Ebay -- going.... going.... SOLD! Find YOUR treasure at Ebay.com
Written: Sep 24, 2002
| Notification Services: |
 |
|
| Trustworthiness of Sellers: |
|
|
| Selection: |
 |
|
| Search and Navigation: |
|
|
|
| Full Review |
Ah Ebay, what a fun site! If you are looking for something you can't find anywhere else, Ebay just might have it!
In the past, I have ordered an Eiffel Tower from Paris for my daughter's collection, hard to find toys, books, a checkbook cover and even a couple of paintings. I have NEVER had an order not arrive (although once I had to write a few emails) nor have I had an item not be as represented. I may have been lucky but it has given me the desire to keep going back!
WHAT THE SITE IS
Ebay is a huge auction site where you can sell OR buy just about anything!
In order to use the Ebay site you must first register. This is where you will pick a user name that will identify you when you bid or sell.
When you are new, there is a pair of sunglasses by your name. There is also a number which indicates how many transactions you have completed.
After each transaction, feedback is exchanged. This feedback is available for all viewers to see and is a good indication as to how YOUR transaction will go with them as well! If someone has 30 feedback statements and 28 of them are negative, stating that the merchandise took 3 months to be delivered, it goes to stand that if you choose to bid on an auction by that person and win, YOUR merchandise is likely to take three months as well.
Feedback is given by AND to both the buyer and seller. When you are a seller, it is nice to look at the feedback of your buyer and see feedback that states they are prompt payers. And of course, it is just as nice as the buyer to read feedback about the seller stating the items were just as described and delivered quickly.
Ebay charges a fee to sellers ~ based on the starting bid's price AND the final amount paid. The higher these are, the more the seller pays.
For example, a starting price of under $9.99 cost .30 cents, $10-$25 is .55 cents and this goes up to $3.30 for items with a starting price of $200.00 and above.
That amount is then added to the amount charged based on the selling price. This is a percentage amount and and is a minimum of 5.25% which is used for items that sell for $25.00 or less. If the item sells for OVER $25 Ebay charges the 5.25% on the first $25 ($1.31) and then another 2,75% on the remaining closing value of items UP to $1,000 and another 1.25% on the remaining balance OVER $1,000.
So, if a seller puts an item in at a starting bid of $1.00 that sells for $25.00 she would be charge .30 cents based on the starting bid and then $1.31 (5.25%) for a total fee of $1.61 charged to the buyer by Ebay.
There are different prices for real estate, timeshares and vehicles which are listed on their site.
MY LATEST EXPERIENCE
I needed well, I WANTED a CD. Not just any CD a specific one ~ Footsteps in the Dark by Cat Stevens
I own other Cat Stevens CD's but I wasn't even aware this one existed! We were watching Harold and Maude which is made even better by the great Cat Stevens soundtrack.
When the movie first came out, I tried to buy the soundtrack only to find out that one was never made. Fast forward MANY years later to a few weeks ago to the day after we watched Harold and Maude. I am shopping online for a few things at Amazon and type in Cat Stevens since I can't get Ruth Gordon singing "if you want to be me, be me" out of my head!
And, that's when I found it ~ ALL of the soundtrack songs were on Footsteps in the Dark and I had to have it! Only trouble was, Amazon did not have any in stock and I couldn't find it either online or at a brick and mortar store. So........ I headed over to Ebay!
I used the search option and typed in Cat Stevens which brought up over 450 results! So, then I went back and typed in Footsteps in the Dark and got it down to 6 results with one actually being Errol Flynn: Footsteps in the Dark
I then went in and checked on two things ~ 1. if they took PayPal as a payment and 2. what they were charging for shipping.
I prefer to pay for auctions using PayPal ~ it is both easier and faster. By using PayPal I can send my payment in a couple of minutes and therefore have my items shipped faster.
There were a couple with starting bids of $14.99 while the rest had starting bids under a dollar. After going through the choices I bid on the one with a low starting bid, the lowest shipping cost that also accepted PayPal.
There was already a bid made (50 cents) and I put in a bid
of UP TO $2.01. This meant my bid would come in at the lowest amount (.75 cents) but I would stay in until it reached $2.01. I was the high bidder at $2.00!
This lasted two days until I was outbid (I got an email telling me this) so I went in and placed a bid of up to $9.00. I remained the high bidder at $6.30 with it ending late that night.
When I got up, there was an email from Ebay telling me I had WON the auction!
Within a few hours, I received an email from the seller congratulating me and giving me the his information so I could send a payment.
I went to my PayPal account and sent $9.30 for the $6.30 CD cost and the added $3.00 for shipping.
Within an hour, I got an email from the seller telling me he had received my payment and would be sending my CD out the next day.
He had also went right in and added a positive feedback under my name about my quick payment.
Within a couple of days my CD arrived ~ it was well packaged and in perfect condition! Another flawless Ebay experience! :o)
~~ ** ~~ ** ~~ 2BUZY'S FINAL THOUGHTS ON THIS SITE ~~ ** ~~ ** ~~
I have had great experiences using Ebay and therefore I WOULD RECOMMEND using it.
You can find just about anything here and if you have something to sell, you can make some money here as well.
I would suggest that before you place a bid, that you CAREFULLY read the description of the product, the feedback written about the buyer, check the shipping amount and the methods of payment. That way, there
shouldn't be any surprises!
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
About the Author
Location: In front of the computer!
Reviews written: 381
Trusted by: 287 members
About Me: "I'm for a stronger death penalty." - President George Bush
|
