The bidding war! (ebay.co.uk)

Member Name: Nicola_04

Product:	ebay.co.uk
Date:	21/04/09 (129 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Can get some great things for much cheaper prices, plus its fun!

Disadvantages: As a seller you may not get as much as you wanted for your item but thats the price you at auction

What is it?
EBay is a an auction website. This website is huge, and known and visited by people worldwide. The idea is that people sell items on there and people bid for them and obviously with like all auctions, highest bidder before the time is up gets the item. You can near enough find anything and everything on there. You can search without having an account however if you want to do anymore than that then you need to sign up and get an account.

My buying experience
I do buy more on eBay than I sell. I have bought things such as phone accessories, Ricky Gervais tickets, fancy dress costumes etc. I haven't had a bad experience yet and I have been a bidder on the website since 2002. If I am after something in particular I will always head to eBay first, however if your just browsing the net for something for yourself or for someone else it's a great place to look also.
Tips for buying: Try and be as specific as you can in the search field as your likely to have more results come back you can view that way, or something just putting the main word in the search field will then eventually lead you to where you want to be, such as, if you are after a eeyore mug for instance, you may get different results if you just pop eeyore into the search field and then it will come up with other searches such as soft toys, collectables, pictures etc. Once you have your results on the left hand side of the page you will have boxes you can check to narrow down your search, so if it was a handbag you were after, there would be a main colour option, material option, size option and on every search there is always a new or used option. Now it goes without saying, some things you want new others it wouldn't mind if they were used, sometimes you have to put they are used because they don't have the original tags they came with but they are in excellent condition so bare that in mind and have an open mind depending on what you are after.
Although it is an auction site, you can do what they call, Buy Now, where there is a start auction price say at 99p but the seller is also offering the item for £30.00 straight away, so if you are really desperate for something and the buy it now price is what you would be happy to pay and is cheaper than elsewhere you may aswell do that rather than risking not wining the auction.
Also bare in mind the postage and packing, this is normally cheaper than other websites and it depends on the type of postal service such as first class and the weight of the item.
It's a very simple procedure after you have won something and EBay takes you step by step on how to carry on with the payment. Most ebayers now request you pay them via Paypal, which is a secure on banking system if you like so it protects both the sellers and buyers.

Selling experience
I have only sold 2 things on eBay, however I currently have 3 items up for auction as we speak and they are due to end this Sunday, they were items that didn't sell at my boot fair but I knew a lot more people would see and be interested in them on eBay so what did I have to loose? Its very exciting when you see a few people are bidding on your item and they are all at war to get it and the price increases and increases! Anyway the first thing I sold was an old mobile phone of my, I found it really easy to, again eBay takes you step by step. You first enter into a search field what you are selling so they can place it in the correct search category for people to find and then you name your item, put a picture of it on and then describe it and why you are selling it and you can make this as interesting or as short and sweet as you like in different colours and fonts etc. You then state how much you want people to start bidding at, (at the moment if you start things at 99p then it is free for you to list the item) and the price if you want someone to buy now at. You also have the option for a reserve price but you have to be careful the more restrictions you put on an item the less people there will be that are interested. Make sure you weigh your item ad then there is a postage estimator on there that is really handy which tells you how much royal mail will charge you to send it, but remember to add a bit on top of this because you will need to buy something to put the item in also, make sure your not doing yourself out of money but give a price that seems reasonable and that you would be happy to pay for also. Once your item is on eBay and being viewed b people you are emailed if someone has selected to watch your item, or if something has started bidding or if someone has emailed you asking a question about your item.
At the end of the auction and If someone has bought your item then you need to leave feedback for the buyer and they need to leave feedback for you as a seller so make sure things are clear and that you have good communication, especially if someone has emailed asking a question about it because your % rate as a seller and a buyer reflects on the type of customer you are and so if it is low then people will tend to not want to sell to you or buy from you.

Now I could go on for ages about the ins and outs of eBay and other things to do however I have included the main things in this review and hopefully you will find it useful, but if you are a new ebayer or if you are considering joining eBay and have an queries message me and I will help anyway I can!

Happy bidding!

Summary: Go have some fun finding some bargains!