Ebay forever!! (ebay.co.uk)

Member Name: orkney*girl

Product:	ebay.co.uk
Date:	15/11/01 (50 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: ease of use, bargains galore, wide range of products, access to worldwide products, very friendly crowd of users

Disadvantages: being beaten at the last minute, highly addictive

My first encounter with ebay was when the urge overcame me to play a childhood game 'Dark Tower'. Wonderful game, if you've never heard of it. A board game with an electronic tower in the middle of it. I phoned my mum, as always, the keeper of my life, to discover that although we had TWO, she'd thrown them out years ago.

Ebay UK! I thought I'd pick one up for a few pounds, but to my horror they now sell for hundreds!!! I bought one, anticipating the market in the future.

Ebay UK is exceptionally simple to register with, and once this is done you have free reign over Ebay UK and Ebay worldwide products, auctions and chatrooms. The search facility displays items clearly and simplistically, and even a non-computer friek like me can use it! The individual item pages are well laid out, easily read and have all the details to hand. There are also handy pages available for 'watching' items, whether just out of interest or future purchases. Items you bid on are shown on the same page, with useful colour coding to quickly show if you are currently winning r not.

Whether selling or buying (I have done both), the process is tremendously simple overall. There are options to e-mail the seller with questions not covered in the page, and postage/shipping details are always included, so you don't have any unexpected costs. When buying, Ebay covers the item with free insurance, and for ease of dealing with international transactions there are web links to Paypal and Bidpay, who can also provide an escrow service.

Ebay also provide a currency converter, so you don't get out of your depth.

The Ebayers are somewhat like Dooyooers, very friendly and always in the mood for a chat in the chatrooms. Occassionally, worldwide users pop in here too, so you can chat to America in the middle of the night when you can't sleep!!

The only negative point to Ebay is the same as any auction room
- BE PREPARED TO LOSE AT THE VERY LAST MINUTE!! One way to get around this if you're buying is to be on the bidding page and have it ready (without submitting it) until the very last minute. Can be enfuriating staying up until 2am to win an auction, and watch as you lose! Compared with other auction sites I have visited (Amazon, Ebid, to name but a miliion)Ebay wins hands down.

SEE ALSO EBAY ADDICTION, VERY EASILY TRANSMITTED!!

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