I have not used many auctions, but eBay is the best of those I have. For bidders, there is a wide variety of stuff for sale. For sellers, there is a huge audience of potential bidders.

eBay has improved their service over the past year. When I first started bidding and selling, I noticed that eBay was down rather frequently. I am about to complete a few auctions tomorrow, and have not seen any downtime. Reliability is important for bidders and sellers.

As a seller, I enjoy the global audience -- even though I only ship to the United States. Of the auctions I have ran this year, I had only one that I re-listed three times before receiving a bid. I had overpriced the item the first two times. If you have the item set at a reasonable price, you have a very good chance for the sale.

Just watch out for deadbeat bidders. From occasionally watching the message boards, this seems like the number one complaint. My suggestion is, if possible, to cancel bids from bidders with excessive feedback. If you do get a deadbeat bidder, follow all eBay policies and make sure to leave neutral or negative feedback. Make sure this feedback is to the point -- I have seen it suggested to use something like "Auction (Item Number) closed (Closing Date) NO PAYMENT as of (Todays Date)." If they leave a negative for your negative, leave a similar feedback. Your feedback helps other sellers.

Safe Harbor is another perk from eBay. Safe Harbor mainly benefits the bidder, but when bidding on an item, I am glad its there. Safe Harbor makes eBay a better and safer bidding community.

There are many free auctions, but none with the volume of eBay. I used to list items on Haggle Online, but it just didn't have the volume of eBay. If you ask me, the price charged by eBay is fair. It is worth it to me to pay eBay if I can sell it sooner than if I go to a free auction. If you are trying to sell your stuff, then go to eBay.



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