eBay
Created | Updated Feb 25, 2004
eBay is a wonderful sight on the internet for buying and selling just about anything. About 750,000 new items are put up for bid daily. Buyers can find both new and used items for sale in just about any category.
The wonderful thing about eBay is that it's not hard to find out of print items or items that are no longer in production. New items are usually available at a lower price than retail. Buyers can be as specific or particular as they choose to be when browsing.
But how can a person protect him/herself from getting ripped off? While the system is not infallable, a helpful feature of eBay is the "Feedback Forum". The Feedback Forum is a system for buyers and sellers to report to others the results of their transactions with any particular eBayer. Some questions often answered on the Feedback Forum are: Was the item delivered quickly? Was the item delivered as described in the ad? Was it packaged well? Was the buyer/seller a good communicator? Did the buyer pay in a timely manner? Feedback is readily available on every registered user of eBay (and, of course, it costs nothing to register).
Most eBay ads include a picture of the item being auctioned.
Another nice feature of eBay is "proxy bidding". Proxy bidding enables the potential buyer to enter the maximum amount he would be willing to bid on an item and his bid is automatically increased until it reaches this amount as others place their bids. At the same time, the amount bid never goes above the minimum amount necessary to achieve success for the bidder.
eBay is a lot of fun; but, it can be addictive! Happy Bidding!
The wonderful thing about eBay is that it's not hard to find out of print items or items that are no longer in production. New items are usually available at a lower price than retail. Buyers can be as specific or particular as they choose to be when browsing.
But how can a person protect him/herself from getting ripped off? While the system is not infallable, a helpful feature of eBay is the "Feedback Forum". The Feedback Forum is a system for buyers and sellers to report to others the results of their transactions with any particular eBayer. Some questions often answered on the Feedback Forum are: Was the item delivered quickly? Was the item delivered as described in the ad? Was it packaged well? Was the buyer/seller a good communicator? Did the buyer pay in a timely manner? Feedback is readily available on every registered user of eBay (and, of course, it costs nothing to register).
Most eBay ads include a picture of the item being auctioned.
Another nice feature of eBay is "proxy bidding". Proxy bidding enables the potential buyer to enter the maximum amount he would be willing to bid on an item and his bid is automatically increased until it reaches this amount as others place their bids. At the same time, the amount bid never goes above the minimum amount necessary to achieve success for the bidder.
eBay is a lot of fun; but, it can be addictive! Happy Bidding!
