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Are you looking for bargains? Do you have something you wish to sell? eBay is the place for bargains and the place to sell the things around the house that is collecting dust.

In order to buy or sell anything on eBay; you must resister, this is a free service. You can browse without out any registration.

eBay---
On eBay you will find a home page, which has many options from all kinds of categories to specialty sites. There is a search engine to help you find the product you are looking for. At the very top of the page you can click on My eBay; this will take you to a page that shows your personal page with eBay. There is a Help Button on almost any page if you have any questions that need to be answered.

On eBay you can buy or sell new or used items. You can purchase vacation trips, buy an automobile, DVD movies, books, cloths, jewelry, and much more. You can find almost anything that you are looking for through the search engine.

My eBay---
This is your personal page; it can only be seen by registering and logging in.

The page starts out with a Hello and your user name on eBay with your rating numbers. You can click on your user name here and it will take you to a Member Profile, which shows your ratings and the comments left by people you had dealings with.

My eBay page also shows any messages that you have, the products that you are bidding on and products that you are watching to bid on. The page can be customized to your preference, I also show at the bottom of my page the items I have purchased in the last 60 days.

Each area is very detailed and easy to understand.

Ratings---
Ratings are a very important part of eBay. Ratings are made by the comments left by the person who you have done business with; buying and selling products. Here you can read the comments left behind, this generally tells you if the other person that you had business with was satisfied or not.

Please Do Not Ignore the Ratings, I will only buy from someone who has a mid 90 or better rating. If someone does not have a 100% rating, I always go and read the comments left behind to see why they have gotten some negative comments. After reading the comments; I decide weather or not to do business with this person.

Buying---
There are many bargains on eBay, but be cautious! I see so many people bidding on something that I can order online somewhere else at a better price. Check the Internet for prices; so you can get the best deal and know what the maximum you are willing to bid on the item.

Buying Check List
1. Check the Internet and local stores of the selling price of the item you wish to bid on.
2. Check the Ratings of the seller.
3. Read all details that they have listed and ask them questions by e-mail; if you have any.
4. Check out their shipping and policies if they give them.
5. Check out what type of payment they are willing to take.
6. If you are satisfied with the five questions; Happy Bidding!

Buy Now!---
If you can't wait on the bidding process; then you can buy many items that are marked Buy Now instantly. Some dealers provide only Buy Now, because this guarantees them what they want out of the product.

Some dealers offer a Bid and Buy Now; usually marking the starting bid to the lowest possible price that they want to give. This is the dealer that hopes the bidding price comes close to the Buy Now price or if someone is in a hurry, then they will click on the Buy Now Button without having the bidding process take place.

Bidding---
Bidding starts as little as one cent to any amount that the person selling the item starts it at. Most bids run for seven days till the time is up; time is always shown on each bid.

If an item is listed for say $1 and you are willing to pay as high as $5; then you can bid $5 and if no one has bid against you, the first bidding price will only be $1 for the item. If someone comes along with a high bid of $1.50, then it will automatically jump your bid to the next level, let's say $2. At this point the item is still yours. If someone bids a high bid of $5.50, then they will have the bid, unless you decide to bid higher. EBay will notify you when you have a winning bid and lost a bid to the e-mail address that you provided.

If you make a bid you are agreeing to purchase the product for the price you have given; unless someone out bids your price.

Selling---
This is an area that I haven't gotten into yet, so I will be brief in this area. You can sell just about anything you can think of, if someone wants to buy what you have then the market is here on eBay.

They do provide software that makes it easy for listing what you want to sell. Photos are always important when making a listing, especially if it is a used item; this gives the buyers a chance to see what condition the item is in.

Reserve---
**** This is a direct quote from eBay ****
A reserve price is a tool sellers can use to stimulate bidding on their auction-style item while reserving the right not to sell below a price they have in mind.

Many sellers have found that too high a starting price discourages interest in their item, while an attractively low starting price makes them vulnerable to selling at an unsatisfactorily low price. A reserve price helps with this.

My Epinion I would just start my bid out at the minimum I was willing to take!

Payment---
Payment is made in several different ways. The most popular is PayPal; in fact some sellers will only except PayPal and most prefer it. PayPal is the easiest and fastest way to pay for what you have purchased, it is almost instant. There are a few that only take a money order or cashiers check, some will take a personal check with a delay time in shipping the item, and some take credit cards.

If you win a bid; you must pay for it, the faster you pay will produce positive comments from the seller. Positive comments leads to a good rating.

Shipping---
Buyers beware! Most have a fixed shipping rate, some are reasonable and some are too high. I bought a scientific calculator and paid $14.99 shipping; yes that sounds high, but I had the winning bid of one cent, making the total price of $15 for a brand new in the package $60 calculator.

A few sellers tell you up front that there is a packaging fee and what it is on top of the shipping fee. Some provide a calculator that gives you an exact amount according to your zip code.

Some include insurance, some provide it at an extra cost and some provide no insurance.

Fees---
If you buy something there are no fees to pay, the seller pays the fees. Fees for selling a product varies on may factors, so please read the documentations provided before you do any listings.

Overall---
EBay offers the possibility for some really good bargains and cleaning out your own closet. Remember you are buying from individuals; check out their ratings before you bid or purchase anything. I have been vary cautious on whom I buy from and have had no problems with anyone. Most the people on eBay are good honest people, but there is always a bad apple in any basket. So far my ratings are 100%.



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