every day is an e-bay day in a way (ebay.co.uk)

Member Name:

Product:	ebay.co.uk
Date:	06/08/01 (29 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: everything

Disadvantages: charges

Apart from dooyoo, there is probably only one other website that I visit nearly every day. eBay is by far and away the most sophisticated of the online auction sites currently out there, boasting a wealth of features that make buying and selling easy, fun and safe. I suspect that this opinion may end up being rather lengthy, so apologies to those of you who are allergic to long ones…

I imagine that most readers are familiar with the basic principles of the online auction - once you are set up as a registered user you submit bids for an item, and the highest bidder within the seller's time frame (normally seven days) wins the item. There is a bit more to it than that, but I'll try and offer some advice and a few tips.

1. What does it cost?

Unlike some auction sites, selling an item on eBay is not free. There are two fees normally paid - the first fee is for listing the item, and you will pay this regardless of whether the item sells or not. The Listing Fee varies according to the minimum bid that you set - if you set the minimum bid up to £4.99 the fee is 15p, £5 - £14.99 is 30p, £15.00 - £29.99 is 60p and £30 or more the fee is £1.25. If your item does not sell the first time, if you relist the item, and then it subsequently sells, eBay will not charge you a second listing fee. Personally, I'm not sure that any listing fee is justified, and wouldn't be too surprised if eBay don't remove this altogether - most auction sites now offer free listings.

Tip: Every month or so eBay has a free listing day - if you are auctioning a large quantity of items this can be an excellent way of reducing costs.

The second fee that you may pay is the Final Value Fee - this is calculated as a percentage of the highest bid that you receive. The values are calculated in steps - so you pay 5% on the first £15, then 2.5% on the next £600 and then 1.25% of anything greater than £600.

You have the facility
to set a reserve price, so that people can start bidding low, but you are not obliged to sell the item until the reserve price has been met. My advice would be to avoid these reserve price auctions. If your bids do not reach the reserve price, you will automatically incur another fee, and many bidders refuse to bid on reserve price auctions because they don't know how high they will have to bid
before they can win the item.

Payment is normally fulfilled via a credit card, which eBay will hold on file and credit their fees monthly. The date that payment is taken seems to vary wildly. You can pay postally via cheque or postal order, but eBay will still want a credit card on file in case you forget to send payment.

2. How can I find an item that interests me?

There are several ways of doing this. From the home page you can search against specific keywords (e.g. Beanie Babies, Madonna). One of the more useful features of eBay is the "My Ebay" function. This is a personal page, customised by you and from here you can bookmark certain categories. This is by far and away the best means of locating items, because you can browse items that are New Today, Ending Today or Ending within the next four hours. This will greatly reduce the number of items that are returned by a search.

Tip: If you are interested in certain items, and visit the site most days, then you only need to browse items Ending Today. This means that you will have a much better idea of how high the bids are going to get and means you may be lucky enough to gazump a bidder at the last minute.

Another useful feature on eBay is Watching. If you see an item that you like but you're not sure whether you would want to bid or not then you can set the item to be Watched. It will appear on your personal eBay page, and you can then find it much more easily later on.

3. How do I bid for an item?

Bidding is very simple - once yo
u have found an item that you like the look of, there is a bid box at the bottom where you simply enter your bid value. You will then be prompted for your Username and a password to confirm the bid. You will then get a message that tells you whether you are the highest bidder or not. You may often find that another user automatically outbids your bid, because they have set a higher maximum bid than you have.

Tip: Always make sure you check the item description thoroughly. If you are browsing items on eBay.com rather then eBay.co.uk make sure that the seller is prepared to ship to the UK - many will not. Make sure you also understand what the postage charges will be. A bargain will lose its appeal if the actual cost doubles once you have added on the postage.

There are other types of bid available. The newly introduced Buy Me Now service offers you the chance to put in a higher bid that is set by the seller, which will enable you to buy the item straight away - a good way of ensuring you win the auction. Dutch auctions are those where the seller has several of the same item, and you have to bid on a quantity as well as a price.

4. How do I know if I can trust the seller?

eBay has a simple system of feedback whereby you can leave comments for other users who have bought from you or have sold to you. Each feedback will have either a positive, negative or neutral rating, which gives the user an overall score. You can clearly see this score next to the user's name, and by clicking the score, you can read all the feedback left for the user. As users accumulate positive feedback they will receive different coloured stars - there is a comprehensive guide to what all the symbols mean within the eBay Help Guide.

Tip: Always check a seller's feedback before you place a bid on their auction. The feedback system can only act as a guide though - eBay will take no responsibility for comments left by users, so use your discr
etion. Try to give people the benefit of the doubt - 99.9% of eBay users are honest and trustworthy. Always leave other users feedback - you would expect them to do so for you.

5. What happens if I win the auction?

It is normal to wait for the seller to contact you via email to let you know what the total cost is including postage. When you bid on items in the USA you may need to send payment in dollars, so make sure you clarify these details with the seller. There are lots of different payment options offered by different sellers, but always confirm the details in writing. Remember - placing a bid is a contractual obligation, so you cannot back out if you change your mind.

Tip: When you send your payment, remember that recorded postage offers no insurance for payments sent in cash. If the payment gets lost, you still won't be able to claim - you might just as well save the 63p and send the letter via normal first class post.

If you make payment by cheque, the seller may wait until the cheque has cleared before they send the item. The best way to pay, if available, is by credit card - you are then protected by the insurance offered by your credit card company.

6. How do I sell an item on eBay?

This is just as easy as bidding, but you obviously need to supply more details when you list the item. Make sure that you elect an appropriate category - eBay have recently introduced the facility to list items in more than one category, which can increase the chances of getting your item noticed. Make sure that you enter the details carefully - but if you do make a mistake, follow the link at the bottom of the item description that enables you to amend the details.

Tip: When choosing your minimum bid, go as low as you possibly can. If you set the minimum bid too high then you may put off potential bidders. Just because you set your minimum bid at £1.00, there is nothing to say that other bidders won'
;t bid higher - this very often happens.

You can easily track your items using the Items I am Selling link from your "My Ebay" page. Items listed in bright green have attracted bids, and/or reached the reserve price, and there is a total at the bottom of all the bids received on all items. This page only shows auctions over the last 30 days - so it's a good idea to keep an offline record of auction numbers, winning bidder's email addresses and the winning bids, in case you need to chase people up.

7. How do I contact other users?

Email addresses can be sourced for all members and this is the usual way to make contact. If you email eBay directly they will also supply a telephone number. There is also a new service where you can submit a query for a seller directly through eBay, rather than emailing them separately. You can also leave messages on the message boards, or post feedback on their profile.

8. What other things are offered on eBay?

The website has a wealth of FAQs and Help Guides to sort out any questions you may have. In all instances where you need to request a credit, change your details or submit feedback you are always prompted for your eBay username and password.

Tip: If you sign-in when you first enter the site, you won't need to keep entering you username on the secure pages - saves lots of time.

eBay are keen to promote a community spirit, and encourage bidders and sellers to communicate with each other. There are several message boards, a chat room and even a Library Guide to each category. All these tools, when exploited, prevent fraudsters getting away with it and improve the relationship between members. The feedback forum is a list of all your auctions (as a bidder or seller) where you can leave feedback. This is a useful tool, in that you can leave feedback for up to 20 auctions at once - very time saving. It's also an excellent way to keep track of
auctions that you have yet to receive payment or goods for.

Tip: Feedback on eBay is a bit like ratings and comments on Ciao. People can get a bit heated, and if you leave a Negative comment on eBay you may get one in return. eBay treat unjustified feedback much more seriously, and will instigate criminal proceedings for libel.

One of the best things about eBay is that your items can be sold to a global community. This increases your potential earnings - the latest Spice Girls single may get £1.00 from a UK bidder, but in the USA that could go up to £8. It's great fun interacting with people from around the world and you can build some strong (albeit long distance!) relationships.

8. What is the customer service like?

The scale of the eBay operation means that they are pretty slick. You will get a response to emails quite quickly, and the staff try to be as helpful as possible. The website provides support for victims of fraud, as well as offering insurance services and help with finding suitable postal services. My only criticism of the site is the scheduled downtime - you are unable to access the site between 09:00 and 11:00 every Friday.

eBay will suspend members' accounts if they get excessive negative feedback, or there are complaints of fraud. There are also rules for what can/cannot be sold.

My experiences of using eBay have been almost entirely positive. I have found that it is very important to be well-organised - if you are listing lots of items then you just keep a record of all the details of each so that you can keep in touch with bidders and let them know when payments have been received or goods sent. Members appreciate clear communication, and courteous emails always attract good feedback. Robust packaging is also essential - people want to receive their goods in excellent condition.

Patience is also important - some bidders do take a long time to send payment, but rather
than jumping up and down, it's better just to be patient - I have only had three bidders who failed to pay and I was able to claim a credit from eBay for the valuation fee charged, as I didn't receive payment.

Through eBay I have been able to clear out about 200 cd singles, making a good sum of money (especially compared to the prices offered by a dealer), and I have also picked up some great bargains myself. Be warned - like writing on Ciao, using eBay is addictive!!

Happy Bidding!!

Summary: