Damn Web Forms...

I have been an avid eBayer now for a few months and completely love it. Being one of the most expensive auction sites as where fees are concerned it may not be such a popular choice for newbies because there are cheaper sites such as QXL and Yeeha Auctions.

This opinion is hopefully going to include almost every aspect of eBay and how I believe it is the best auction site on the Internet.

In order to Buy or Sell on eBay you must register, but you don’t need to in order to browse the site. The site has many different shopping categories selling everything you could possibly think of, I mean who has ever heard of telephone condoms? You can look through the many categories such as Books, Music, Films, Clothing and even the new eBay shops to find whatever you are looking for. Once you have found what you are looking for, or you have found the category you want to sell in, you must register…

***Registering***
Registering is simple. There are links all over the site asking you to register and when you click on it, you are led through a process of form filling, which takes about 5 minutes. You are asked for the usual personal details and email, password etc, but you also must enter your Credit or Debit card for verification purposes.

Once you have completed the self-explanatory registration process you are asked to confirm your email address. To do this you open your email provider and click on the link inside, which will lead you back to eBay. After registering, you can buy on eBay but you must register separately in order to sell things. Doing this is known as having a seller account.

To register for a seller account, go to your account page and look for the link that asks you to register for a seller account. When registering for a seller account you only have to add a few more details and confirm some that you have already entered. This process, when completed, will enable you to buy AND sell on eBay.

***Your Account***
When you are registered fully you gain your own account page, which can be accessed by clicking on the “My eBay” link at the top of every eBay page. Once on your account page you have links to items you are bidding for, items that you have won or lost, items that you are selling or that have been sold and feedback ratings as well as accounts showing how much you owe eBay. Accounts generally show money owed to eBay from listing fees etc.

Your account is basically your eBay summary page, which shows everything you could possibly need. You can also save your favourite searches or categories to your account.

***Customisation***
Customisation is everywhere on eBay. You can create listings in HTML for your products as well as adding pictures to enhance sell-ability. You can also create an about you page, which will be publicly available when another user clicks on the “me” logo next to your username. You can also make eBay your homepage if you wish.

When selling items, you can also manage your listings or eBay shop, if you want one. Read more below.

***Buying***
In order to buy from eBay you need to register, which is explained above, but the ability to buy is an advantage, because it allows you to build up your feedback and ratings before you begin selling. To buy on eBay you are most often asked to bid, by entering the most you will be prepared to pay for a product. Then eBay uses proxy bidding. How it works is explained here…

If an item has a current bid of £5.00 already and you can afford to pay £10.00 for the item, eBay will increase your bid on your behalf from that £5.00, right up until it hits the £10.00 max bid specified by you. You can change your maximum bid at any time.

Some items also have a “Buy It Now” sign located near the current bid price. This means that, for a certain price, you can end that auction, pay that price, and then guarantee that you have the item. The seller will specify postage costs, unless the item is including p+p.

Every time you buy an item, and pay promptly and generally be a good customer, you may be given positive feedback by the seller, which means an extra point on your ratings. It is common practise to give feedback to the seller.

Paying for your item is rather easy, with many methods to choose from. The seller will state how you can pay for an item. These methods will be listed later in the opinion.

***Selling & eBay Stores***
Selling on eBay is probably the best way of earning hard cash on the net. You can sell virtually anything you want, as long as it is not perverse or dead. All new sellers need to gain trust because if you have a lower rating it can affect the amount of bidders you may have. It is a common stigma of trust etc, so this is why it pays to bump up your ratings by buying items before you begin to sell.

To sell on eBay, you need to go to the “My eBay” link and click on the “Selling” tab. Then lower down the page under the title “selling Related Links”, you will find the link, which is conveniently called “Sell an Item”. Clicking on this will take you to another form filling bonanza. Here you simply enter as much information about the product you are selling, after choosing the category you want the item placed in. You are also given options that allow you to state the delivery charge and method, payment methods you accept, and state the condition of your item. Be as truthful as possible. You cannot list your item as a “Buy It Now” item until you have 10 or more feedback points.

You are given many options to enhance your listing, such as bold text, coloured bands, but remember they all cost money. You also need to have a set minimum number of points to enable other options when selling. You can list an item for either 3, 5, 7, or 10 days, and they all cost nothing, but remember items tend to get more bids within the last day of sale, as they are nearer the top of the list of items in that specific category.

You can add one picture free of charge and even more for a small fee and this option may pay off because it is a widely known fact throughout the eBay community that items with pictures sell up to three times faster and gain more bids. Another option would be to set up an eBay store.

Setting up an eBay store is absolutely free of charge. Go to www.ebayshops.co.uk and click the link called “open your store now”. You need to log in using your eBay username and password and then you need to specify what you shop is going to sell and what category it should go in. You can then customize you store by adding departments, colour, logo’s and information such as store policies. The more information you add, the more popular your store is going to be with potential customers.

***Sending & Receiving Payment***
There are many methods of payment accepted on eBay. I cannot explain every single one because the opinion would be so long, I could lay it out from Liverpool to Glasgow!

Members at eBay nearly all use online payment systems, such as Nochex (www.nochex.com), Paypal (www.paypal.com), Natwest Fast pay, and PPPay (www.pppay.com). These online payment systems enable you to send or receive credit card payments without sending or receiving credit card DETAILS!!! Some of these companies charge large fees for transactions so it is an idea to add on a processing fee to the price of your item – you will notice other sellers do it. Paypal is recommended, as it is owned by eBay.

You can also send or receive cheque/cash/money order/or postal order payments through the post. Sellers usually recommend that cash is sent by recorded delivery.

***Fees & Charges***
Charges are usually made to a member when they use an online payment facility, such as Natwest Fastpay or Paypal. Fees, however are charged by eBay, which are…
· Insertion Fees, which are 10p if you list an item with a starting price of under a pound and 15p if the starting price is above a pound.
· Commission Fees, which are 5% of the final cost of an item on lower priced items, 2.5% on mid-priced items, and 1% on higher priced items. A flat fee is charged for cars and property. Consult the website for much more information.

***Cancelling Bids***
You can retract a bid up to 12 hours before the auction end if you have a valid reason. If you have a different reason or it is after the 12-hour deadline, you must consult the seller. If you are the seller, you have the choice within the 12-hour limit to retract a bid or cancel any bids, or members bidding whatsoever. It is not a good idea to keep retracting bids – as I once found out!!!

***Search and Help Facilities***
You can use a simple item search on eBay or an advanced member or item search, which is much more specific and probably will produce less results, but if you whittle 10 million products down to a few, it can’t be bad!!!

The Help Centre on eBay is also very good. You will find information on absolutely every aspect of eBay and I have always found an answer to one of my questions. You can also find information on the many fraud protection and insurance schemes available to you.

***Facts***
eBay operates from many countries throughout the world and is the world’s largest Internet auction site, with over 10 million items listed at any one time, and over 45 million registered users worldwide.

The company, eBay AG was launched in 1995 and the UK site was launched in 1999.

***Overall***
Overall, I would thoroughly recommend eBay to both buyers and sellers. I have been at it for about a month now and love it. There are a few downsides though, the fact that you have to pay listing fees as well as commission, and that you have to beware of fraudsters.

This site comes thoroughly recommended.

www.ebay.co.uk
www.ebayshops.co.uk
www.ebaymotors.co.uk