Sharing a Desk Computer: An Extension Sign-In Routine for Reps

Two sales reps share one desktop next to the used-car desk. The morning person posts three units and walks a customer. The afternoon person sits down, sees the Chrome extension already "ready," and queues two more cars without looking at the account name. Those two cars post as the morning person. Analytics blame the wrong rep. A sold unit in the morning person's queue gets touched by someone who should not have been in it. Sharing a desk computer is normal. Inheriting the last session is not.

The PostToMarket Chrome extension signs in with email, not an API key. That is the whole security model on the browser side: the person in the chair must be the person in the session. This article is an extension sign-in routine for reps who share a machine. It is not a request for a dedicated computer per employee. It is a request for thirty seconds of identity hygiene every time someone sits down.

For install steps, use the Chrome extension setup guide. For why email login matters at rollout and offboarding, see signing into the extension with email.

Why a Shared Desk Breaks Posting If You Skip Sign-In

A shared computer is fine. A shared identity is how every control in the product goes dull.

Queues attach to people

Sales reps have personal posting queues. Associates have assigned queues. If you post inside someone else's session, you work their claims, their failed units, and their sold-unit leftovers. You also hide your own work inside their analytics.

Managers coach the wrong name

Team analytics by rep and source only work when the extension session matches the human. A "slow" rep may be the person whose login other people keep using. A "productive" rep may be two people.

Facebook sees a messy operator

Multiple people using one extension session, especially combined with a shared Facebook profile, look like a single operator who never leaves the chair. That is the opposite of a human-paced day. PostToMarket is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Meta. The routine below reduces operational mistakes. It does not guarantee reach or account health. Check current Marketplace rules yourself.

Offboarding becomes fiction

If the departing rep's session still lives on the desk PC, the store will keep posting as a ghost. That is an offboarding failure you can prevent with a sign-out habit.

The Extension Sign-In Routine (Sit Down / Stand Up)

Print this. Tape it to the bezel. If it is only in a training deck, it will die in week two.

When you sit down

1. Wake the machine. Do not assume the browser is "yours."
2. Open Chrome. Look at the extension session. If it shows anyone else, sign out.
3. Sign in with your email. No shared passwords. No "use mine, it's already in there."
4. Confirm you see your queue, not a colleague's list.
5. Confirm inventory statuses on the first unit you intend to post (draft, posting, posted, sold, failed).
6. Only then start a post. One vehicle at a time, with the delays the product already applies.

When you stand up

1. Finish or pause the unit you are on. Do not leave a half-submitted listing for the next person to poke.
2. Sign out of the extension.
3. If the store uses a shared Facebook profile on that machine, follow store policy for that profile separately. Do not leave both sessions live as a convenience.
4. Do not save your password in a public Chrome profile if the next person can use it without thinking.

If the next person is already waiting

Switching should take less than a minute. If it takes ten, the machine is overloaded with profiles and leftover tabs, not with this routine. Clean the browser; do not skip sign-out.

Sharing a Desk Computer Without Sharing a Chrome Profile

The routine is easier if the browser setup matches it.

Prefer separate OS or Chrome profiles per person

If two or three people share one PC all week, give each a Windows user or at least a Chrome profile. The extension then tends to stay in the right identity even when someone forgets a step. This is still not an excuse to skip the sit-down check.

Never use the admin login on the floor PC

The admin is for billing, settings, and account-level work. A floor machine is a theft-and-habit risk. Reps and associates use their own seats. Managers use manager seats. Roles are explained in admin, manager, sales rep and associate roles; the desk rule is simpler: the floor PC is never the owner's vault.

Phones are not a loophole

The mobile dashboard on a personal phone is a good way to reorder a queue between customers. It is not a reason to leave the desk extension signed in as you all afternoon. Sign out of the PC when you walk away. Use the phone as yourself.

Shared Facebook plus shared extension is the worst pair

If the store also runs Marketplace from one Facebook login on that same PC, you now have two inherited sessions. Write both into the taped routine. Who is allowed to use the Facebook login is a store policy decision. Who is allowed to use the PostToMarket extension is not: each poster uses their own email.

Failure Modes and How a Manager Catches Them

"We were in a hurry"

Hurry is the usual excuse for a burst of posts in the wrong identity. Server-enforced daily limits still count against the session's user. You will hit a ceiling and not know whose work it was. Slow down for the sign-in. The posting engine is already slower than a dump; identity should not be the thing you skip.

"Chrome remembered them"

Saved passwords on a public profile are a trap. Turn them off on the shared PC or use locked OS accounts. A convenience feature that auto-fills the last rep is the bug.

"The associate doesn't have a login yet"

Then they should not post. Do not park them in a manager session as onboarding. That first-day shortcut becomes the permanent process.

Manager checks (twice a week is enough)

• Watch posting analytics for a name that posts during a shift that person did not work.
• Ask who was sitting at the desk PC at that hour.
• Open the team queue view if claims appear to move without the owner present.
• Treat a mismatch as a process miss, not as theft, until you know otherwise — then fix the routine, not just the person.

How PostToMarket Automates This

A shared desk computer cannot be "solved" by a feature that guesses who sat down. The product assumes each person signs in. The routine is what makes that assumption true.

• Email sign-in to the Chrome extension, no API keys, so identity is a person, not a file on disk.
• Per-rep and associate queues that only make sense if the session matches the human.
• Roles (admin, manager, sales rep, associate) that you should not collapse into one saved password.
• One vehicle at a time with human-like delays and server-enforced daily limits, which you do not want applied to the wrong user.
• Team analytics by rep as the audit that reveals inherited sessions.
• Team queue view when a claim was touched by the wrong person and needs release.
• Mobile dashboard so a rep can stay themselves on a phone instead of borrowing the last PC session.

The extension will not yell at you for sitting in a colleague's chair. The store has to.

Sign In as Yourself or Do Not Post

If two people share a desk computer, the extension sign-in routine is part of the posting job, as much as picking a lead photo. Skip it and every queue, analytic, and offboarding step in the store becomes guesswork.

PostToMarket is built for named logins, not a community browser. Unlimited vehicles in inventory on every plan. Starter is $59 per month when one person owns the only machine and the only login. Dealership is $299 per month for up to 13 logins, which is what a shared desk actually requires.

Start your 10-day free trial through secure Stripe checkout. Put two people on one PC on purpose during the trial, practice sit-down and stand-up, and cancel anytime if you would rather keep posting as whoever was there last.