Reviews and Guides: New on Ebay Ebay members share their

Exploring eBay! The Basics

Spring 2006

______________________________________________________________________

What is eBay?

Founded in 1995, eBay is an internet-based version of a traditional auction.

However, there’s no fast-talking auctioneer online and your contending bidders can be

located anywhere in the world, as long as they have Internet access. It operates 24

hours a day, 7 days a week. eBay is just a marketplace to buy and sell, nothing more.

eBay does not get involved in transactions between seller and buyer. The seller pays a

small fee to eBay – similar to renting a booth at a flea market. As of November 2005,

there are 168 million registered users in 30 countries. It is a massive operation with

roughly 4.8 million new listings per day. eBay members’ sales for 2004 reached $34.2

billion.

Why would you want to eBay?

• Buying goods for less money than elsewhere.

• Buying from a large selection of goods (e.g. close-out brands by

manufacturers).

• Buying goods not otherwise available conveniently (e.g. rare/collectible

items).

• Buying for resale (e.g. buys at or below wholesale and sells retail).

• Having fun or bidding for the thrill of winning. However, by bidding, you are

entering a contractual agreement and the winning bidder is obligated to buy

the item auctioned.

Copyright © 2005 ASCPL All Rights Reserved Exploring eBay! 4/18/2006 11:36:27 AM/MMS 1 of 42

What can you find on eBay?

Practically anything from common items such as clothing, school supplies,

consumer electronics, and used vehicles to more pricey items such as aircraft engines

and houses for sale in Las Vegas. Services such as musical instrument repair and

laptop diagnosis service can also be found on eBay. More peculiar items/services such

as ‘a box of dog hair’ and ‘hilarious singing on the phone for four minutes’ also exist on

eBay. Websites such as http://www.whowouldbuythat.com/ would track unusual items

posted and sold on eBay. Rules on ‘Prohibited and Restricted items’ are posted on

their website at the address: http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/policies.html . Alcohol,

prescription drugs, and human body parts are a few examples prohibited on eBay site.

How does eBay work?

• Seller posts an item for sale and sets the time limit on auction time (1, 3, 5, 7 or

10 days)

• Buyer finds what he’s looking for and can bid on an item, thus becoming a

bidder

• Highest bidder wins and is then notified

• Winning Bidder makes payment

• Seller ships the item

How trustworthy is bidding/selling on eBay?

eBay has an outstanding system for establishing reputations. The reputation

(feedback) system comprises the focal point of the eBay system. It is a system that

eBay members use to rate their buying or selling experience with another eBay

member. After a listing is completed, the buyer and seller can leave a rating (positive,

neutral, or negative) and a comment about each other. Feedback cannot be erased.


http://www.whowouldbuythat.com/

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/policies.html

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/feedback-removal.html

The feedback you give is permanent, so be sure to make only fair and factual

comments. These become a permanent part of a member's profile and can be viewed

by the rest of the eBay Community. However, eBay offers members the opportunity to

withdraw feedback ratings by using Mutual Feedback Rating Withdrawal. A member

can also make his or her feedback profile private and only be accessed by him or her.

However, while the comments will be private, other members will still be able to see the

number of positive, neutral and negative comments on a member profile. To see a

member's full feedback profile, click on the number in parentheses next to their User ID.

The feedback system helps you build your reputation on eBay and helps you check the

reputation of other members of the community. Following is an example of what a

member with private feedback profile looks like.

For every positive feedback, member gets +1, 0 for neutral, and -1 for negative.

Based upon the total points, the Feedback Score is the sum of all the ratings a member

has received from unique users. If your total feedback score (adding together both

positive and negative) is -4, eBay will terminate your membership. In most cases, a

high feedback score is a good sign, however one should also check a member’s profile

to read comments from other members.

The Feedback Star indicates the level of Feedback Score an eBay member has

achieved. For example, a Yellow Star next to the member User ID means, the


member has feedback score 10 to 49. For more information, check on

http://pages.ebay.com/help/feedback/reputation-stars.html.

eBay Time

The official time of day at eBay headquarters in San Jose, California goes by

Pacific Time Zone. Timing on eBay is more essential for eBay sellers. Sellers should

time their auction to end when most potential bidders will be online.

eBay Pulse

eBay Pulse is a daily snapshot of current trends, hot picks, and cool stuff on

eBay. It is changing dynamically. It’s a great way to catch a glimpse inside the world of

eBay marketplace.


http://pages.ebay.com/help/feedback/reputation-stars.html

How to get started

Registration is not required just to browse the eBay website. However, before

you can bid or buy anything on eBay, you are required to . register

Let’s get Browsing

Type www.ebay.com in the URL address bar area and let’s go over some

features of the eBay’s homepage.

Enter your search words here if not sure what category to use.

See Brief explanations below.

If you know specifically what you are looking, selecting one of these categories will return fewer, but more- defined listings.


http://www.ebay.com/

eBay Motors: eBay Motors has become the world’s largest market place for car

auctions. You can search for a hard-to-find model or hunt for a potential great deal.

eBay Stores: An eBay Store is an online selling platform tied to eBay. These are

special pages on eBay featuring all the items offered by an individual Store seller. eBay

owner pays the monthly subscription fee corresponding to the Store level. Search

results will bring up items from both the auction area and Stores area of eBay. For

buyers, eBay Stores are a great way to find unique items you can buy right away.

(eBay Shop, on the other hand, is a Web site offering officially licensed, quality

merchandise with the eBay logo.)

Live Auctions: eBay also has “Live Auctions” on where interested bidders can log in

as registered user of eBay and bid “Live” on pre-scheduled “Lots” - Live Auctions term

for "item". Each lot is comprised of one or more pieces that are sold as a group during

the preset live event. Potential buyers bid on the lot as a whole. The usual time given

for Live Auctions is 12 hours. However, most of them are done within a few hours.

Browse at http://www.ebayliveauctions.com/ if interested.

Reviews & Guides: New on eBay – eBay members share their expertise and

comments. With each review, you submit a product rating and write your opinion.

Readers can then vote on your review based on its helpfulness. The most popular

reviews are given "Top Review" status. Guides allow you to be creative in both the

topic and design of the page. Writers can insert pictures, special formatting, eBay links,

and headings.

Want It Now: Want It Now lets buyers post requests for hard-to-find items and allows

sellers to respond to those requests with eBay listings.

eBay Business: Designed for entrepreneurs who want to expand their retail business

beyond selling on eBay as a hobbyist can become an eBay Business owner. For more

information, please consult at http://www.entrepreneur.com/ebaycenter/0,6316,,00.html.


http://www.ebayliveauctions.com/

http://www.entrepreneur.com/ebaycenter/0,6316,,00.html

Categories

The set of categories by which items are organized on eBay, such as Antiques,

Books, Computers, Musical Instruments, etc. You can browse the categories and look

at the lists of items until you find something you’re interested in. This is an alternative to

doing a keyword search, where you enter words and get a list of items that contain

those words. If you are looking for a unique item and know exactly which category to

use, it’s the best way to get the defined search. Selecting the most appropriate

category is essential for a seller to ensure maximum exposure of his/her listing.

Successful searching on eBay

• First and foremost, eBay searches are not case-sensitive.

• Imagine which words a seller might use to describe the item that you’re looking for.

Try several different options and combinations – but do not use more than two or

three words at a time to ensure a variety of results. Search commands are ways of

narrowing your search to get more specific results. Use Advanced Search

Commands for more specific searches.

• Use specific words for more-targeted listings. For example, use Bee Gees posters to

look for posters. Do not type in Bee Gees only.

• Place quotation marks around the group of words if you’re looking for items

containing certain words in a particular order. For example, “Gone with the Wind”.

• Place a minus sign immediately before the word to be excluded (no space) if you do

not want that certain word to be included in your results. For example, Dr. Scholl’s –

sandals will not produce any sandals by Dr. Scholl’s. You can place all words that

you want to exclude from your search in parentheses separated by commas such as

Dr. Scholl’s –(sandals,sandles). This example will catch those sellers who may

misspell sandals.


• If you’re looking for items that contain either term, place them in parentheses

separated by commas. For example, (Christmas dress) (green,red) will look for

green or red Christmas dresses.

• If you’re looking items that contain words starting with a particular sequence of

letters, use an * at the end. For example, chin* buddh* will retrieve items that

contain words such as China, Chinese, Chinos, Chinook, and chintz, as well as

words include Buddha, Buddha’s, Buddhist, and Buddhism.

• Specify a date, color, or brand for a closer match. For example, type Barbie dress

196* when you’re looking for a Barbie dress in the 1960s. Type red Christmas dress

to look for Christmas dresses in red colors.

• Do not limit your search in titles alone. Check “Search title and description” box to

ensure more results.

• eBay, in some cases, will expand your search to include a plural and/or an

alternative spelling of your search word(s). Searching for book, will retrieve items

containing the keyword book or books. Searching for grey would bring back items

containing the keyword grey or gray. Thus, if you want to only search for a specific

spelling of word, simply enter the keyword or phrase in quotes. For example,

searching for “Tom Clancy” book will only retrieve items that include exact keywords

Tom Clancy Book or Tom Clancy Books and not the additional items that may

include the term Tom Clancy.

• eBay’s search engine searches for and, or, and the just like any other word. Do not

use those terms unless in cases of looking for items with particular terms such as

“Truth or Dare”.

• Do not use extra punctuation unless it’s expected to appear in the title or description.

Examples include Dr. Scholl’s, N-Sync, and t-shirt.


• Finally, do remember that sellers misspell words. Trying some misspellings can find

items that do not get much traffic specifically due to the misspelling. In that case,

you may find an auction with very little bidding competition. There are websites that

are designed to search items with misspelled words on eBay site. Try

http://www.fatfingers.co.uk/Default.aspx and

http://www.auctionlotwatch.co.uk/auctionspeller.html to find your luck to take

advantage of searching eBay items with misspelled words.

Types of Auctions

There are four types of auctions on eBay.

1) Normal: Similar to a silent auction and is designed for one item (or package). The

seller sets a minimum bid to start things off.

2) Reserve: A reserve price is the minimum price a seller is willing to accept for the

item. A bidder can still use a minimum bid just as in a normal auction, but the reserve is

the secret minimum to buyer. Only once the reserve has been met or surpassed, the

term (reserve met) will appear beside the bid amount. Until that happens, the reserve

has not been met and the caption will read (reserve not yet met). If you do not see

either of these, it’s not a reserve auction. The seller is not obligated to sell the item if the

reserve price is not met. The winning bidder must meet or exceed the reserve price and

have the highest bid. If your maximum bid is the first to meet or exceed the reserve

price, the effective bid displayed will automatically be raised to the reserve price. This

type of auction is also designed for one time (or package) only.

3) Dutch: An auction-type where the seller is offering multiple, identical items is called

a Multiple Item Auction (also known as a Dutch auction). Unlike a regular eBay auction,

Multiple Item Auctions can have many winners. When you bid on a Multiple Item

Auction, you specify the number of items you're interested in and the price you're willing

to pay per item. Winning bidders will pay a price equal to the lowest winning bid.


http://www.fatfingers.co.uk/Default.aspx

http://www.auctionlotwatch.co.uk/auctionspeller.html

Winning bids are selected in order of bid price per item. You cannot use eBay's

automatic bidding system to enter a maximum (or “proxy”) bid. The following is the

reprint from eBay site explaining how a Dutch auction works.

Example: For a listing with 10 available items and 2 bidders:

o Bidder A bid for 8 items at $5 each.

o Bidder B bid for 3 items at $6 each.

In this case, the lowest successful bid is $5. So the outcome of this listing is:

o Bidder B wins 3 items at $5 each.

o Bidder A wins 7 items at $5 each.

• Winning bidders have the right to refuse partial quantities. This means that if

you win some, but not all, of the quantity you bid for, you don't have to buy

any of them. In the above example, Bidder A bid on 8 items, but won only 7 of

them. Bidder A can refuse to complete the purchase, because Bidder A did

not win the quantity they bid on.

• Bids are displayed when you click on the "Bidders list" link. Bids that are not

currently winning show their bid prices, but bids that are winning show the

price that they would pay if the auction ended immediately. This means that,

in the Bid History, all winning bids show the same price per unit – the lowest

winning bid. To place a winning bid (a bid that wins at least some units); you

need to exceed this price.

• The ranking of the bids affects the allocation of the items.

4) Private: In this auction, the bidders’ identities are kept secret though the seller is

notified the winning bidder’s identity, and only the winning bidder’s.


A. Step by Step searching on eBay

Click once in the box and type in your search words here. Then, click ‘search’ button!


1. Let’s start with a simple search by using a search entry box in the upper right

hand corner. Let’s suppose that we are looking for a ‘toy’ or a ‘figure’ on

Television Character, “Diego” from “Dora the Explorer” Children’s show. Type in

“Diego” without any quotes in the search box.

PLEASE REMEMBER ANY OF YOUR SEARCH RESULTS WILL NOT LOOK EXACTLY LIKE THE EXAMPLES FOLLOW FROM HERE ON. EBAY IS A DYNAMIC WEB SITE AND UPDATES ARE BEING APPLIED ONLINE EVERY SECOND.

Result of this simple keyword search will bring any item that has the word “Diego”

in the title. The large number of items found tells us that we need to refine our

search. Notice the results fall under “Matching Categories – Sports Mem, Cards & Fan Shop” which does not seem to fit for our ‘toy’ or ‘figure’ search.


Also notice eBay suggests Related Searches that include all possible other

search words more suitable for our purpose.

2. We can click on the first suggested search words by eBay: diego doll. The

result would look similar to the following page:

The results seem to be more manageable and the categories seem to match our

purpose. However, we want ‘figure’ NOT ‘plush toys’ which seem to be

dominating the results.

3. Click on your search box, highlight the word ‘doll’ and replace with ‘figure’ as

follows. Click on search.


Search results produce our intended hunt – ‘Diego’ figure from ‘Dora the

Explorer’ plus other figurines that have nothing to do with our TV show character.

Since we know the theme of this particular toy is associated with ‘Dora’, it would

be a smart thing to add the search word ‘Dora’. The results should look similar to

this:


4. Scroll down to the bottom of the page. You will find our search items featured in

eBay Stores by various sellers with price option. See the sample below.

5. Notice, each search result has all the words ‘Diego’, ‘figure’, and ‘Dora’ in their

titles. However, not all sellers might use the words in the title to describe their

auction. Try checking ‘Search title and description’ box in case the seller puts

important keywords in the auction description but not in the title. The search

would bring more items that match not only the title but also in sellers’ description

and should look similar to this. (Note: As soon as you check “Search title and

description” box and click on search, the listing of eBay stores at the bottom

seem to be gone. However, clicking on the “See Additional Buy it Now items”

from the bottom of the page as follows will bring you the eBay Stores pages

again.)


For this training, let’s analyze the following search results page carefully without looking

at additional Buy it Now items.

• On this page, the All Items tab on the top is activated – that means we are looking

at all items mentioned below:

1. Items that are being traditionally auctioned.

2. Items being traditionally auctioned and, at the same time, sellers offer buyers

with “Buy It Now” option.

3. Items that are only listed with “Buy It Now” price by sellers.

If you are interested in looking at items on auctions only click on the Auctions

tab. Similarly, to look at items with options only, click on Buy it Now tab.

Some items may appear in both categories, since a seller can post an item in

auction style and at the same time give buyer an option to purchase the item

immediately with option.


Setting a Price on eBay

There are a number of options that a seller can use when setting a price on

eBay.

1. Auction-Style Listing Price: List an item for sale by setting a minimum bid for a

fixed length of time and let the market decides the price.

2. Buy it Now Feature: These items are identified with “Buy it Now” icon

paired with “Buy it Now” price on search result page. There are two ways for

sellers to use this Buy it Now option.

a. Auction-style: Seller sets a minimum bid for an item and at the same time

offer a “Buy it Now” option to potential buyers who may desire to avoid

bidding and make a purchase immediately. If a buyer is willing to meet

Buy It Now price before the first bid comes in, item sells instantly and

terminates the auction. OR, if a bid comes in first, the Buy It Now option

disappears. Then auction proceeds normally. (In Reserve Price Auctions,

Buy It Now disappears after the first bid that meets the reserve.)

b. Fixed Price: Most common alternative to using auction-style format. It lets

you list an item for an unchanging, set price, with no auction-style bidding.


From our search result, we can tell at least there are “66” items found from “Toys &

Hobbies”, and “60” items fall specifically in “TV, Movie, Character Toys”, etc.

Let’s examine the right part of the search result page as follows.

1. This is an example of pure auction style. Seller accepts PayPal payment

system for this item; got 2 bids so far; the highest bid being at $7.29; charges

flat shipping rate $5.00; and the auction is ending in 3 hours and 39 minutes.

2. This is an example of a combination of an auction paired with option.

Seller accepts PayPal payment system for this item; has gotten no bid yet;


the minimum starting bid price is at $8.99; however, an interested buyer can

but at $11.99 by using option right away and terminate the auction;

charges flat shipping rate $4.00; and the auction is ending in 13 hours and 10

minutes.

3. This is an example of pure option by seller. Seller accepts PayPal payment system for this item; the fixed-price for the item is $149.99 with the

flat shipping charge $29; the auction is ending in 15 hours and 14 minutes.

All of the steps taken above to find a figurine (not a plush toy) “Diego” from “Dora

the Explorer” TV character can all be carried out all at once by using the Advanced

Search form. Not only that, we can also further limit our search to specify items fall

within our price range, items from a specific seller by using seller’s User ID, items on

Completed Listing list, items available in US only, etc. See below.


In addition, eBay allows searching for items that have ended over the last 15

days, for free of charge. Since many of these listings ended with a winning bidder or

buyer, you can look at them to determine how high you should bid or what the market

price is. As a seller, you can also decide what starting price you should use in an

auction-style listing. Check the box on Completed listings only in the Advanced Search

form to do a research on the price of the item before you buy or sell.

For serious eBay users, eBay introduced a new service called eBay Market Research in November of 2005, as a new subscription service to give buyers and

sellers a view into millions of eBay listing, bidding, and pricing trends. The paid service

gives subscribers access to data, charts, and graphs, that show the prices eBay’s 168

million users have paid in any auction over the past several months, based on their

subscription levels. For more information, check out at

http://pages.ebay.com/marketplace_research/detailed-comparison.html.

Further, there are special pages where members can post messages to the eBay

Community about various topics. There is a discussion board for just about any eBay

topic you can think of. You can post questions, learn valuable tips, share your

experiences, and connect with other eBay users. Check out at

http://pages.ebay.com/community/boards/index.html to learn more on the Community

Group.


http://pages.ebay.com/marketplace_research/detailed-comparison.html

http://pages.ebay.com/community/boards/index.html

B. How to learn more details about an item

When you click on an auction title, the first thing you see is the basic information

on the auction. Note that the auction title and the auction number are at the top of

the page.

Current bid: shows the accurate current bid for that moment. It is crucial to

refresh your browser button to learn the latest current bid from time to time.

Time left: tells how much time has left on this particular auction.

History: gives the bid history with number of total bids for that moment. By

clicking on the number of bids shown next, an interested buyer can find out which

eBay user bid at what time and what was his bid amount but not their maximum

bids that may have taken place days or hours before a listing ends. Not only

that, you can find out the exact remaining time of the auction on that page such

as:

Time left: 2 days, 6 hours 3 minutes 17 seconds


High bidder: gives the User ID of the highest bidder (Not the winning bidder) for

that moment.

Item location: indicates where the seller lives or does business. That will

determine whether a buyer will have to pay sales tax if he wins the auction.

Shipping costs: when seller uses flat shipping rate, no matter how far the item

has to be shipped, the shipping cost will be the same. Mostly, sellers of these

types limit their shipping to certain geographical area. However, when seller

uses a method to calculate shipping costs, location of an item will make a

difference in total cost of winning an auction. Also note that some sellers make

their profit on shipping and handling. They charge a lower price for the item and

a high price for shipping and handling.


Clicking on seller’s User ID will provide you more information on seller’s ID

history, other items for sales by the same seller and a chance to look into

seller’s eBay Store if has one as indicated by the eBay Store sign . Take

the time to read feedback comments on seller especially if you are thinking of

bidding/buying on a pricy item. The color star next to the number indicates

the level of feedback score points.

By scrolling down the page, you will get to the auction ad where seller has a

chance to provide all the information necessary to help the buyer make a

decision to bid. As a bidder, this is your chance to get all the information you

need to make an informed decision. If you are not satisfied with what seller

provides in that section, you can always contact the seller to get more

information by using Ask seller a question.


The remaining page describes the seller’s shipping, payment and return

policy. Seller’s payment instructions may include more than the usual

payment method. Seller may also state that he would not be able to ship the

item until 7 days after the bidding is closed since he would be out of town, for

example. It is crucial that buyer beware any particular requirements and

statements made by the seller before bidding. You can bid without proper

information, a choice you may regret later.


C. Bidding on an Item

You will need to register with eBay before you bid or buy anything. Registration

is free, fast and easy. You will choose an ID (your eBay name, which is a login

name) and a password. (Note: For security purpose, NEVER use your birth

dates, your children’s names, addresses and MOST IMPORTANTLY, YOUR

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER as password. An alphanumeric combination that

is nonsensical and only unique to you is recommended. Also never use the

same password for more than one website or service.) At the bottom of the

auction webpage, you can place a bid. If you have not registered or signed in

yet, you will get a webpage that requires your login and password when you click

Place Bid> button.

Above the input is the current minimum bid. Your bid must equal at least this

amount plus one increment higher. The bid increment is the amount by which

a bid will be raised each time the current bid is outdone. It is predetermined

based on the current high bid. Click on the Place Bid button when you are

ready to submit your bid.


eBay can automatically bid on your behalf up to your maximum bid

(Automatic or Proxy bidding). Proxy bidding works as follows:

1. When you place a bid, you enter the maximum amount you'd be willing

to pay for the item. Your maximum amount is kept confidential from

other bidders and the seller.

2. The eBay system compares your bid to those of the other bidders.

3. The system places bids on your behalf, using only as much of your bid

as is necessary to maintain your high bid position (or to meet the

reserve price). The system will bid up to your maximum amount.

4. If another bidder has a higher maximum, you'll be outbid. BUT, if no

other bidder has a higher maximum, you win the item. And you could

pay significantly less than your maximum price! This means you don't

have to keep coming back to re-bid every time another bid is placed.

Note: This bidding system does not apply to Multiple Item Auctions (Dutch

Auctions). In Reserve Price Auctions, if your maximum bid is the first to be

greater than the seller's reserve price, the eBay system will automatically

jump the price up to meet the reserve, and bidding will continue from there.

Tips on Bidding

1) Only bid on what you decide to buy. Make every bid a serious one.

You will earn negative feedback from this practice and after enough

infractions you will be permanently suspended from eBay.

2) Learn all you can about the item. Thoroughly review the item

description. If not enough information given, ask the seller

questions.

3) Research the item’s value. Print sources such as catalogs and

price guidelines available in your local library, local market ads,

regular online merchant stores, and other auction websites such as


http://auctions.overstock.com/ and www.ubid.com can provide

valuable information on possible market price of an item.

www.yahoo.com has a shopping page where your search of an

item would provide list of vendors selling a particular product with

comparisons on prices. www.froogle.com is also a price engine

website launched by Google Inc and does the similar thing as

Yahoo.

4) Check the feedback about the seller. Normally, higher feedback

score is a good sign. However, check on actual feedbacks,

especially negative ones, to find out how serious the problems that

earned the seller the negative points. Often, you will also find

seller’s rebuttal to the buyer’s negative feedback.

5) Decide the maximum you're willing to pay for the item.

6) Make sure the item is legal and allowed.

7) Use extra caution if an item is listing significantly below the

manufacturer's suggested retail price. Without seeing and touching

the item yourself, authenticity is all in seller’s promise.

8) Don't assume without confirmation that claims about an item's

condition or value are true, or that photographs are accurate. Get

an escrow if you cannot lose more than $500. Get the item

appraised by an expert agreed by both you and the seller for

valuable items.

9) Time your bids. Watch the “Time Left” for an auction. Click on

“Watch this item” feature to track the items you wish to buy. If you

bid too early you may drive the price up prematurely. However, if

you are not going to be around at the closing time and you really

want the item, consider “proxy bidding”.


http://auctions.overstock.com/

http://www.ubid.com/

http://www.yahoo.com/

http://www.froogle.com/

D. Retracting a Bid

You can retract a bid if you desire, but you open yourself to negative

feedback. Unless you have a darn good excuse, you should not retract. There

are, however, a few exceptional circumstances (described in the User Agreement

you agreed upon signing up with eBay at registration) under which you may

retract a bid. These are if:

• You made a typographical error and entered the wrong bid amount. For

instance, you bid $99.50 instead of $9.95. If this occurs, re-enter the

correct bid amount immediately after you retract your bid. If you do not

place another bid, the retraction will be in violation of eBay's policy and

could result in your suspension.

• The description of an item you have bid on has changed significantly.

• You can't reach the seller. This means that you tried calling the seller but

his or her phone number doesn't work, or you have tried emailing a

message to the seller and it comes back undeliverable.

• Someone has bid on an item using your User ID and password.

E. Following up with your bid/Watching

Go to My eBay on the navigation bar. It features a record of your bidding.

See below for an example summary page of how you can keep track of your

biddings, items you are watching, and other convenient eBay services. You can

also check messages sent by other sellers, buyers and email confirmations on

your bids from eBay immediately after your bidding. eBay also sends you an

email message acknowledging when you are outbid or when you win the auction.


http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/user-agreement.html

If you are not in a hurry to buy a particular item, or if you cannot find what you

seek, search for an item in Advanced Search, and from your results page, click

on Add to Favorites at top right. Indicate that you want eBay to email you for a

specific time period whenever items are listed which match your search terms.

Sniping: It is placing a high bid in the closing seconds of an auction-style listing

is within the eBay Community. Sniping is part of the eBay experience, similar to

raising your hand at the last second at an open auction, and all bids placed

before a listing ends are valid - even if they're placed one second before the

listing ends.

If you are online at the auction ending time, and there are (or if you anticipate)

other bidders, open the auction page in two windows so that you can be

prepared to make quick follow up bid. It’s a good idea to SIGN OUT of eBay and

SIGN IN again to avoid delaying the bid, if eBay asks you to sign in right after

you bid. Make sure to reload the auction page to see the latest current bid.

Shill Bidding: It is a prohibited practice on eBay when a bid is deliberately

placed just to raise the price of an item artificially. To avoid appearance of

involvement in this activity, family members, friends, and individuals living or

working together, or sharing a computer should not bid on each other’s items.


F. Payment Methods on eBay

• PayPal is the preferred payment method for most eBay buyers and

sellers. Buyer needs to set up a PayPal account by using a checking

account, credit card, or Paypal balance, and then send the payment to

seller quickly and securely online. Seller has no access to buyer’s

banking information. You can only use this method when a seller offers

PayPal as a payment method for their listing. It’s free to buyers, but sellers

pay fees.

Advantages

1. Payment is traceable. You can track the status of your

payment using My eBay or your PayPal account.

2. Is immediate and convenient. You pay directly from the item

listing page and payment is deposited directly into the

seller's account.

3. Does not require you to use your credit card online (you can

transfer directly from your bank account). Sellers don't see

your credit card number (it is safely encrypted through

PayPal's server), which limits the risk of unauthorized use.

4. Offers PayPal Buyer Protection on qualifying items - up to

$1,000 in free coverage. Additional limited protection is

offered through PayPal's Money Back Guarantee.


• Paying with a credit card Certain Sellers are set up to take credit card payments. This will

require you to provide your credit card information to the seller.

Advantages

1. Payment is traceable.

2. Payment is Immediate and convenient.

3. Provides limited liability coverage. Credit card companies

typically provide some level of identity and purchase

protection whether you are paying with your credit card

through PayPal, or directly to the seller. Contact your credit

card company to learn more.

Note: Since credit card purchases are generally protected by your

card company, if problems arise you must go through your card

company before applying to the eBay Standard Purchase

Protection Program.

• Paying with personal check, cashiers check or money orders

You can pay with a personal check, cashiers check or a money order

as long as your seller accepts this payment method. After you click the

Pay Now button and sent your information to the seller, you will receive

detailed payment instructions.

Advantages

1. Payment is traceable to a particular mailing address and

provides proof of payment.

2. Covered up to $200 under the eBay Standard Purchase

Protection Program (minus $25 for processing costs).


http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/esppp-process.html

http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/esppp-process.html

3. Most banks offer a stop payment service if problems arise

before the check is cashed. Some money order services

may have the option to stop payment if problems arise

before the payment is cashed.

Disadvantages

1. Sellers must wait for funds to clear.

2. Payment is extremely difficult to recover in cases of fraud.

G. Security Concern

The Internet in general is a hotbed of fraud schemes, and eBay is

definitely an attractive place for these con artists. Anonymity provides an easy

path to cheating people out of money. Because of creative user names eBay

users are anonymous on the surface; however, eBay almost always knows who

they are. The good news is that eBay has a superb system for establishing

reputations. In most cases of fraud committed through eBay, the victims do have

some remedy. The reputation (feedback) system, in other words, Trust,

comprises the heart and soul of the eBay system.

In order to make buyers feel safer when making purchases on eBay, all

tangible items are automatically insured for $200. For buyers, as an incentive to

use eBay's PayPal payment system, most items purchased through PayPal are

covered up to $1,000.

In addition, eBay recommends independent escrow service at

http://www.escrow.com for any purchase, but typically is used for purchases of

$500 or more. It is a licensed and regulated company that collects, holds, and

sends a buyer's money to a seller according to instructions agreed on by both the

buyer and seller. Typically, once the buyer receives and approves the item from


http://www.escrow.com/

the seller within an agreed time frame, the escrow service then sends the

payment to the seller. Consult this eBay page

http://pages.ebay.com/help/confidence/payment-escrow.html before using one to

avoid fraudulent escrow services. Also, http://sos4auctions.com/ lists fraudulent

online escrow companies.

The most common type of buyer fraud is simply not paying for an item.

Sellers can deal with non-paying bidders by filing an Unpaid Item dispute. To

avoid buyer fraud:

• Always check the feedback of your bidders. If a bidder has excessive

negative feedback, you may be able to cancel the bid.

• If you accept a personal check as payment, never ship the merchandise

until the check clears. Keep in mind, however, that in purchasing via

credit card a buyer can always ask the credit card company for a charge-

back on an item with which he or she is dissatisfied. That creates the risk

that the seller ends up refunding the purchase price.

• If your buyer doesn't pay, always leave negative feedback so the non-

paying bidder has a harder time striking again.

There are two main ways that seller can commit fraud: The item the buyer

purchased is dramatically different from how it was described in the listing; or the

item simply never arrives. To avoid seller fraud:

• Always check seller feedback before placing a bid.

• Ask all relevant questions before bidding on an auction. Some sellers think

that if they don't say what condition the item is in, it's the buyer's fault if he

bids on the item assuming it's in good condition and it turns out to be a

piece of junk.

• Always leave negative feedback for unscrupulous sellers -- this makes it

harder for them to continue committing fraud.


http://pages.ebay.com/help/confidence/payment-escrow.html

http://sos4auctions.com/

Should you have any unresolved disputes between you and the seller/buyer

even after using all resources to reach a concurrence, go to the eBay Security and Resolution Center to report your problem? If you see a SquareTrade icon:

next to the seller, it is one way to tell that the seller is

committed to high selling standards and agrees to participate in SquareTrade’s

resolution should a problem arise. SquareTrade also guarantees all listings with

a verified SquareTrade Seal for up to $250.00 against fraud.

Though eBay allows sellers to change their User IDs, it is not recommended

since a User ID plays an important role in a member’s reputation. A good reason

and example of changing a User ID would be when a seller wants to reflect a

new line of business. Normally, a member who has changed User IDs keeps the

same member profile. Change of a User ID would be indicated by icon next

to the User ID.

eBay Glossary: To find out what a particular eBay term or icon means, visit

http://pages.ebay.com/help/newtoebay/glossary.html.

eBay Acronyms list can also be viewed at:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/newtoebay/acronyms.html.


http://pages.ebay.com/help/newtoebay/glossary.html

http://pages.ebay.com/help/newtoebay/acronyms.html.

APPENDIX

The following pages show examples of phishing scams many con artists

are trying to use on eBay and PayPal customers. Phishing is sending an email

to user falsely claiming to be an established legitimate business or enterprise in

an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information such as

passwords and account numbers that will be used for identity theft. First and

foremost, neither PayPal nor eBay addresses you as in a general format, “Dear

PayPal” or “Dear eBay member”. Second, even though the link in the e-mail

looks like an eBay or PayPal URL, once you click on it, you can see in your

browser's address bar that you're not at eBay at all.

Phishing Email that appears to be from PayPal to a customer


Phishing Email that appears to be from eBay to a customer

What do you do when you receive a phishing email?

DO NOT RESPOND TO ANY OF THESE EMAILS. You should

immediately delete it since it’s not only sent to you with the intention to steal your

identify but can be loaded with viruses. Upon opening the email, your computer

can be attacked by viruses.


If you are a regular eBay and PayPal user, you should consider

downloading eBay Toolbar and Account Guard on your computer. You can

download the toolbar at http://pages.ebay.com/help/confidence/account-

guard.html. eBay Toolbar reminds you when listings you're bidding on are

about to end, and even lets you choose from a variety of alert times. On the

other hand, Account Guard warns you when you're on a potentially fraudulent

(spoof) Web site. It also lets you report such sites to eBay. If eBay verifies that a

Web site is fraudulent, the information will automatically be distributed to all other

eBay Toolbar members, warning them about the spoof Web site. After you

download eBay Toolbar and Account Guard, the top part of your browser should

look like this:

Once you have downloaded, your eBay Toolbar will always be there when

your open your internet browser. You can even search items on eBay by placing

search terms in your eBay toolbar search button without being actually at eBay

website. See example below.


http://pages.ebay.com/help/confidence/account-guard.html

http://pages.ebay.com/help/confidence/account-guard.html

If you clicked on the link in spoof email pretending to be from eBay or

PayPal, your eBay Toolbar Account Guard will change into bright red and will

warn you as follows:


ILLUSTRATIONS ON HOW A DUTCH AUCTION WORKS

1) The seller has 3 exact quantities of “Diego” figurine to sell. I started

bidding when the ‘current bid’ price was $6.13. Siminaz bid $6.13 for 1

quantity. Nasister1 bid $6.13 for 2 quantities. They were the two winning

bidders at the time.

2) Bid page required me to enter the next increment level $6.63 (50 cents

higher the latest ‘current bid’). I put in $6.63 as my bid price for 1 quantity.

Notice ‘Your maximum bid: US$ 6.63’ on the following page. This page

was presented as soon as I hit the ‘confirm bid’. However, notice the

listings of ‘Bid amount’ column, where my bid as mandalaycook still shows

as $6.13. The reason: In Dutch auctions, winning bidders will pay a price

equal to the lowest winning bid. $6.13 was the lowest winning bid at the

time.

3) By bidding 50 cents higher than the latest ‘current bid’ $6.13, I made

nasister1’s winning bidder ranking lowered. We can presume nasister1’s

highest bid at the time was $6.13. As this point time, he still wins but only


1 quantity instead of 2 he bid originally. He could refuse to accept the

winning bid if the auction ended at the time. We can also assume that

siminaz’s maximum bid was also $6.63. He ranked first in the winning

listing because he bid before me. Notice the Time left was more than 5

hours.

4) The following confirmation email from eBay explains clearly that my

maximum bid was $6.63 but my current bid was $6.13 as a high bidder. If

the auction ended at the time, I could have paid only $6.13 (50 cents lower

than my actual maximum bid $6.63).


5) 31 minutes before the auction ended, a new bidder peachmazie came

along and bid for 1 quantity. We can assume that his required maximum

bid was $6.63 (50 cents higher than the current bid $6.13). By doing so,

he pushed out nasister1 entirely from the winning bidder ranking. Since

there were only 3 quantities available and there were 3 bidders with the

maximum bid $6.63, nasister1’s previous bid $6.13 now becomes non-

winning bid at this time. No other new bid came along until the auction

ended and the top three winning bidder paid $6.63 each for 1 quantity

each.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

www.eBay.com

www.howstuffworks.com

Sinclair, Joseph T. eBay the Smart Way: Selling, Buying, and Profiting on the web’s #1

Auction Site. Fourth Edition. New York, NY. AMACOM, 2005. 381.177 Si616e 4th ed.

Sinclair, Joseph T. eBay global the smart way: buying and selling internationally

on the world's #1 auction site. New York, NY. AMACOM, 2004. 382 Si616eg

Miller, Michael. Absolute beginner’s Guide to eBay. Indianapolis, Indiana. Que

Publishing, 2003. 381.1702 M649ab.

Holden, Greg. How to Do Everything with eBay. Emeryville, CA. McGraw-

Hill/Osborne, 2004. 381.177 H726h.

Collier, Marsha. eBay: Timesaving Techniques for Dummies. Indianapolis, Indiana.

Wiley Publishing, 2004. 381.177 C699et


http://www.ebay.com/

http://www.howstuffworks.com/

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