You can find almost anything you're wanting on auction
Written: Jan 15 '00
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| Full Review |
Almost everyone's heard about Ebay. A lot of people have also heard how it's down a lot (it isn't that often, but the nature of the site makes any downtimes bad.) In case some people aren't too sure what Ebay is exactly, let me explain.
Ebay is an auction site, but it's not your normal auction site where surplus computer equipment/etc. is auctioned off. On Ebay, normal everyday people can auction off just about anything you can possibly imagine. (And probably a few things you can't.) Transactions are handled between the winning bidder and the seller, Ebay only facilitates running the auction. Signing up with Ebay is free if you just want to bid, but sellers have to pay various fees to list auctions, depending on the starting bid and other options. As I've never personally auctioned something off on Ebay, I won't discuss that part of it, but will tell you more about bidding on Ebay.
First off you need to find something to bid on. You can browse by category and see if you find something that catches your eye, or if you know something in particular you want, you can do a keyword search. The searches are quite flexible, letting you search just auction titles, only active auctions, search through the entire text of the auction, as well as search for auctions by seller ID and winning bidder ID. Once you find an auction, bidding is simple, you type in your max bid amount, click a button, then a page is loaded prompting you to login and confirm your bid. Type in your Ebay-ID and password, click another button and you've placed a bid. Ebay handles bidding by proxy, so that you can put in a maximum bid and your proxy will automatically bid against anyone who tries to beat you. This is quite handy if you can't hang around and watch in the last minutes of an auction.
Highs: Very simple to use. Interface is clean and low-graphics from Ebay themselves (sellers can link in heavy graphics, but the interface is low in graphics content.) Lots of people use it, which means theres lots of stuff up for auction all the time. You can find almost anything you might be interested up for auction.
Lows: Bidding wars aren't fun, but aren't Ebay's fault either. Searches can return useless information depending on key words you put in. (If you put in a common word be prepared to get a lot of hits that probably aren't what you're looking for.) The biggest problem is that since auctions are resolved between individuals there is a lot of potential for getting ripped off. Ebay tries to help with this with the feedback rating system, but it can still happen. Be wary of bidding on items from a person with 0 feedback, or someone with lots of negative feedback. Occasionally Ebay is down due to computer or network problems.
Bottom Line: So many people use it that it's still the best auction site out there. The interface is simpler and low graphics also, which makes it easy to navigate and quicker to load. I really do recommend Ebay, but I highly suggest you be careful of who's auctions you bid on. Don't be completely paranoid, but be careful.
Recommended:
Yes
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About the Author
Member: Kevin Staggers
Location: Madisonville, TN
Reviews written: 20
Trusted by: 34 members
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