Well I am a Sick deviant slut from surrey, what else is there more to say?
Well I am a Sick deviant slut from surrey, what else is there more to say?
Member since:16.08.2000
Reviews:87
Members who trust:13
The idea of using auction services like ebay brought fear and distrust immediately to my mind. The scenario complete disembodiment of the relationship between face to face buyer and seller, unknown customers, in a cultural system split apart.
To use ebay I had to have a leap of faith, now I have used it I find the system a valuable tool to use. For example hunting down bargain goods, purchasing those items you can not get in this country or returning money on presents and goods that are valuable, unused and gathering dust or unwanted to yourself.
I find the ability to purchase goods on ebay a lot better than other auctions services like QXL. This is mainly due to the fact that ebay has a larger user base, which means a greater listing of items. For instance music on Vinyl records (my normal buying and selling item) is far superior to the ones listed on QXL. The reason for my preference is the variety and amount of choice and the fact that I got one of my favourite records years (Danny Tenaglia Elements very rare to find) that I was searching for 3 years came up on ebay. This was proof of how well the ebay site can put potential buyers in contact will sellers.
BUYING
Searching for particular items can be laborious for example searching for a record remixed by Lange by just searching for Lange brings backs hundreds of results from skates to jessica lange boxed sets. When searching make sure you know where your item domain is i..e. Category it should be in. This allows a refined search to produce a smaller more accurate result set.
Are you buying from a Del boy?
Before bidding for an item it is very wise to check user comments against the seller for any negative feedback as this should serve as a warning for potential problems in the transaction.
Oh no I have to do some mathematics how harsh!
Work out total cost before committing yourself to a purchase. You do not want to purchase a good before considering the item cost from a local reseller or maybe from an
online store. Use online shops as a quick price comparison for example I bought a new Rockford Fosgate Punch 600.4-car audio amp from a seller in California, the lowest UK price from http://www.caraudiodiscount.com was for £449.00 including delivery. I purchased the goods for $275 plus $60 shipping to the UK. As I could not use Paypal (onlinepayments service see later) I had to pay £16 for a foreign draft, plus 65p for posting and 10 pence for an envelope. Once the amp is imported I have to pay the VAT element bringing the total cost to around £290 still £160 cheaper but the costs soon add up. For the unwary buyer this little trap can make a bargain a dud. It would be useful if ebay had a calculation function to allow a buyer to work out potential costs of an item.
Go on make a bid you know you want to
Get an idea on how much is your bid ceiling and do not go over it, do not get drawn in to the thrill of the chase otherwise you will get a big hangover of a headache tomorrow. When bidding try to bid at the last minute this will reduce the amount of other users that can outbid you and give you the sneaky chance pay less for the item.
Still not sure about the item, ebay has a nice link to put it on your watch list. This allows you to monitor the popularity of the item and decide is it really worth it.
SELLING
To register as a seller you have to create an account with ebay using your credit card details. This allows them to bill you or credit your account with fees or refunds. I find the selling process very simple on ebay, once you have set up your selling preferences it will remember them over and over so you do not have select the same payment details over and over. Ebay allows you to list in many different categories so make sure the category is right for the item. If it is wrong after you have listed it, a good function of ebay is to allow the item description to be changed before a bid has occurred.
Listing Fees- I am in debt and still have not sold anything yet I feel like a student
There are initial fixed fees for listing an item and for extras such as pictures of the item or listing in different categories. For a complete list check the ebay information.
To manipulate the selling fee system it is important to know whom you are selling to for example.
If you use ebay.co.uk to list an item for £6 in pounds sterling you will be charged 30p. However if you list the same item but in dollars by using ebay.com the fee is normally around 21p this is because the rate is converted back to pound sterling as the U.S seem sto get a better listing fee deal.
Final Evaluation Fee- how much are they going to suck out of my profit
On completion of the auction depending on the final price of the item you will be charged a % as sales commission to ebay, the rates depend on the final price again see the ebay selling fees help page for those fees.
Friday Morning blues
Every Friday before 12 noon ebay is out of action for computer systems maintenance, at this point you can not see if you have any auctions bids or been outbid so do not even bother looking at the ebay URL.
Who’s your Daddy?
When you listing you should consider who is your target customer. Many of my older trance records would not get much of a sniff from a UK consumer but listing in dollars and using American terminology like “MINT”, you can catch the bigger fish from the opposite side of the Atlantic pond.
This person looks a bit of a criminal
It is useful to check the buyer’s feedback, this allows you to disallow their bid if you feel the person will be a non-payer and restrict them from further auctions.
PAYMENT
Online Third party services For purchasing and receiving payment it is advisable to use online third party escrow service the advantage are low transaction cost, immediate payment through credit or debit card and complete security of your credit card data.
Ebay has it own secure third party service called billpoint however this is completely a waste of space as it is for U.S only auctioneers at the moment. Once it has been extended internationally you will be able to pay using a one-click from within ebay but when that time comes I will worry about it then. This logical line extends to bidpay as they provide money orders in U.S $ only which as you will find out later are shockingly expensive way to do business.
Paypal is a very good third party service that allows complete online payment, all you need is your email address of the seller or buyer. For a seller payment through this method allows verification of the users delivery address, and complete confidence that a payment is real. For information on their service go to http://www.paypal.com.
Another alternative service based in the UK which allows total digital payment is Frugal pay located at https://www.frugalescrow.com.
International Money Orders and Bankers Drafts
If you can not use an online third party escrow service then you have the option of standard banking services such as account transfers, bankers’ drafts, foreign drafts, cheques and hard cash.
Cost of depositing International money orders, is £5 fee minimum transaction of £15 for up to £100 or a 2% fee for transactions over £100 with Natwest. Cahoot charges a £10 flat rate charge so no point going there. When paying for an international item you will be ripped off for the privilege of £16 for a foreign draft with Natwest so make sure it is worth it
Simple advice for buyers never gives any seller your credit card number. Try to use online payments system as it far superior and cost effective. If you do not have this option for low cost items i.e. international transactions below £100 I would use foreign currency as it is cheaper than having to get a draft as this can swing the balance between a bargain and a rip off.
At last the auction is finished now where has that pimp gone
I find ebays’ program of trust between the seller and buyer to be very faithful in human nature. The fact is ebay has a complaints process but it does not have a transaction process that logs basic milestones such as buyer made contact, payment made by, payment received, good delivered. This leaves tracking the individual auctions a process left to pure luck. If ebay became more organised it would make the after auction process more simple to the buyer and seller as they could refer to a page with ebay complaints personnel to see what stage they are at. For sellers with thousands of items for sale, it must be a pure nightmare at the moment with the 1000’s of emails etc about payment and delivery of goods.
Every time I complete a transaction I have to supply the delivery address or find it out, why? I should supply it once then when transaction is completed details such as the payment options should be processed like a online company system rather than by individuals having to contact each other every time. If this process were more automated ebay users would have a greater peace of mind and more confidence in the ebay system. This also prevents fraud by other users, as the details are held with the account and not from a user pretending to be the account user then shipping to a different address.
I hate paying by money order, cheque or cash A) I have to travel to the bank which costs money and B) it is not instant and straight into my account. All users should supply a credit card or debit card for an automatic payments system to make the process simple and time effective. I have waited for 2 months for 1 kid to send payment to me, this is not good enough, and the complaint procedure is time consuming and relies on the seller and buyer knowing the ebay rules of engagement.
ACCOUNT MAINTAINENCE
I find when going to my ebay account that sometimes it can very restrictive when only being able to search for items up to the last 30 days that you have sold or purchased. For the longer time frame go to your account services to search all of your account for item fees as this allows a link to the item description page and gives a digest of all the money they have charged to your account.
HELP
Still here and still lost??? Ebay provide a very good self-help service and feedback forum. This allows a chat style program to other ebay users for community advice. The community can give you advise about scams, bad users, how to sell your item, or how much is it worth
Most of all just enjoy yourself when using ebay as it is a good place for auctions so Good hunting!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: Good categories, large and courteous user base. Disadvantages: Charges rather high and unexplained, forms take while to fill in and get used to, many features not available to first time users.
Briz_Hatchings 25.11.2001 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of ebay.co.uk
Jun 7th, 2001
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