Going Once, Going Twice, Gone!
Written: Dec 16 '01
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The Bottom Line
A great resource to buy or sell items online, but watch out for fraudulent users!
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I’m relatively new to the whole e-Bay experience, but from my experiences with the site so far, I have found that it is a great resource for just about anybody. With e-Bay, the day of the garage sale is practically outdated. Now you can get rid of your junk (which may be treasure to others!) in the high-tech way: by selling it online.
Signing Up
First of all, you have to sign up. Registration is quite simple and only takes a few minutes. If you use an anonymous email service (hotmail, zwallet, etc), or if you want to sell items, you will need to register a credit card.
The whole process of using e-Bay is quite simple, and it differs slightly depending on whether you are a buying or selling an item.
Buying Items
The buying of an item can begin in different ways. Maybe you know exactly what you are looking for and do a search for that particular item. Or perhaps you were just casually browsing through a certain section and found an item you were interested in. Either way, the process is the same once you find an item you want to bid on.
On the item page, there are several pieces of information:
Currently: This is the high bid so far on the item, or it is the starting bid if no bids have yet been placed. If you want to buy this item, you will have to place a bid that is higher than this by an amount set by e-Bay depending on the price (usually $0.50, but can be lower or higher). For example, if the current bid is $9.99, the lowest amount you can bid on the item is $10.49. You can also set your bid higher. If you are willing to pay up to $15.00 for the item, use that as your bid. The high bid will not go to $15.00, but to $10.49. If someone else bids on the item, your bid will be automatically raised up to $15.00. If you are outbid on an item, you will receive an email informing you of this, and you can then choose if you want to raise your bid. I advise against this because you may get excited about winning the item and end up paying more for it than you really want to. Start with the absolute most you are willing to pay, use that as your bid, and don’t exceed it. Otherwise you may find yourself regretting bidding in the first place.
First Bid: This is the price that was set by the seller to be the first bid on the item. If there are no bids on the item yet, this is what the first bid will be. The seller may have listed his/her first bid quite low, and used a reserve auction price. The reserve price can be set by the seller who wants to start bidding quite low but does not want to sell the item under a certain price. If I am a bidder who wants to sell an item for no less than $20.00, I can set that as my reserve, but start bidding at $5.00. If there are no bids that reach the $20.00 mark, then the item is not sold.
Quantity: The number of an item that is being sold.
# of Bids: This is the number of bids that have been placed on an item. All bids are counted, even if they are placed by the same user. You can click on Bid History to see who has been bidding on the item, but you cannot see how much the bids have been until after the auction has ended.
Time Left: Amount of time until the auction ends and no more bids can be placed.
Location: Where the seller is located. This is important because it has implications when it comes to shipping costs. International shipping van be quite pricey, so check the seller’s location before you bid. If you are unsure of what shipping will be, contact the seller and ask before you place any bids.
Started: When the auction started.
Ends: When the auction will end.
Seller (Rating): This is the seller’s user name, with a number in brackets after it (this is the number of times that person has bought or sold something on e-Bay). Click on the user name to see the seller’s details. If you want to see the seller’s rating, click on the number and you will be taken to a site that lists the feedback that person has received from people he/she has dealt with on e-Bay. Needless to say, if there are a lot of negative comments posted you should not deal with that person. It is a good idea to check the rating before placing any bids.
High Bid: This is the username of the person who has placed the current high bid.
Payment: This lists the methods of payment that the seller will accept.
Shipping: This lists details of shipping, such as who pays the shipping charges, and what countries the seller is willing to ship to.
Description: Here is where you will find the seller’s description of the item they are selling. Look for details such as the condition the item is in and a picture.
Bidding: This is where you place your bid. The current bid is listed, as well as the bid increment (e.g. $0.50). You type in your maximum bid, then confirm it and you are done.
What to do if you win an auction
So you placed your bid, and when the auction was over, you received an email from e-Bay stating that you won the item. If the seller has not already contacted you, you can contact the seller, advising them that you won the item. If they are a seller with a lot of auctions, it may be a good idea to even list the item number in your email. You should contact the seller within three days of the end of the auction. Once you contact the seller, they will tell you about the details of the transaction, and you can give them your mailing address, etc. Don’t ever send money through the mail! There is no way to prove that the seller ever got your money. Write a cheque, get a money order, or even better, pay online through eBay or PayPal. This way you have proof that you sent the money and the seller received it.
As a buyer in good standing, you are covered by eBay’s Fraud Protection Program, so you don’t have to worry too much about such things. You can read about this program at http://pages.ca.ebay.com/help/community/fpp.html.
Selling Items
Selling items is also quite easy. First of all, you have to choose the category that fits the item you are selling. You are then required to give certain information about your item such as “Title” (which is the title your item appears under in the e-Bay listing, and should contain important keywords pertaining to your item because the search function uses the title when performing the search), “Description”, “Picture” (if you have one), “Minimum Bid”, etc. You also choose the payment methods you are willing to receive, and the countries you are willing to ship to. Also include shipping details, such as who pays (you or the buyer), and costs if you know what they will be.
When the auction is over, you will be notified via email that the auction has ended, and who the high bidder was. You should then contact the buyer if they have not already contacted you, and you can then arrange the transaction. You should wait until you receive payment before shipping out the item.
Don’t forget to leave feedback!
Other Aspects of e-Bay
Browse
Using this feature, you can browse through e-Bay’s listings according to category. There are many categories, which include: Antiques and Art, Home and Garden, Books, Autos, and more. There are also subcategories under each category which help you to further narrow down your search for that perfect item.
Search
Using the Search option is easy: just type in the name of the item you are looking for, and see what comes up. You can also narrow down the search a bit by searching only in specific categories, or by indicating what countries you would like to search in, and you can also specify the price range.
My e-Bay
This is your very own personal site that lists any items you are buying, selling, or watching. This area also includes feedback you have received, as well as preferences/set-up.
e-Bay is a great site, and it is huge, and I have just barely touched on all of the things that exist there. The best way to learn the site is to use it yourself. Just be cautious of suspicious people, and don’t do foolish things such as sending money in the mail, and you should be fine. If you have any problems, be sure to report them!
Most importantly, have fun!
Thanks for reading :)
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Epinions.com ID:
fyvel
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Member: Mandy
Reviews written: 90
Trusted by: 80 members
About Me:
Doubt everything. Find your own light.
-- Buddha
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