E-bay was launched in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar whom following a discussion with his wife was an avid PEZ ? collector decided that other people must have some of the articles for sale, and so the birth of eBay came about.
E-Bay listed 5.6 million items in the first three months of 2002, and at any one time there can be 10 million items listed ? with 1 million added daily.
So type https://ebay.co.uk into your browser address bar hit the enter button and you?ll son be faced with the world?s largest online market place: eBay.
¤¤ LOOKING GOOD? ¤¤
When the home page loads up you?ll be faced with a plain white background, in the top left hand corner you?ll see the familiar eBay logo, while on the left hand side is a menu of items for sale: Which is categorised into sections such as Antiques and art, computing, DVD film and TV, Photography and many more. To find an item you can browse each relevant section OR use the search engine for the site.
Middle sees a list of highlighted items, and below that we have a list of the global eBay sites available.
¤¤ REGISTRATION ¤¤
If you want to use eBay (i.e. sell and buy) you need to register, otherwise all you can do is browse. You will need to create a username, password, and fill in your personal details such as Name, Address, Date of birth, and you will need to register a credit card too.
Once registration is complete, the world is your oyster ? literally. Following registration each time you log on to eBay you?ll find a link at the top of the page called ?my eBay? click this and it will take you directly to your account page. Here you can see the items you are selling through your account manager, and instantly see whether any have got bids. A quick click on another link will take you to a page where you?ll see all the bids you are currently bidding. Once the sales are through on the items it is a good idea to archive the items completed to keep your eBay page tidy and in order.
¤¤ BARGAINS ¤¤
Of course eBay is all about getting value for money, and paying less for items we want. It is also about selling things that we no longer need. Here I offer a few tips about selling and buying.
¤¤ BUYING ¤¤
Buying is always a risky business on eBay; you can pay your money and get nothing in return. Alternatively, you may pay you money and no goods, or pay your money and get your goods along with the police.
Of course the majority of sellers are genuinely trying to make a few quid by selling unwanted goods, which are often new or in new condition. Another thing to be wary of buying is over bidding; this is where people constantly outbid you, even if it means paying more than the high street price. So I would recommend that you set yourself a limit which you think is a good price (above which it becomes no bargain), remember to add postage costs, and stick to it! I recently bid on a game for my Game-cube, and was outbid. The auction got to a fairly high price and I checked out CD-WOW and saw the items there for a much lesser price than the winner had paid! So be careful, and stay within your limits: Remember a bargain is only a bargain if you wanted the item in the first place.
Watch out for ridiculous postage costs too: a DVD for example will only cost about £1.00 in postage and 50p for a padded envelope ? so anyone charging more is making extra money on the postage.
So how can you check whether the seller is of good standing? There are of course no hard and fast rules that say when you pay your money you WILL get your goods. But there are tools in place to help. Check out the sellers ratings, check each of those ratings (randomly if hundreds) and check those people ratings too, and so on, until you are convinced that the seller is of good stead. Next always pay by credit card, this way if things go wrong you have some limitation and can currently make claims to reclaim your loss: IN other words the credit card company is liable for the un-received goods. And always remember to give your honest feedback. Send emails, contact eBay. One other thing to point out is that eBay (along with many other including eBay owned Paypal) have emails going about inviting you to click to renew your registration?NEVER CLICK and always report the email to the relevant company.
¤¤ SELLING ¤¤
If you want to sell an item there again are things to remember. Selling items on eBay is great fun, and can get you some money for something that might have otherwise gone to a charity shop or similar.
Sellers on eBay should always remember that browsers don?t always turn into buyers! It is important to list as much detail as possible about your item. Be honest, it?s better to say something has been used than say it?s new and have it returned for refund. If your item has any defects it is important to MENTION IT CLEARLY in your sale. You can create fancy things with html, but a basic sale is just as good. Items sell far better with a good clear picture, this gives some representation of the condition of the item for sale.
I am a firm believer in avoiding surcharges! I charge extra for postage because that is an allowed charge in my eyes, but adding extra for Paypal charges, or HEAVY postage charges such as £3.50 for a DVD is totally unacceptable. I appreciate Paypal charge, so why not simply add that charge to the starting price?
Selling on eBay isn?t cheap, compared to the other sites mentioned in this review. Oh no eBay charges are the highest I am aware of, and paying by Paypal (also owned by eBay inflates that cost even higher).
Charges for selling on eBay vary according to the value of your item:
1p -99p will incur a listing fee of 15p: £1 - £4.99 will see 20p; £5-£14.99 adds 35p: £15-£29.99 will reduce your profit by 75p: £30-£99.99 will add £1.50 to your cost: and over £100 incurs £2.00.
But costs don?t stop at the listing fees, you also have to pay a success fee, which currently stands at 5.25% for items up to £29.99, 3.25% for items selling for £30-£599.99, and 1.75% for items over £600.00.
You can also add to these costs by fancying up your auction by adding bold, headline grabbers, extra pictures etc.
Something?s such as: Tobacco, Eurostar tickets, Animal and wildlife products, drugs, Franking machines, Football tickets, and human parts and remains are among the list of prohibited items. Others such as Adult only items, contracts, plants and seeds are questionable.
Another thing that annoys me is non-paying bidders. People place bids and win and then don?t pay! Why bother to bid in the first place? Sellers remember you too can leave feedback for buyers, and this should be done regularly.
If buyer is paying by cheque, remember these need to clear before you should send your item ? clearing of cheques is currently five working days. Imagine how you?d feel sending your items only to have a cheque that bounced?
¤¤ Final thoughts ¤¤
E-bay is a hugely popular site, that no one can deny, but there are things to beware of including over bidding, hidden surcharges. Other sites (as mentioned) offer seller fees at vastly reduced fees or nothing. However those sites simply aren?t as popular, and therefore don?t attract the amount of interest that eBay does. Bargain can be had, just remember to stand by your original limit and don?t be tempted to go over by even a penny. Sellers must remember to include in the starter price all fees but postage, and keep postage to a limit ? without making money on that too.
Used correctly eBay is excellent.
