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eBay Guide - Introduction to Online AuctionseBay is one of the oldest and largest sites on the Internet. Originally called AuctionWeb, the site was started in 1995 (they changed their name to eBay in 1997). eBay is now one of the largest electronic marketplaces in the world, where millions of people meet each day to buy and sell products. Originally used for collectors and hobbyists, eBay now sells everything from cars to comic books. At its most basic level, eBay is basically a big flea market based around an auction system. People bring whatever they have for sale, put it on display, and buyers bid how much they would be willing to pay for it.
How to Use EbayHow does eBay work? The first step to buying something on eBay is to register as a user. Simply click the REGISTER link near the top of the homepage (Ebay.com). You'll fill in some basic information like name, adddress, email, and then you create your eBay USER ID, which is the name you will use in eBay (you probably don't want your real name being used each time you shop or bid for something - your ID lets you be much more private). You will then be sent a confirmation email, and you are ready to start buying stuff on eBay. Keep in mind that when you shop and buy on eBay, you as the buyer NEVER pay any fees. All auction and listing fees are paid for by the seller. Let's talk about some of the non-auction shopping eBay offers first. There is something called eBay Express, which is more like shopping at a traditional website - you browse and buy NEW products (not used), prices are fixed, you can put several items from several different sellers into one shopping cart, and check out and pay one time to buy your merchandise. If you are looking to buy some specific retail type products, this service is quick and easy to use, and you can browse multiple sellers to be sure you are getting a good price.You can find everything from antiques, art, cameras, coins, jewelry, dvds, health and beauty products, sporting goods, video games, and much more at eBay Express. eBay also has a big section called eBay Motors. Buying a car on eBay you think? Sounds a little weird, but it is the same concept as buying from your local newspaper, except now you have access to a much bigger inventory, you can see what prices similar cars sold for in your area or other areas, and you can see multiple color pictures of the cars you are looking at. eBay offers free buyer protection on vehicles up to $20,000, and they include free shipping quotes if you are buying a car from out of state. They actually sell a car every 60 seconds on eBay - a lot of people are doing it, so consider looking there next time you are in the market for a car. eBay Auctions - How they workShopping and bidding on eBay is simple. First, you begin by finding the product you are interested in. You can either type a specific item into the SEARCH field on the home page ("aluminum baseball ball", "hitachi LCD TV", "batman comics", etc.) and find listings that match your search queries, or you can browse by categories listed on the left side of the screen. The main eBay categories include: Antiques, art, baby, books, business, cameras, cars, cell phones, clothing, coins, collectibles, computers, electronics, crafts, dolls, dvds, entertainment, health and beauty, music, jewelry and watches, music, pottery, real estate, sporting goods, stamps, tickets, toys, travel, and video games. You'll find subcategories listed within those broader categories as you browse. Once you get specific enough, you will begin to see listings of auction items that are for sale. On a standard listing screen, you will see small pictures of the item for sale (if available), a description, the current high bid price, an option to "Buy Now" for a fixed price if that is available, and the time it was listed. Once you click on an item from the list, you go to the detailed auction screen for that item. There you will find detailed information about the product, including pictures, payment options, shipping information, along with information about the seller. A key component to eBays safe shopping is the rating system they use for buyers and sellers. Essentially, the auction network rewards and penalizes itself by comments left by buyers and sellers. If 5000 people have left positive comments about your seller, you can be pretty sure they are legitimate and trustworthy. Same thing as a buyer, if you have made 29 purchases and paid for each one promptly, sellers are happy to do business with you. After each transaction, you have an opportunity to rate the seller and give any feedback about them to help other future buyers.eBay Auctions - The Bidding ProcessMost items on eBay are sold through auctions. In an auction, you place a bid for an item you want to buy. You are competing against other buyers, but if your bid is the highest, you win the auction and are obligated to pay that amount for the item. So keep in mind when you are bidding for multiple items on eBay, you are COMMITTING to buy those items if you win the auction - you aren't just shopping or browsing once you place a bid. When you place a bid, you will be asked to confirm your User ID and password, so others cannot place false bids for you. For auction items, the auction process normally takes a week or so to play out. This means if you want to buy something, you will need to bid on it and then monitor the auction for the next few days to adjust your bid or see if you win or lose. Fortunately, eBay lets you put in your "maximum bid" you are willing to pay for an item, which means you can bid once and forget it. Let's say something is offered at $10 currently. You are willing to pay $20 for it, so you enter that as your maximum bid. Rather than instantly jumping the price to $20, eBay will set $10.50 or $11 as the current high bid, and it will remain there unless someone outbids you. Then your bid will slowly be increased automatically until it hits your $20 maximum - you will never pay more than that, but you might lose the auction if someone else is willing to pay more.You will see this come up often when you bid. In the same example with something having a high bid of $10, you might punch in $11 for your bid, and the price instantly jumps to $12 and you are told you have been outbid. This is because someone else has a higher maximum bid in place, and it adjusts automatically as new bids (yours) come in. In a sense, the Ebay system secretly knows what different buyers are willing to pay, but neither the seller nor the other buyers know this. eBay keeps track of all the items you are bidding on -- go to the My Ebay tab at the top of the screen. It will show you every auction you are involved, highlighting in green and red the auctions you are winning and losing, displaying the current bid, your bid, and your maximum bid. It also tracks completed auctions, showing what you have won and lost, and what prices items closed at. This makes it easy to keep track of your purchases, as you can simply click on the item, then go to the item screen to find seller information or whatever. Many items on eBay have a BUY NOW icon on them, indicating that you don't have to bid on the item or wait for an auction to end. The seller lists their acceptable BUY NOW price in advance - if you are willing to pay that, you buy it instantly, the auction ends, and you get the item at that price. For many people, this is more convenient that waiting for the auction process to conclude and having to worry about monitoring multiple auctions. For sellers, this also lets them quickly get the price they want without having to wait for a bunch of buyers to stroll by and bid. Paying for things on eBayDuring the auction process, you will receive emails from eBay each time you are outbid or when an auction closes. If you are the winner of the auction, you will first be notified by eBay, and then usually by the seller as well to arrange payment and shipping. You can also be proactive and contact the seller immediately when the auction finishes to make payment. The auction page always gives you details on the payment options. Some sellers accept credit cards and checks or money orders through the mail, but most accept PayPal, the official electronic payment system of eBay. How does PayPal work? PayPal connects to your credit card or bank account and lets you send or receive money from other PayPal partners. You only give your payment information to PayPal, never to any third parties -- they act as the go between, handling the funds and keeping your financial details private. Sending money via PayPal is easy - you just need to know the email address of the seller, type in how much money you want to send, and off it goes. eBay offers a variety of free insurance and guarantees when buying online as well, protecting you from fraud on almost all purchases .The best way to avoid being scammed or ripped off on eBay is to buy only from trusted vendors (those with lots of transactions, ratings, and positive feedback) - use caution when buying from new sellers, and be careful whenever a deal sounds too good to be true.
Do you have a quality site or product that belongs in this guide? We are always happy to evaluate or review new products and websites. Feel free to contact us at the email address below and let us know about you. If you have a demo product you'd like us to look at, please contact us before sending anything. Thank you.
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