Ebay: Come and Experience the World's Largest Garage Sale!
Written: Apr 30 '02 (Updated Apr 30 '02)
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Ebay is one of the most recognizable names on the internet. This on- line buying/selling service was established in 1995 and it has now grown to more than 40 million registered users and more than 5 billion dollars in annual business transactions.
What is Ebay all about?:
Ebay allows buyers and sellers a place on the internet to unite and transact the purchasing and selling of merchandise. With Ebay, you can browse for bargain- priced merchandise, and you can also list an item that you currently own and see if someone would like to purchase it.
Making a Purchase:
The first time I ever used Ebay was to make a purchase. Here’s how the buying process works:
Browsing for Merchandise:- If you’re looking for a specific item to buy, you can start by selecting a category from the home page. Categories include such items as airline tickets, food & wine, motorcycles, stamps, pet supplies, television/video, and several more. If your desired item to purchase exists in one of these categories, then you can select the category from the home page, then proceed to narrow down to the specific item that you want on the next page.
If you just want to look around, then you can click on the browse tab, from the home page. You can browse by category (books, music, computers, sports, etc.), by geographic region (New York, Philadelphia, Portland, etc), by theme (entertainment, collecting, business, etc.), or by store.
Next to each item, you will see a small number which indicates the number of items that are available for sale, in that respective category. If you click again, you will get a further breakdown. For example, non- fiction books might show 100,000 items for sale. If you click on non- fiction books, you will then see a breakdown by sub category, with the number of books available in each group, like 1800 books in gardening, 2700 books in travel, etc.
The results page will show you everything that’s available for purchase, in your selected category. There is no particular order to the items, and some of the selections are composed of sets. For example, if you lookup books on sports, you will see not only individual books to buy, but also package deals like “3 books on baseball legends”, or “biographies of professional boxers”. Some of the selections will have a picture, others will not. If you want to see a picture, or get a more detailed description of the item, you just click on the title.
Making a Bid:- When you select an item, the next page will show you not just a description, but also the current status of the item, in terms of its bidding history and the number of days and hours remaining to make a bid. The number of bids is also indicated, along with the asking opening bid. The seller’s name is highlighted, showing his/her Ebay sales ranking.
Along with the asking bid, some items will have a “buy it now” price listed. This price is higher than the opening bid price, and it indicates what the seller would be willing to sell it for immediately. As soon as someone makes a bid, however, this “buy it now” price goes away.
To place a bid, you must first register with the Ebay site. This is free (note: you have to be 18 or older to participate), and it’s fast and simple. You just select the country you live in, then enter your e-mail along with your full name and address. After a few other basic questions are answered, like setting up a user id and password, you will be established and ready to start bidding.
After you place a bid, it will be stored in the Ebay database where it will remain until the expiration date and time for bidding on that particular product. When you enter a bid, you are indicating the maximum amount that you are willing to pay. What Ebay does is called proxy bidding. You enter an amount, and then Ebay will automatically bid up to that maximum amount. So, if others are bidding on the same item, Ebay will monitor the situation for you, starting out low and then bidding up to your maximum amount. If the other bids exceed your maximum, then you will not get the item. But, if no one bids over your maximum, then there’s a very good chance that you will get the item for less than your stated maximum price.
Paying for Merchandise:- Once you have been declared the auction winner, you will be under obligation to purchase the product. You cannot back out at this point, which is why it’s important to remember not to bid a price that’s more than you are willing to pay.
Before you make a purchase, it’s a good idea to click on the seller’s name and see how he rates. The members of Ebay rate each seller, and the rating is summarized for the public to see. You can quickly find out if a seller is ethical or not, based on his/her rating. You will see a summary of the number of positive, negative, and neutral comments. And below the summary, you can read some of the actual comments that others have posted.
To pay for your purchase, you can use either credit card (you have to register for Ebay payments, to use this), electronic check, paper check, or money order. The paper check and money order options will, of course, take much longer to process. If you want to get your order fast, you should use one of the other options.
Shipping charges will be added to each item you buy. The price you pay for shipping, and the time it takes for an item to arrive, all depend on the distance that it has to be shipped.
Selling Merchandise:
Buying is the most popular pastime on Ebay, but in order to buy, there must also be plenty of sellers who are ready to unload merchandise. Once your account has been established, you can begin listing items to sell.
Listing items for sale in Ebay’s auctions will cost you a fee that ranges from 30 cents to $3.30, depending on the price of the item. If you list an item in Ebay stores, it will cost you 5 cents per item.
When you make a sale, Ebay will take a cut of your profits, as a fee for its services. This fee will range from 1.5% to 5.25% of the final sales price. You need to consider these fees, when you list your items for sale. You need to make sure that the minimum asking bid is going to be large enough to make the experience worth your while. You have to consider the fees, and make sure that the price you ask for is high enough to make a decent profit.
Other Services:
Ebay has a few other services, all relating to the buying/selling process. One service is called the “Power Sellers” program. It’s a special program for those Ebay members who have either achieved a high level of sales volume, or who have maintained a 98% or better level of positive feedback. There are three “Power Seller” levels: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Achieving these levels takes quite a bit of work. To reach Bronze requires $2,000 in monthly sales; Silver requires $10,000; and Gold requires $25,000! Each level also requires the 98% positive feedback criteria as well. This program gives special recognition and special rewards to high achievers.
Ebay also has some special tools to assist buyers and sellers alike. Here, you will find tips on the best ways to bid; how to showcase your item; how to add photographs, etc.
Final Thoughts:
Ebay is a fun site to use! I have not yet utilized the selling features of the site, but I have used it for buying. It’s fun to browse for things to buy, place bids, and then sit back and wait for an e-mail confirmation stating that you have placed the winning bid.
There are a few risks that you take with Ebay. If you are buying an item, you must accept the fact that the item may not meet your expectations. This is the biggest risk that you take, with an on- line auction site like Ebay. Having a picture helps (remember- not all items have a picture), but it still cannot take the place of examining the actual physical item in person, like you would in a department store.
The other risk that you take is with the seller, who could try to take you for a ride with your purchase. That’s why it’s important to check out the individual’s information before you make a purchase. Pay close attention to the summary page and read some of the comments. If the comments are almost all positive, then you can feel pretty confident that you will not experience any sort of fraud. However, it’s still no guarantee that things will turn out the way you would prefer. Even a 98% positive rating doesn’t ensure that you will get the service and courtesy that you feel you deserve.
There are so many items listed on Ebay that it’s very easy to get lost in all of the merchandise. If you browse through a general category, you will notice that the items are in no particular order. It’s best to at least narrow the list down by inputting a few key words to search. The more words you enter, the more likely that your desired item will quickly pop up, at the top of the search results page. In spite of all of the thousands of items, though, I think Ebay does a good job in keeping everything organized.
It’s very easy, with a service like this, to get too caught up in the bidding. Just like at a live auction, some people get too competitive and end up placing bids that are really too much for a particular item. It’s nice to be competitive, but is a CD from a popular band really worth $20 when you can purchase it new in a store for less money? You have to watch yourself, when you start bidding, to make sure you keep your head on straight.
One other good thing about Ebay is that it can provide a way to find items for sale that may not be available elsewhere. There are many antique items and out of print items in Ebay that you cannot buy in stores anymore. Ebay could prove to be your only hope of finding certain items.
Overall, I recommend logging into Ebay and looking for some things to buy. Maybe you have something specific in mind to buy. Maybe you would just like to browse a little. Whatever you’re looking for, Ebay is a fun web site to use. It’s like walking into a huge rummage sale, without the mess or hassle. It’s a fun and addictive web service!
Recommended:
Yes
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About the Author
Member: Bryan Carey
Location: Houston, TX
Reviews written: 3614
Trusted by: 1570 members
About Me: Beer Drinker and Libertarian Political Activist. Great Combination, eh?
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