| Product: |
ebay.co.uk |
| Date: |
03/05/08 (133 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: A great site where you can get anything or make money!
Disadvantages: There is a degree of fraud
EBay is huge. There is no arguing that fact. A lot of people use it and a lot of people make money from it. It is in its own way important to the success of the internet as it gives you something you cannot get elsewhere. It too is responsible for the increase of globalisation which I will touch on later.
Firstly then how easy is it to buy things off eBay? Well the answer depends on what you are buying really. In general there is a lot available to buy on eBay and you can get most of it below the retail price. This is due to people being able to sell direct to the buyer and being therefore only having to charge wholesale prices. I personally have bought quite a few things off eBay. Some of it specialist hat you would not be able to get from a shop in the UK. This includes things like Japanese model kits and DVD's. The format of buying is quite easy too. You simple search for what you want and a list of open auctions appear. The list shows how long is left and what price the item is currently on. If you find something you like you can choose how much you wish to bid on that item
Just to give you an example to help explain. Say an item was currently on £20. You could choose to place a maximum bid on for £50. This doesn't mean you are bidding that much. The bid you place will be around £21 but if anyone were to outbid you and place a bid of £49 eBay would automatically bid the £50 amount you had specified earlier. This is great as it stops people beating you by a penny!
You do have to be careful when buying however. Some auctions show an item but are confusingly worded and happen to be an auction for information about the item! Quite annoying! Also some sellers may try and trick you. It was well documented when the playstation 2 came out that people were putting the boxes for sale. People then bought a simple box for £200 thinking they were getting a bargain. EBay do try and counter this and the customer services for buyers is very good. You must be careful however. This is even more so for sellers from other countries. Use a trusted seller, you can tell a trusted seller by their feedback. When you buy an item you leave feedback on the seller telling future buyers how good the experience was!
Selling too is great. I have sold many things and got more than I expected. To sell you fill out a simple form and specify what amount you want the auction to start at and how long you want it to go for. It then gets bid on and when you receive the money you post the item to the address. To give sellers some tips I would advise only selling to the UK. All too often a fake buyer will bid on your item. When they win they will send you an address in the middle of nowhere halfway across the world. The will then send you fake e-mails from eBay and Pay pal telling you the money has been sent. When you then post the item you are left with nothing. It is easy to see these fake e-mails but if you are unsure always contact eBay as they look after their sellers. Also always check the buyer's feedback. It will give you insight into their previous auction activity!
You may be wondering how eBay make money. Basically they take a small cut of whatever the item sells for and also a small fee to place the item up for auction. I personally think the amounts are fair as it is a good service.
Also just to let you know. Most of the money between sellers and buyers is done through paypal and is a very easy process. Items can also be collected from the seller or cash can be sent through the post.
EBay gives you links all across the globe. You can pretty much buy anything from anywhere from anyone. It shows again how the internet aids globalisation. This time in my view for the better as it provides a platform to make money and exchange specialist items from other cultures.
Summary: Grab a bargain today!
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