GREEDY E-BAY - REVIEW EDITED. Great marketplace but not always the bargain it seems (ebay.co.uk)

Member Name: MissTierney

Product:	ebay.co.uk
Date:	31/01/09 (31 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: access to everything. Better if you are a buyer

Disadvantages: Extortionate fees. bid addiction. Not great if you are a seller

*EDITED SINCE NEW FEES INTRODUCED!*
E-bay now take 10% of the final selling price of your item.
They have in my opinion, become greedy, and are taking advantage of their brand & status.
I suppose it's business, but they would have been far from struggling beforehand with all of the e-bay AND paypal fees.
I will knock them down two stars from the original 5 i awarded them. I still believe they are a useful website, but most things won't be worth putting up for auction anymore as e-bay will be taking 10% of the selling price plus the paypal fees if you use this service too (which i do)

E-bay is basically an online market. You sign up, sell your things, or buy other peoples things.
You can use a variety of methods of payment - bankers draft, cheque, paypal, cash (pick up in person) etc.

My earliest memory of e-bay was probably when they had just started to become quite popular. I was 17 years old working in an office and other girls working there were buying things on e-bay. I was so jealous because i couldn't sign up as you had to be 18 to join (I'm not sure if this is still the case) so on my 18th birthday i celebrated by becoming a fully fledged e-bay member! (I like to live on the wild side!)

It used to be a great place to get a bargain, maybe because it wasn't so huge at the time. Nowadays its much harder to pick up a real bargain as it is such a household name now.
In turn, this is a positive thing for sellers, if you are selling something which is in demand. For rarer or less obvious/popular items which are less in demand, buyers will get the better deal.

It is all to easy to think you are bound to be saving your money buying on e-bay, but do be careful it is easy to get carried away with the bidding.
I have sold a few DVD's which i bought, watched then sold, at a higher price than i paid for them in the shops.
Which is great for me because i got to watch the DVD and make a profit! And i suppose the buyer got the DVD without having to go through the hassle, time and effort of having to go to the shops.

I also sold two pairs of USED boots, of which i had owned for two years, for more money than they were in the shops NEW! To be fair they were Nu Rox and Cowgirl boots so were aimed at a specific market. Still seems a bit crazy though.

Overall, e-bay is great, but shop around - you might not be getting the bargain you think you are getting.
:)

Summary: I wish i was the creator of e-bay