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Pros: Unique items, trustworthy, fun
Cons: Payment options

I was pretty "dumb" about the whole Internet auction scene. I had heard about it on television and a friend of mine talked about Ebay all the time, and how she got some really good deals just by placing bets.

So one night I sat down and began exploring the site. WOW was I amazed at some of the prices for computers, jewelry, hard to find items, unique items and every day items. But at that point did not do much because to register I had to give a credit card number and I was not sure about that.

This Christmas I decided to explore the site again and read everything about the company, buying merchandise, the sellers etc. I do have to say, after reading all the information I began to realize that this was a well trusted site. That they did not take personal responsibility for the sellers but if you did not receive your merchandise, they would also try to contact the seller. I finally registered.

Several of the gifts that I bought for family, came from Ebay. I decided on the most that I was willing to pay for an item (remember, each person charges some sort of shipping and handling for the items, that was a factor in my total cost) and began looking under all the interests of family. I found a lot. I bought N'Sync merchandise for my 14 year old sister-in-law, items that I had never seen in the stores, I bought Raiders merchandise for my brother that were 3x as much in the sports catalogs. I even bought jewelry at about 50% less than store prices. I think the hardest thing about Ebay is paying for the merchandise, even though for some it is very easy, they offer different payment services to aid in payment. They have a program called PayPal which allows the buyer to enter credit card numbers, debit card number, bank accounts numbers which authorize PayPal and so on the access these accounts, the only thing that made me not join this service, is written in a disclaimer the buyer gives up rights to dispute any credit card charges. That did not make me feel comfortable, but PayPal stated that this is not true and I have contacted Ebay regarding this information.

I don't like giving my credit card, debit card, or checking account number to individuals or companies I have not used before, I do trust the site Ebay and their sister PayPal, but you have to be very careful in this computer age of who is getting this vital information. I chose to pay with a money order to receive the merchandise faster then a personal check which most sellers hold for 14 days before they ship the merchandise. I recently bought a silver necklace for myself and chose to pay with check because it is something not needed right away. The turn around time in receiving the merchandise that I paid with money orders was prompt but I am sure it was slower than paying with credit.

I am still using Ebay and at this point have bids currently out on a printer for the computer, just waiting to see. That seems to be the trick, located something you like, see when the auction end date is, watch the product and made the final bid just about when the auction is ending or you may not make a bid if it has gotten too high. The normal time for a product to be in the auction is 10 days, but others have a BUY NOW option which if you are desperately looking for something you may chose to do. But my thought is, why BUY NOW when I might get it even cheaper waiting, plus when you bid on the item, the BUY NOW option is removed. They let you know how many days, hours, minutes are left until the auction closes.

I would recommend Ebay to anyone interested in a trustworthy auction site.

UPDATE 2003: I have now been using Ebay for 2 years and have had no problems with banking or credit cards. I did find out that PayPal is a "money house", once you have paid for an item, PayPal sends the money to the seller and then "PayPal" goes to your account and pays themselves back, this was more of a positive knowing that all of the sellers were not having access to my account.

A few words of caution. 1) Be sure to know what the original price for an item is before bidding on that same item on Ebay. I did this "no no" and purchased a 4oz bottle of Victoria Secret Dream Angels lotion for 13.00(including s/h) and then went to the Victoria Secret web site later so see how much of a "deal" I got. I found out that an 8oz bottle is 18.00. The 2.5oz and 4oz bottles were actually giveaways in promotions. I become very wise in this regard and have found a lot of items that are way over priced by sellers on ebay. With the printer that I mention above, I eventually went to HP and bought the printer and a digital camera package for less than the printer alone on Ebay. 2) Be aware of the shipping and handling. Some Ebay sellers will charge a low price for the item but will kill you in the shipping and handling and in the end they are not charging you the shipping and handling costs but more, so when it all comes down to it, you are paying the same price or higher as you would to go to the store. 3) Some Ebay sellers will tell you that you pay exact shipping costs, well in the incident with the lotion, I paid 4.00 shipping and handling and the envelope it came in was marked 1.45.

Just a couple more helpful hints to make your bidding experience a truly great one!

UPDATE 12-2003
Well, my experience gets nothing but better with Ebay. I have used it again this year to purchase hard to find Christmas presents and have found nothing but deals and steals. Here is an example... Handspring now makes a PDA that is color and runs around 250.00 or so, depending on where you purchase it. I found one on Ebay, used, but the person selling it only used it 2 times and her company ended up providing them to their employees. I got it for 63.00, it works great and was delivered in 3 days from the time I paid for it.

I don't know what more to tell you about the site, I still have not had any problems with Ebay.

Another word of warning, I know it has been talked about on the television and the radio, but I have received over the past several weeks, a number of emails stating they are from Ebay and that 1) "my account is causing corruption on the site", or 2) "my account information is ready to expire" etc. These emails are completely and absolutely bogus. Ebay does not ask for you account information to be updated, the only information that Ebay houses is your user name and password. PayPal houses all of your credit card and banking information. Ebay will never send anything via email for an account update where you must enter your personal credit card or banking information. PayPal has also stated the same thing. Their systems are so high tech that you will never need to update this information unless you the buyer/seller changes it. Don't ever respond to these emails or enter any information into these emails.

If I run into anything else, I will post it.
Thanks for reading!

UPDATE March 2005

I just went back and scanned my review of Ebay over the past 4'ish years. Wow so much I have learned. I now longer pay with Money Orders if I don't have too. If a seller required a Cashier's Check or Money Order, I spend a little extra money and send it certified, return receipt mail. I do know some people who have sent these types of payments via normal mail, the seller states they never received it, but in a month, when your able to track either one of those two payment types, found they had been cashed. Luckily for them, Ebay/PayPal which are now one company have a program called Safe Harbor, this allows those individuals who have been deceived by a seller to get all but $25 back of their purchase.

I have chosen to use PayPal and do most of my transactions with my debit/credit card. I have at times used bank transfer, depending on how fast I need the merchandise. I, to date, have had no issues with either one of these forms of payment.

A point of interest - this I would say is really first time I have felt ripped off by a seller when it comes to their shipping price.

I just this week purchased a used power supply for a Microsoft XBox for my nephew. The seller stated that the XBox was more new than used and that it was removed due to another part of the machine not working. The opening bid was $25 and the seller stated he would only charge me what it costs to ship, no handling fees to my zip code. So in my experience with other items purchased, I figured shipping would probably run about $5-$7 for the item and maybe a little more if he offered insurance. I had surfed the Internet for new power supplies and found they ran about $40-$50. Always looking for the best deal I continued with the auction. Now normally I don't buy from anyone unless they list the shipping or shipping and handling price but this time I thought my knowledge was accurate. Once the auction closed and he emailed me the final price, he charged me $20 to ship this very lightweight item.

Now, I need this item for my nephew's birthday so I don't want to leave any feedback about the item until after I receive it and make sure it works, because he does offer a 30-day money back guarantee. Once I know this is what I was looking for and works, my feedback will be positive, but will also mention the high shipping cost that he charged.

Just to retouch on subjects previous.

* Remember to always know your price. Research items to make sure that with the auction price and with either shipping or shipping and handling you are really getting the best deal.

* Read the sellers previous feedbacks. You do this by simply clicking on the number next to their seller ID. This will bring up their entire history and give you a percent of how many positives they have received. It will also tell you how many negatives, positives and neutrals they have received over a wide day span.

* If paying for items other than through PayPal, remember to send it certified mail. This protects you from a possible seller who states it was never received. Here is one main reason I touched on this item. At Christmas 2004 I bought for my brother some rare Insane Clown Posse shot glasses. Paying for them through PayPal and I kept getting a rejection stating "This Seller can no longer accept payment through PayPal" I tried emailing the seller to inform him of the issue, no response. I then went back and carefully read the auction description and notice he accepted personal checks if the auction plus s/h was under $20 dollars. So I wrote the check and sent it certified. Trying over the next several days to contact him through email and failing, I went into his feedback history and notice that his 99% positive feedback rating when I placed my bet on the item, had dropped to about 75%, just in a matter of several days. I began to worry, not that my payment would not be received, but I really want the glasses for my brother. After about a week I received my certified receipt showing the company had signed for the payment. I waited 7 days following, still no glasses. I emailed the seller and simply stated, I know you received my payment via certified mail, it has now cleared the bank, where is my merchandise. I within 3 days after the email, received them. Use this only if you have to, but protect yourself, just in case.

I still would recommend this site for those looking for a great deal - I have received many, such as a very large tote bag for 10.00 with s/h, I also got a dress and jacket set for 5.00 with s/h. The deals are out there you just have to take the time to search for them.

Thanks for reading, will keep you posted.