Selling: Here’s a scenario to illustrate how eBay might be of value to you: Your children are grown and you’re living in a house too large for your needs. You are thinking about moving but know that you would first have to sell a good portion of your accumulated possessions. An estate sale will bring strangers walking through your home and will oblige you to change your schedule to be present during the sale. Estate-sales companies can be costly, and their purchase prices typically low. Newspaper ads may not reach the right people. eBay provides a way to sell things quickly, at good prices, anonymously. You might consider making a trial run on eBay by listing one or two items at a “reserve price” to test the response (a “reserve” is the lowest dollar amount the seller agrees in advance to accept for the item). If you receive an acceptable offer, you can request that a check be sent to you immediately and, when it clears, mail the item to the buyer. Buying: Joe Walton, Former Director of SeniorNet Learning Centers, has considerable experience making purchases on eBay. “Most recently, I have used eBay to purchase all of Colin Dexter’s Inspector Morse mysteries. I wanted to collect the hardcover editions of these books. All but the most recent are out of print and hard to find. The cost for these out of print editions is high, usually several times their original retail price. Over a period of a few months I was able to purchase all of the mysteries, a few first editions and one signed copy among them —and at very reasonable prices. “Sadly, I have now read them all save one. There will be no more as Inspector Morse dies in the most recent book. I’m going to save reading this last one for a special occasion.” eBay is unique in its service of bringing together buyers and sellers across vast geographic areas. Even rare items such as the early Morse mysteries can be found regularly on their site.
eBay is safe: eBay has taken careful steps to ensure that transactions on their site are secure. Here are some of the ways they look out for the interests of their members, buyers and sellers alike: The Feedback Forum is a place where users leave comments about each other’s buying and selling experiences at eBay. If you’re a bidder, you can check your seller’s Feedback Profile before you place a bid to learn about the seller’s reputation with previous buyers. If you’re a seller, you can do the same with your bidders. The Fraud Protection Program: If you paid for an item and never received it (or if the item is less than what was described), eBay will reimburse buyers up to $200, less a $25 deductible. SafeHarbor is eBay’s comprehensive safety resource. It doesn’t happen often, but, when there is misuse on eBay, Safe Harbor tries to resolve issues in areas such as fraud, trading offenses and illegally listed items. eBay’s partner, Tradenable, provides additional security whether you’re a buyer or seller in transactions involving expensive items. I-Escrow will hold your payment and send it to the seller only after you’ve inspected your merchandise and given your approval. As a seller, you have the same opportunity to inspect and approve a returned item before the buyer gets refunded. Square Trade is eBay’s dispute resolution
service and works with buyers and sellers
to help resolve quickly and fairly disputes
that may arise. How to register Below is the top section of the eBay home page. To register, follow these seven steps: 1) While you are connected to the Internet, click here: www.eBay.com in the Address box on your browser. 2) Click "Register Now" in the "Welcome New Users" box at the top of the page 3) Enter your name and address information. 4) Fill out your desired Username, Password, Secret Sugestion
(this is what eBay will use to identify you should you lose your
password and need it emailed to you), email address, name, address
(city, state, zip) and phone number. Click "Continue". 5) Read the Terms and Conditions carefully, as you would any
contract. You must click to check both boxes if
you wish to join eBay and then click Continue. 6) When you receive this email, click on the specified link
(or type the address on your browser) to complete the
registration process. 7) Type your user ID and password in the appropriate boxes.
Click See Tips on the right of the User ID box if you need
some pointers. Click Continue and you will receive the
following message: How to Buy on eBay
There are a few simple steps to take to learn how to look for and then bid on an item. 1) Click the Browse button near the top of the home page to search the entire listing of eBay items by category, by featured items, or by titles and descriptions. The number of items in each category appears in parentheses. 2) Click a category that interests you. Specific search
Read about the seller Click the View Comments link to read what other members have said about that particular member. You can also send the seller an email message with questions you might have. How do I bid?
Bidding tips Once you have decided to bid, establish the maximum you’re willing to pay and type this amount. eBay will now confidentially bid in increments up to your maximum amount, but not beyond. In this way, you won’t have to keep an eye on your auction as it unfolds. Each time you are outbid, you are notified via email. If your maximum offer is outbid, you don’t get the item. In some cases the final price may be less than the maximum you had been willing to spend. eBay will use only as much of your maximum bid as is necessary to maintain your position as high bidder. When the auction ends, the high bidder and the seller each receive emails. They should contact each other within three business days and the seller fulfills the order once payment terms are met. An eBay auction is a legal commitment to sell your item to the highest bidder. Payment options include: cash, check, money order, cashier’s check, credit card, or Billpoint, eBay’s special payment service. How to sell on eBay
Now let’s assume that while clearing out your attic,
you discover a pair of crystal vases that you believe
date back to the Civil War. You have them appraised
and find they are worth at least $500 for the pair.
Before you sell on eBay:
eBay provides step-by-step instructions 2) Choose a required category. In our example, it is glass. Continue to fill out a description of the item (be as specific as you can to give the bidders all the information they need to make their choice), the online location of pictures of the item, the physical location of the item and the quantity. You will also need to identify what the minimum bid will be, the duration of the auction and the type of auction (Reserve Price, Private). Additional options are available for enhancing how your item is displayed for an extra fee. This is also where you specify what type of payment you would like, whether you will accept escrow, where you are willing to ship the items and who will pay for shipping. 3) Enter the item title and description. The title will be the sentence that people read to determine whether or not the item is what they are looking for. The description appears on the item page. 4) Next, you will be given the option of including photos of your item. A photo significantly enhances the impression the buyer will have of the item. You can also choose from a wide variety of options to customize your item’s appearance on eBay to make it more appealing and stand out from the other auctions. When you have selected your options and decided whether or not to include a photo, press Continue. 5) On the final page, prior to posting the item and starting the bidding, complete these three steps:
Once your item is posted, you should check periodically to determine how the bidding is going. You may be very pleasantly surprised by the price your crystal vases actually bring. For more information on how to sell an item, check out eBay’s online Seller Guide.
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