Ebay wonderful (ebay.co.uk)

Member Name: retroqueen1

Product:	ebay.co.uk
Date:	17/11/08 (31 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Able to buy pretty much whatever you want!

Disadvantages: Can sometimes be conned by unreliable users

Ebay is genius!

If you have no idea what it is then I don't know where you have been for the past few years! Basically what it it is a website where you can buy just about anything. From cars to autographs Ebay is the place to buy what you want. Sellers list items that they want to sell and buyers place bids in order to hopefully win the item. The sellers chose the starting price for their item and bidders take over from there. The site is mainly supported by Paypal so the majority of your purchases are paid for through them.

Items



After you have found Ebay.co.uk you simply type in what you are looking for. Ebay does all the work and finds the product at a reasonable price that you are willing to pay and then you bid.

Bids

To be able to bid you have to be a registered member of the site. It is easy to sign up, you simply fill out your details and if you want to create a paypal account (that's if you don't already have one). Once you are a member you are able to place bids on items of interest.

To place a bid you see how much the current bid is and then ebay tells you to bid more than it. For example if the current bid is 60p you have to bid more than 65p. You can also place a maximum bid. So if something is £2 but the maximum price you are willing to pay is £5 ebay will remember this and when another bidder puts in £3 they will automatically outbid and you will still be the leader.

Sellers can also do 'buy it now' sales where they set the price and you can buy it without bidding.

Paypal

If you are lucky enough to win an item it is very likely to pay through paypal. Paypal is a online bank that acts as a middle man between you and your bank and the seller and there bank. When you win a item on ebay money is transferred from your bank account. Most sellers only accept this use of payment but some don't. These sellers note this on their listing. Paypal is so useful as you don't have to control the money yourself or organise sending it to the seller.

Sellers

You have to be wary of some sellers as they may not have a good feedback rating or they might be listing a fake item (such as Ugg boots). Always read what the seller has wrote on their listing and remember to check the feedback rating. If it is for example 96.2% then it can be a bit wary as they may not be a reliable seller. But if they have sold a huge number of items say in the thousands then they may have just had a few problems with postage and delivery.

Listings

Items listed are normally on for about 9 days but this is upto the seller. This then gives you plenty of time to bid. As a member you can also 'watch' items and keep them there so you can find them again.

I have used ebay a number of times and I have never had any serious problems with it. The small problems I have had have been rectified pretty easily with the seller responsible.

So if you are thinking of using ebay then do as it is a wonderful site.

Summary: A brilliant website