Get rid of that junk! (And buy a load more!) (ebay.com)

Member Name: Biffa

Product:	ebay.com
Date:	13/07/01 (104 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to use, Bargains to be had, junk to be rid of

Disadvantages: Addictive

Thanks to ebay, I am now the proud owner of a Book of Shadows ( a spellbook), a Ouija board, toys for the kids, a Winnie the Pooh hunny pot and books to start my OU course next February.

Also thanks to ebay, I have riased some much needed cash by flogging some of my unwanted items. My best yet is selling the Madonna Sex Book for over £100!

So what is ebay? It's basically one of, if not THE, best auction site on the net. It's easy to use, fun and addictive.

First off, you need to register as a member. Once you've registered, and chosen a password, you're free to bid and sell to your heart's content.

Bidding is the easy part. You simply browse through the endless categories, find an item you're interested in and place a bid. If you successfully become the highest bidder, you get an email to tell you so. If you then get outbid, you get an email to let you know so you can go back and revise your bid.

You can choose to 'watch' items without bidding on them, so you can wait until the end of the auction before placing your bid, or just let your curiosity get the better of you.

When it comes to selling, it's just as easy. You complete the selling form, choosing a category, giving the item description and the methods of payment you accept amongst other things, and then watch the bids come rolling in. You can download pictures of your item which will help sell the item quicker.

It's free to bid and buy as much as you want, but fees apply if you want to sell items. The fees vary depending on how many pictures you download, how many categories you list your item in and whether or not you put a reserve price on the item. To give you an idea on this, seliing my Madonna Book with 5 pictures cost me £1.80, with a Final Value fee of £2.90. You pay commission on the winning bid for each item which is usually around 5% unless you go over a certain price barrier.

>You then receive an invoice from ebay when it's time to pay your account.

Another good point about ebay is the function to leave feedback about other members. If you received prompt payment or the items were delivered quickly and safely, you need to leave positive feedback. If on the other hand payment was late, the goods were nothing like the description or arrived badly packaged and damaged, you need to leave negative feedback about the particular member involved. This way other members can see who is reliable when it comes to payment etc and who isn't.

You can also set up a PayPal account for transferring funds to international sellers/bidders. It's also handy if you win a UK auction and want to pay the seller quicker to safe waiting for snail mail to deliver your cheque.

The downside however is that every time you want to place a bid; sell something; view your profile page etc etc you have to keep entering your user name and password. I know it's all in the name of security but it gets a bit annoying after a while.

All in all, ebay is without a doubt one of the best auction sites I've come across. Beware though, finding bargains can be addictive!

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