enter the Ship from country and Origin Zip code you’re shipping from.” For Etsy alone, our guide to Etsy return address privacy goes field by field through the address and location fields in Etsy’s help pages.

eBay asks for an item location on each listing. eBay's item location policy says listings must include “the postal code, city and country where the item will ship from.” We did not find a return address rule on that page. (eBay's Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) program is a separate IP-infringement notice channel for rights holders; it does not directly assess seller address or identity.) If eBay has put your payouts on hold, our guide to eBay payouts on hold explains what each hold message means and what to do.

Check two things before you apply. First, Amazon's registration guide says to enter “the address that appears on your business license” as the registered business address. For an LLC, that is usually the address on your state registration, as we read it. Amazon's list of what to have ready includes a “Business license or registration.” Second, Etsy says the address it asks for when you confirm your seller info “must be your taxpayer address, and not a PO or Postal Box.”

Common Address Mistakes Marketplace Sellers Make

1. 1(1) Listing the Amazon FBA warehouse address as the legal business address. Amazon's registration guide asks for the address on your business license. A fulfillment center that stores your inventory is not that address.
2. 2(2) Leaving a residential address in the return address field by accident. On Etsy, the label address is its own field, Shipping From. Check what each platform put in its return address field before the first label prints. Updating it later does not retroactively change labels already printed for in-flight orders.
3. 3(3) Using a different address on each marketplace. The IRS says, “If you accept payments on different platforms, you could get more than one Form 1099-K.” Keep one business name and address across platforms so each form is easy to match to the right account in your records.
4. 4(4) Registering for state sales tax at one address, then moving the seller account to another address without updating the state. Notices from the state then go to the old address.
5. 5(5) Changing the legal address on one platform and not the others. Update the state record first, then each marketplace and your bank at the same time.

Which Marketplace Fields a Virtual Office Address Can Fill

A virtual office address does not fit every field. Some fields ask for a business address. Others ask for your own home address so the platform can verify who you are. Check each field against the platform's own words.

Amazon's registration guide says to enter “the address that appears on your business license.” For an LLC, that is usually the address on your state registration, as we read it. So if you want a virtual office address in that slot, update the state record first. On Etsy, the address Etsy asks for when you confirm your seller info “must be your taxpayer address, and not a PO or Postal Box.” As we read it, that should be the same address your tax records show.

Some fields are identity checks, and they should keep your real home address. Amazon's registration guide asks for a “Residential address” in the personal details you enter from a government-issued ID. Etsy Payments lists “Home address” with your name and date of birth as details it uses to verify your identity.

The return address is the field where a different address changes what buyers see. On Etsy, the Shipping From address prints on the labels you buy through Etsy as the return address. On eBay, listings must include the postal code, city and country the item ships from.

For payout bank and sales tax addresses, we did not find an Amazon, Etsy, or eBay page that says whether a virtual office address is accepted. Check each platform's instructions before you enter one.

A virtual office address also does not fill the FBA inventory location. Amazon assigns that from its own warehouse network, and it is separate from your business address.

Checklist: Addresses Ready Before You List Your First Product

Run this checklist before starting Amazon Seller Central, Etsy, or eBay business seller signup. Checking each item before you apply helps you catch a mismatch early.

• (1) Legal entity address that matches the SOS record exactly, character for character including suite numbers and apartment-style abbreviations.
• (2) Return address chosen deliberately, since this becomes the address printed on shipping labels. On Etsy, this is the Shipping From field.
• (3) Payout bank account in your name or your business's name. Amazon's guide shows no separate bank address field.
• (4) For any virtual office flagged as a Commercial Mail Receiving Agency (CMRA), USPS Form 1583 signed with the mail service, since USPS rules for delivery to a CMRA require it.
• (5) Proof of residential address dated within the last 180 days, such as a bank or credit card statement, for the identity step. Keep it out of the business and return address fields if you do not want it there.
• (6) Single source-of-truth document listing every address used across Amazon, Etsy, and eBay, with the date each one was last updated. Update it each time you change an address on any platform.

Beyond Marketplaces: Where Sales Tax Nexus Pulls These Addresses Next

Most US states have marketplace facilitator laws, which means Amazon, Etsy, and eBay collect and remit sales tax on the seller's behalf for orders shipped to that state. The seller still has to register the business with the state when the sales volume crosses the economic nexus threshold set after South Dakota v. Wayfair, the 2018 Supreme Court ruling that overturned the prior physical-presence requirement and allowed states to require remote sellers to collect and remit sales tax based on economic nexus.

Use the same business address for that state registration and for the marketplace record when you can. If the two differ, state notices go to one place and marketplace messages go to another.

Once the seller accounts are live, other tools you connect, such as bookkeeping or sales tax software, may hold the same address. Changing it later means changing it in each place.

One more shift worth knowing if you dropship from overseas suppliers: the $800 de minimis exemption that let low-value parcels enter the US duty-free was suspended for all countries on August 29, 2025, so every small shipment now clears customs with duties and fees attached. That change has pushed many sellers toward US-based suppliers and domestic fulfillment. A domestic supply chain leans on the same address consistency described above, since state registrations, the marketplace record, and supplier accounts all reference one US business address.

save office provides commercial street addresses in its cities. Run any address through the save office address checker before it goes on an Amazon, Etsy, or eBay seller application.