EBay for Dummies (21 page)

Item location:
This field tells you at the very least the country where the seller is located, and you may also see more specific info, such as the city and geographic area where the seller is. (What you see depends on how detailed the seller wants to be.)

Factor in the geographic location of a seller when you consider bidding on an item. Knowing the exact location of an item can help you quickly calculate approximately how long it will take for the item to get to you. (Chapter 10 tackles that subject.) Also, if you buy from someone in your own state, you may also have to pay sales tax on your purchase. If the item is in Australia, for example, and you’re in Vermont, you may decide that you don’t really need that wrought-iron doorstop. (Remember,
you
pay the shipping charges.)

Watch This Item:
Click this link to magically add the item to the Watch section of your My eBay page. From there, you can keep an eye on the progress of the auction — without bidding. If you haven’t signed in, you have to type your user ID and password before you can save the auction to your My eBay page.

Be sure to use the Watch This Item feature. Organization is the name of the game on eBay, especially if you plan to bid on multiple auctions while you’re running auctions of your own. I figure you’re in the bidding game to win, so start keeping track of items now.

Share:
You can tip off a friend on a good find, get some advice from an antiques or collecting expert, or run the auction by a friend who’s been around the eBay block a few times, and ask for strategy advice. (You find this link below the Seller Info box).

Print:
If you’d like to print a copy of the listing for reference, click here to get an abbreviated version of the page.

If you want a complete printout of a listing, use the print feature of your Internet browser. That way you will get the entire description for your records.

Get alerts:
Using a sniping service is more my style, but Get alerts is great for those do-it-yourselfers out there. If you really enjoy the thrill of the bid, the Get alerts option enables you to receive a notification if you’re outbid and (or) when the auction is about to end. You will see this option on a page only after you’ve placed a bid. There are three versions of notices:

• Text messages:
You can get a text message directly to your cellphone. You will be charged $0.25 for up to ten messages per item. After ten messages for an item, the charges increase another $0.25 for the next ten messages. The charges appear on your mobile phone bill as eBay services.

Keep in mind that unless you have unlimited text messaging service on your cellphone, you can also be charged for receiving a text message.

•
Instant messages:
You can opt to receive an IM on your own account from AIM (AOL Instant Messenger), Yahoo! Messenger, MSN Messenger, or Skype. You’re not charged for the IM service, so if you have a Blackberry or a Sidekick and you don’t want to miss any bidding action, this could be a great option for you. Also, with the IM service, you can bid again from a link that comes along with the Outbid alert.

• E-mails:
Yes, Good old fashioned e-mails can be sent to you for these notifications as well!

To let eBay know how you’d like to receive your notifications, go to your My eBay page. Select My Account and Notification Preferences. Fill in your preferences there.

Seller Info:
This area gives you links to information about the seller.
Know thy seller
ranks right after
caveat emptor
as a phrase that pays on eBay. As I tell you nearly a million times in this book,
read the feedback rating!
(Okay, maybe not a million — it would drive the editors bonkers.) Human beings come in all shapes, sizes, and levels of honesty, and like any community, eBay has its share of good folks and bad folks. Your best defense is to read the seller’s feedback. You’ll see several things in the Seller Info box (as shown in Figure 6-5).

Feedback rating:
This is the number next to the seller’s ID. Click the number to view his or her eBay ID card and entire feedback history. Read, read, and reread all the feedback (hey, I’m one feedback reference closer to a million!) to make sure you feel comfortable doing business with this person. Clicking the link (or the Read Feedback Profile link) will allow you to view the following information:

•
Positive feedback percentage:
The eBay computers cipher this figure. It’s derived from all the positive and negative feedback that a user receives.

•
Read Feedback Profile:
Clicking here will do the same thing as clicking the number next to the seller’s ID.

•
Ask seller a question:
Clicking this link hooks you up with eBay’s e-mail system. You can ask the seller a question regarding the item here. Clicking the tiny telephone receiver icon (if available) will begin a Skype voice call to the seller. Clicking the tiny Chat icon will open a chat window with the seller if he or she is online.

•
View seller’s other items:
This link takes you to a page that lists all the seller’s current auctions and fixed-price sales.

If the seller has an eBay store, a link to it appears next. I give you a step-by-step guide on how these links work later in this chapter.

Description tab:
You see a tabbed bar of one to three tabs. The opening (default) is the Description tab. The other two tabs are the Shipping and Payments tab and, in some cases, the Related Items and Services tab. Scroll down and always read the entire item description information carefully
before
bidding.

Shipping and Payments tab:
Click this tab, shown in Figure 6-6, to see the details on shipping. You see

• Who pays (remember that on eBay, it’s usually the buyer).

• Whether insurance is offered.

• Which states have to pay sales tax (if any).

• Whether the seller is willing to ship to your area. (Sometimes sellers won’t ship internationally, and they’ll let you know here.)

Also, always check the item description for other shipping information and terms.

If the item doesn’t have flat price shipping, the seller may have conveniently included eBay’s shipping calculator in this area. eBay knows your zip code, so you’re presented with the shipping cost to your location.

The Payment details area tells you the payment methods that the seller accepts: PayPal, Moneybookers, Paymate, Propay, or their own merchant credit card service. Often, you are directed to read the item description for more details. I explain how to read item descriptions later in this chapter.

Related Items and Services:
Click this tab and eBay may list similar items to the item you’re viewing. Or they may not; it’s catch as catch can.

Beating the Devil in the Details

As with any sale — whether you find it at Joe’s Hardware, Bloomingdale’s, or Target — carefully check out what you’re buying. The item page gives you links to help you know what you’re bidding on — and who you’re potentially buying from. If you take advantage of these features, you won’t have many problems. But if you ignore these essential tips, you may end up unhappy with what you buy, who you buy it from, and how much you spent.

Read the item description carefully

The
item description
is the most critical item on the auction item page. This is where the seller lists the details about the item being sold. Read this page carefully and pay very close attention to what is, and
isn’t,
written.

Don’t judge a book by its cover — but do judge a seller by his or her item description. If the sentences are succinct, detailed, and well structured, you’re most likely dealing with an individual who planned and executed the listing with care. It takes time and effort to post a good listing. If you see huge lapses in grammar, convoluted sentences, and misspellings,
you may be gonna get burnt!
Make sure that you feel comfortable dealing with this person; decide for yourself whether he or she is out to sell junk for a quick buck or is selling on eBay for the long term.