I blame you lot – I really do! If I hadn’t read everyone’s glowing opinions of Ebay I wouldn’t have taken a look. Then I wouldn’t have been tempted to sign up and bid on some items. And then I wouldn’t have started hunting round my house for stuff to sell on there. So you see – you are all to blame!
It all started so innocently. I read some opinions saying how easy Ebay was to use and headed on over for a look. For those of you who haven’t yet discovered this addiction, Ebay is an auction site where you can buy and sell literally anything. On my first visit I had a look around and signed up. The signing up process is very straightforward – the usual things, name, address, email, username, password and so on. You can leave your bank details and credit card details for payments, but more of that later.
After signing up, I didn’t actually start to buy and sell straight away. To be honest, I was so busy I forgot about it for a while. But then I came across another opinion, and it coincided with my husband being away on business, and I was bored and…
Well, you’ve guessed, I went for another look! And I was so tempted by everything for sale that I started bidding on things. I even won some of them! So then I thought I better start to finance my bargains, so started listing some items for sale. And I couldn’t believe it when they sold! And so it has gone on from there!
BUYING
The actual buying process is easy – deciding what to bid on may be more difficult! There are 2 main ways of finding the items you may want to buy – either browsing through the categories or using the search facility to find a specific item.
On the home page is a list of all the main categories available. Some of these do have further sub categories – for example under Miscellaneous you will find Baby Items listed as a category. But once in the Baby Items section you will find further sub categories such as baby clothes, maternity clothes, pushchairs and so on. So if you can’t see what you are looking for immediately, by trying a more general category you may find it.
The other alternative is to use the search facility – say you were looking for books by Ben Elton, You would type in Ben Elton and the search facility comes up with all items that contain Ben Elton in the category listing.
So what do you do when you see something
you want? In the category listings, each item will have details of the current price, the number of bids and the time remaining until the auction finishes. By clicking on the listing, you will be taken to a page giving more information. Here you will find the username of the person selling the item, their current Ebay rating (see below for more info), postage information, item description, possibly a photograph and information on how the seller would like to be paid. Scroll down the page and you will come to the bidding box. This will display the current price and the lowest bid possible. You can only bid in certain increments depending on the current price – under £1 you can bid in 5p increments, up to £5 in 20p increments, over £5 in 50p increments and so on. This helps to prevent people from just bidding a tiny amount to try and win the bid.
At this point, you can either bid the lowest possible increment or, if you are happy to pay more, you can bid a maximum amount. Ebay will then bid on your behalf (known as proxy bidding) in increments up to your maximum. So say an item was listed as £1, you may be prepared to pay £5. Ebay would start your bid at £1.20, but if someone else then bids your proxy bid would take precedence. Once you’ve decided on a price and entered it, you then confirm your bid and Ebay will confirm if you are the current highest bidder. You will then receive an email confirming your bid.
Once the auction has ended, you need to contact the seller to arrange payment. There are no costs to the buyer, other than the final item price plus postage.
BUY IY NOW
Another feature on the site is the Buy It Now feature. Some people list items at a set price and it is a straight sale – there is no bidding involved, you just pay what is asked. Others combine the 2 types of sale, listing a starting price and a Buy It Now price. So you may see an item listed at £1, but with a Buy It Now price of £5. If you are prepared to pay that amount you can and the sale will finish straight away. Of course, the downside of this is that you may end up paying more for an item than you would have in an auction. Alternatively, it saves you from being outbid!
SELLING
Although a little bit more involved than buying, it is certainly not difficult – it can’t be if I can manage it! Before you decide to list your item for sale, it can be worth having a look through the appropriate categories to see what prices things are generally listed for. There is no point starting your item at a too high price as it will not attract the same bids as an identical lower price item.
Listing items is straightforward – click on the sell button and you will be taken to a series of screens that you fill in with the necessary details. First up is the category and subcategory – do try and make sure items are listed correctly as they are unlikely to sell if they are in the wrong category. You also have the option of using Buy It Now as detailed above – personally I haven’t used this facility but many people do.
Item listing is important – it needs to contain as much information as possible to draw people into finding out more. I tend to use capitals and include any relevant details such as NEW or UNOPENED. Also try to think what people will search under, so if it is a book include author and title so it will appear in the relevant searches.
Then onto product description – here you can explain your item in detail! If there are any minor faults, say so. I have listed books with creased covers and so on, so put this information in so that people are aware what they are bidding on. It saves people being disappointed with their purchases and leaving bad feedback.
Photographs can be added – one photograph is allowed free with each listing but you have to pay for additional photos. Not having a digital camera, this isn’t something I have used yet. There are some circumstances where photos certainly help – clothes for example – but for others I don’t think they are really necessary.
Decide how long you want to list your item for – you can choose either 1, 3, 7 or 10 days. I tend to go for 7 as it gives enough time for bidders to have a look at your item. One thing I would say is make sure you will be around fairly quickly after the auction ends – no point putting something up for sale if you will be on holiday when the sale finishes as this will only result in a frustrated buyer!
You also have to detail how you will accept payment, who will pay postage costs and where you will ship too. If possible, weigh your item (plus packaging) before listing as you can then let people know how much they will have to pay for postage in the UK. You can round up your postage costs to take account of the cost of packaging and also your selling fees if you wish – it is obviously up to the bidder to decide if they are prepared to bid and therefore pay the costs.
Once your item is listed, you will receive an email confirming the listing. Then you have to wait for the bids to roll in! I found this really nerve wracking the first few times I listed items, wondering if anybody would ever bid! Then the first bid comes in and it gets quite exciting, especially if the bids keep increasing!
After the sale has finished, you need to liase with the buyer to arrange payment and dispatch of the items. One thing I would say is make sure you wrap items well before posting – reuse jiffy bags (if you buy as well you can reuse the ones your goods get sent in!), plenty of parcel tape and clear labelling.
FEES
As a seller, you will incur fees for listing on Ebay. You have to pay a listing price when you submit an item for sale. The amount depends on the starting price of your item. An item listed at under £5 attracts a listing fee of 15p up to £1.25 for an item listed at more than £30. As already mentioned, if you want to display additional photos you will have to pay for these as well. You can pay for highlighted listings (£1.50), bold text (£1) and for display on the homepage (£19.95) as well as some other features.
NOTE – If you are listing vehicles or real estate, these have a different fee structure – full details are on the site.
Once the sale concludes, you will also have to pay a final valuation fee (providing it sells!) This is a percentage of the final price, ranging from 5.25% for lower price items, to 1.5% for higher prices. If your item doesn’t sell, you can relist it, although you will have to pay another listing fee. However the second listing fee will be refunded if the item subsequently sells. Occasionally there are free listing days when you can list items free of charge – I can’t wait for the next one!
Ebay will invoice you once a month for your fees. If you have submitted credit card details, they will debit your card direct. Otherwise you will need to make alternative arrangements for payment, such as direct debit from your bank account or by sending a cheque.
PAYMENT
There are various ways that buyers can pay sellers. Most sellers accept personal cheques, although you may have to wait for clearance before your goods are despatched. Some will accept postal orders and cash. Other methods of payment include online facilities such as Nochex and Paypal. Ebay also have their own payment system called Ebay Payments which is facilitated through Billpoint. As a seller you have to register for this facility by providing your bank details. This then enables your buyer to pay online with their credit card and the funds will be deposited directly into your bank account about a week later. The advantage of this is that you know the funds will be received and there is no waiting for cheques to be received and then clear before goods can be posted. The downside is that the seller is charged for this facility (typically 25p), although there has recently been a promotion where fees have been refunded.
FEEDBACK
Another good point of the site is that when you buy from or sell to other users, you are able to leave feedback on the transaction. This feedback can be positive, negative or neutral and you can also leave comments. Every positive piece of feedback from different users gives you a point which is displayed next to your user name – if you receive negative feedback a point is deducted. Therefore you can see at a glance whether a user is well established on the site and has a good feedback rating. I like this feature as it helps to encourage good trading, because nobody wants negative feedback! Unfortunately not everyone remembers to leave it though!
MY EXPERIENCES
I have had nothing but positive experiences on Ebay. I bid mostly on books, DVD’s and – at the moment – maternity clothes (!), and I have been very pleased with the items I have received. Most people are very quick to make contact after a sale has ended. I now have a great stash of trashy novels ready for my holiday that have cost me next to nothing!
I have listed about 20 items for sale so far and get very excited when they sell! I have had no major problems with receiving payments, only one where the bidders computer crashed so she was unable to get in contact with me for 2 weeks! If you do have problems with people not paying, there is a protocol on the site to go through and if ultimately you do not receive the funds, your fees will be refunded. I have been able to sell unwanted presents that have been sitting in the bottom of a cupboard for months, if not years! There are many more things that I could sell if I could take a photograph of them – maybe I should be looking at bidding on a digital camera next!
OVERALL
I highly recommended site – I love it! It is easy to get carried away and start bidding on loads of things, so I do have to be careful! But at the minute I have sold more than I’ve bought so I’m doing ok!
Great if you want to have a clear out of good quality second hand stuff, or if you are looking for some bargains.
But don’t say I didn’t warn you about the addiction!!
MOST BIZARRE ITEM I HAVE SEEN LISTED – just to prove that people will sell – and buy – anything, I saw listed in the Food and Drink section the following item:
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Comments about this review »
SusanLesley 12.02.2003 08:09
I started as Auburnsue selling stuff before we moved house and I still use this name for bits and pieces, but I ahve now opened a shop called Braemargifts and it's doing quite well! So I guess I'm addicted too! Susan
Calypte 23.07.2002 22:47
Keep meaning to brave the selling part - well, better making money than spending it all! :)
COOOEEE 19.07.2002 11:00
I have bought some crap on ebay when I first visited the site. Too embarrassed to say what itims LOl. My fault as I didn't read the descriptions carefully. I saw a wife for sale once and laughed at all the bids she received. Fionaxx
Jul 16th, 2002
very helpful by (98%):
helpful by (2%):
