Waiting for the Hammer to Fall (ebay.co.uk)

Member Name: wyrdsister

Product:	ebay.co.uk
Date:	24/01/02 (50 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun, some great bargains, variety

Disadvantages: addictive, could be costly

About a year ago, I was introduced to the world of buying and selling at auctions on the Internet. In just a few weeks, I was hooked on eBay. EBay is the main auction site in the UK, US and generally across Europe. You can browse thousands of items put up for sale and look for the little things missing in your collection or your life. From cars to mobile phone or medieval archaeology and fossils, there’s a good chance you’ll find it on this site.

There are two ways you can find that elusive item you’ve been after for years. First you can look under the categories listed on the home page. It is a simple and well laid out plan of the main catalogue with comprehensive sub sections. Just follow the route to get to your chosen area of interest. Alternatively, if you already know what you’re after, use the key word search to look for a specific item. This second alternative, although quicker, will only search for the exact key word or words you input and will not take into account any spelling mistakes in the listings, so you may still miss out on a bargain.

Now you’ve had a look, you need to register in order to interact with the service, e.g. Buy or Sell on eBay. Registering is free and it only takes a day for you to be the latest member of the eBay Community: An eBayer. You can now watch items you have an interest on and keep tracks of the items you are bidding on, on your personal page called My eBay.

Once I have an item in mind, I put it on watch and keep a mental note of the last day of the auction. When buying on eBay, I always set myself a limit of what I am prepared to pay for an item and I stick to it. The way I see it, if someone else wants to bid higher than you, then you won’t win anyway. And if you don’t get it this time, the chance is it’ll turn up again. I never bid on the first day of the auction, I usually wait for the last couple of days, this allows me to gage the competition
and see if my price range will allow me to stay in the running.

Before you bid on anything, there are a few things you should look out for. Always check the methods of payments on the item you want to bid on. It’s better to find out if you can pay for it before you commit to buying it. In the same line, always look for the P&P charges and enquire about them if not stated. You could end up paying a lot more than you expected if you’re not careful. Most importantly check the integrity of the seller, to do that just click on the number next to his username. After a transaction, the parties involved have the opportunity to give their impression in the form of feedbacks. These help buyers and sellers gage if the person they are dealing with is trustworthy. This is not an infallible guide, but it’s usually pretty accurate.

When you are ready to bid, place your maximum amount on, this does not necessarily mean that you have to pay this amount. It just tells eBay what amount of money you are prepared to pay and in return, eBay automatically increases your bid to the next increment(usually £1)up to your maximum if someone is bidding against you.

If you are successful, you then need to get in touch with the seller as soon as possible. I find that a lot of sellers are pretty weary on non-payers and that a fast and friendly contact can make the transaction smoother. Once the transaction is completed, leave your honest impressions on how you feel it went. It’s as easy as that.

If the ability to bid on eBay is free, there is a small fee for selling stuff, an initial listing fee and a commission on the final price. These are listed under the selling guidelines. If you want to sell things on eBay, you’ll need to read up on those, as some items are deemed unacceptable, and there are some useful tips on getting your items maximum exposure. This is how eBay makes its money so most of the optional features have a pr
ice tag. Anyway, here are my personal recommendations on selling.
Make your title as comprehensive as possible, e.g. if selling a book, include author, title, if it’s signed or first edition, its condition etc… This will optimise the chance of being picked up in a key word search by your potential buyer, as well as making it more attractive.
Give a complete and honest description of the item: this is your sale’s pitch. I find that to the point is as good a method as any. Always list the manners of payment you will accept and the postage fees as some people don’t have the patience to wait for additional details to come through and will move on.
Always, always include a picture of the item you are selling. I very, very rarely buy anything I can’t see. Observation has taught me that an item with a picture will often get more bids than the same item without a picture.

The initial bid is the minimum amount you would be prepared to let your item go for. You have two choices: first, you can start your auction at the price you want to sell for, however, if the starting price is too high comparatively, you may find it hard to find a buyer. The second option is to start lower but putting up a reserve price on the item (minimum you are willing to sell for). This assures that if the reserve is not met, you are under no obligation to conclude the sale. The down side of having a reserve is that it can put people off. But if you find the right buyer, it won’t be a problem either way.
When your auction is finished, get in touch with your highest bidder and conclude the sale. It’s as easy as that. A word of warning though: it is a fact that some buyers have cold feet and refuse to honour their agreement; you should be prepared for that eventuality. EBay has an established program to deal with this. You will find it in the selling guide.

So there we are: my guide to eBay. It’s fun, friendly and an i
nteresting hobby .I’m sure once you’ve had a look at it you’ll have your own way of doing things. So I’ll leave you with one last bit of advice: eBay can be very addictive, it’s temptation on a stick. So try to remain cool headed: it is so easy to get carried away. At the end of the day something is only worth what you are prepared to pay for it.

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