How to sign up for Shopee without your own number

Shopee is a large online shopping platform in Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Brazil. People use it to buy almost anything, from phone cases to groceries, and many small shops sell through it too.

Shopee usually links each account to a phone number and sends a one-time code to confirm it, both at sign-up and for some security checks. It runs a separate site for each country, and each one usually expects a number from that country. A separate number helps if you shop from abroad, want to keep your personal number away from promotions, or are setting up an account for a small business.

You can do everything from the phone or computer you already have. Before you start, get these ready:

• A kartesim account with a little balance in the wallet, topped up by card or crypto.
• The official Shopee app or website for the country you want to shop in.
• A few minutes, so you can type the code before it expires.

Pick the country first, because it decides which Shopee site the number will work with.

• On kartesim, pick Shopee and the country of the Shopee site you will use, then buy a number.
• Open Shopee, start signing up and check that the country code matches the number.
• Enter the number exactly as shown, without an extra 0 at the start.
• If Shopee lets you choose how to receive the code, pick SMS. The code then appears on the kartesim page.
• Type the code into Shopee and finish your profile with a username, password and delivery address.

Shopee decides when and how to send a code. It may offer other channels, such as a call or a message in another app, which won't reach our numbers because they receive SMS only.

Go through these checks. If the code still doesn't come, cancel the order: the money goes back to your wallet automatically, and you can try again with another number.

• Make sure the number's country matches the Shopee site you are signing up on.
• Choose SMS as the delivery method, and wait a minute before asking for a new code.
• If Shopee says the number is already registered, cancel and buy a new one.

The number is for this one verification. It is not rented to you long term, so don't count on getting more codes on it later. Add and confirm an email address in your Shopee account, and use a strong password.

Shopee may ask for a code again when you log in on a new device, change a password or use payment features. If you plan to use the account for a long time, change the phone number in your account settings to one you can keep, when the app allows it. Turn on any extra security option Shopee offers, too.