Online eBay Shopping
From LoveToKnow Online
With online eBay shopping, it's possible to buy anything from antiques to video games at a price you determine.
eBay Auctions
It's difficult to even begin to list the sheer variety of products available through online eBay shopping. Auctions are available with new and used products, whatever your preference. You can find common, everyday items you might buy at the local mall alongside rare collectibles and one-of-a-kind art pieces.
Searching
A search bar is conveniently located near the top of each page to begin your online eBay shopping. You can search the entire site or within a single category. Choose "advanced search" to further refine your query. If you're not looking for anything specific, you can also browse categories and subcategories. Start with crafts and branch out into bead art or crocheting, or begin at musical instruments and then check out the harmonica selection.
Bidding
In order to bid on an auction, you must first create an eBay account. Simply click on the register link, enter your contact information, and make sure that you provide a working email address. You will receive a confirmation email from eBay, and you must click on the link inside that message to activate your account. You're ready to bid.
Bidding on eBay works through proxy bidding, meaning that bids can be made on your behalf. For example, if you're bidding on a book, and the starting bid is 99 cents, you can bid 99 cents. You will then be the high bidder, and you will receive notification if anyone outbids you. If you decide that you're willing to pay up to five dollars for the book, you could also start with a bid of five dollars. Your bid will actually start at 99 cents until someone else places another bid. If another buyer comes along and bids two dollars, the system will bid on your behalf and top that two-dollar bid. You will still be the high bidder with a bid of slightly over two dollars, depending on the auction's bidding increments. However, if that second bidder put in a bid of six dollars, he or she would then be the new high bidder, with an amount just over your five-dollar bid.
Once you've had some experience with [http:www.ebay.com eBay] auctions, you'll probably find you have a preferred bidding style. Some bidders will bid their maximum days before an auction's end. Others prefer to raise their bids incrementally over time. One bidding strategy is called sniping. You wait until the last few seconds to place your final bid, sometimes with the assistance of software, with the idea of not giving other bidders a chance to react and counterbid. Sniping is sometimes necessary to win highly-sought items.
Shipping
Shipping costs are listed in each auction and can vary greatly from seller to seller depending on method of shipment, size and weight of your purchase and how much of a handling fee the seller has worked into the fee structure. Shipping is a necessary cost of ordering online, but you should always be aware of shipping charges, so you don't accidentally spend more than planned.
Paying
Payments terms should be listed clearly in each auction. While a few sellers will still take a check or have an independent credit card processing system, most eBay sellers require PayPal payments. PayPal is a subsidiary of eBay, so it is the preferred payment of the site, and you can even find a link to sign up for a new account on the eBay homepage.
Non-Auction Online eBay Shopping
When most shoppers think of online eBay shopping, they think of auctions. However, eBay has a number of fixed price possibilities. Some auctions offer a "buy it now" option. On these auctions, sellers have set a price they are willing to accept for their items and forgo the entire auction process. You can only take advantage of "buy it now" when there are no bids on an auction; it disappears with the first placed bid. Recently, more and more "auctions" have been appearing with only a "buy it now" price.
Other eBay fixed price offerings appear in the eBay stores. When you perform a search, the results from stores will appear after the auction listings, or you can visit them directly from the link on the homepage sidebar. Another set-price option is Half.com, an eBay-owned site offering used books, music, DVDs and video games. While eBay links to Half.com from its homepage, you won't find Half.com in your product searches.
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This page has been accessed 1,093 times. This page was last modified 07:10, 6 April 2006.
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