eBay - THE online marketplace (ebay.co.uk)

Member Name: danieljamesphoto

Product:	ebay.co.uk
Date:	14/01/09 (46 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: massive selection of items, easy to navigate, fast site

Disadvantages: selling fees can be a bit steep sometimes (get in when offers are available!)

General:-

eBay is a site that struck it gold when it comes to simple ideas and utilising the internet for sales. The site began as AuctionWeb and the first item sold was a broken laser pointer for $14.83 (source: Wikipedia) which sold despite the buyer knowing the pen was broken.

The general thesis was that if something like a broken laser pen could be sold then anything could be sold....and so eBay was born.

Swarming initially with scams and counterfeit items the site still has some fairly controversial items that attempt to be sold on its site, one of the most famous being someones virginity.

What is it?:-

eBay is a place for people with items, both new and second hand to buy and sell in an online marketplace/auction hall.

Sellers:-

Sellers can choose to sell as an auction whereby bids are placed against the item until it finishes with a winning bidder, or an item can be put as a fixed price and acts more like an advert in the newspaper. A new option in this style of listing is 'best offer' where people can offer less than the stated price and haggling can occur.

Buyers:-

Buyers can search the millions of items on the giant website refining their searching until they find the perfect item and then bid on it to get it at rock bottom prices.

Payment:-

Buyers and sellers are encouraged to use PayPal as a means of paying for both parties protection (and the fact that eBay owns PayPal) but also, cheque and cash-in-hand (good for local sales) options are available.

Charges:-

eBays charges require a degree to work out a lot of the time with varying factors such as, starting price, category, buy-it-now option? (option to buy the item for a set amount and stop the auction early), extra pictures and listing on the main page being just a few add-ons to the standard listing. eBay also takes a final price fee which is a percentage of the amount the item sells for in the end (this is sometimes missed and can be quite a lot!).

Feedback:-

The feedback system was revamped recently to stop people putting negative feedback about sellers....an unusual idea and basically my only problem with the site. Essentially the feedback system and stars (each star represents a different level of feedback i.e. red star = 15 pieces of feedback, blue star = 50 pieces < not accurate, just examples) is for buyers and sellers to see who is bidding or who they're buying off and how trustworthy the person is and how they have traded in the past on the site. Useful to warn of scam users.

Online Shops:-

eBay also allows, for a monthly charge, users to set up their own e-commerce shop within the site which is used by many businesses as a platform to sell to the world from.

Summary:-

eBay is a brilliant place to find bits and bobs you could end up trolling the shops for trying to find for hours. It allows you to search and see in seconds from the comfort of your own room and although the fees for selling can be a bit steep, it's still highly convenient and my first stop for unusual presents i.e (real example - a beenie baby with the same birthday as my girlfriend, googled the date then found which i needed and went to ebay it get it)

Top Tips:-

- look out for special listing days where listing fees are reduced or other promotional offers apply (usually for a day or two only)

- go via Greasypalm.co.uk to get 20% cashback on purchases

Summary: eBay is a brilliant place to find bits and bobs from in a matter of seconds