Ebay gum, it's still a good site (ebay.co.uk)

Member Name: englishrose

Product:	ebay.co.uk
Date:	10/02/09 (49 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Bargains. Convenience. Entertainment.

Disadvantages: That sellers now have no comeback against bad buyers in the new feedback system

Ebay: It's got many names: Ebay, fleabay, scambay, scumbay....

But don't let that put you off!! It's got a bit of a reputation as being a thieves paradise, and that's not entirely undeserved either, but for the most part, it's a fantastic cyber-shop for the buyer and seller alike.

I have been using Ebay for only the last four years, and I can't believe that I didn't use it earlier. It is so beneficial to everyone, and your product is on sale while you go and do something else: you don't have to get up at stupid o'clock to go and *stand in a wet and windy field while people swarm around your car to rob you blind.

(*Also known as 'car boot sale')

Ebay is a worldwide phenomenom, with sites in the United Kingdom , the United States, Australia, and many many others. The concept, for those who have never seen it, is simple: The seller writes a description of the item they wish to sell, adds an (optional) photo, and wait for the potential buyers to place a virtual bid. The highest bidder when the auction ends is the winner, they make payment in one of the various ways and the seller posts the item to them, Bob's your uncle.

Sellers can be professional vendors, maybe having their own virtual shop selling new goods. Or simply casual users, passing on the children's outgrown clothes and toys, or broken electrical equipment for parts, for example. The variety is endless, and even if you don't want to buy anything, a quick browse through Ebay can be very entertaining, particularly the 'everything else' type of categories.

The problems arise when human nature intervenes, as usual: If the seller has not described the item honestly, or the item is stolen. Or if the buyer doesn't pay for the item, or claims they never received it when they actually did. As well as these niggles, there are the professional scammers, whose activities are well known on the internet, without me helping them by repeating a how-to guide here!

The powers that be at Ebay do have their little idiosyncracies though, most recently the changes Ebay have made have made them very unpopular: the new rules mean that, while the buyer can leave 'negative feedback' for the seller, the seller cannot leave it in return. Trade did drop off for a while, combined with the credit crunch too, and there was much talk about people abandoning Ebay: but they remain the most powerful site of their type, so people will come back.

There are also many complaints about the charges, and also about Paypal, Ebay's payment system, however they are running a business, not a charity in my opinion. And how much would it cost you to have a real-life shop or market stall? I think Ebay would still look favourable when you compare prices.

One of my favourite things about Ebay is not so much the ordinary, useful listings, although these are great. But mostly I absolutely love the really weird, out-there listings that occasionally come along: the charity auctions, the man who auctioned his 'entire life', the exhibitionists who 'accidentally' catch their own naked reflection when taking a picture of their chrome kettle for sale, the 'unused wedding dress' that comes complete with a bitter and angry rant from the jilted fiancee.....the list goes on. I once saw a listing for a 'haunted picture (framed)' This made me laugh, where else could I buy one of those? :)

Ebay isn't perfect, but it's still great for bargains and convenience. And where else can you buy human toenail clippings alongside a Ford Fiesta?

Summary: Where else can you buy used chewing gum AND the kitchen sink, all in one place?