It’s the Christmas aftermath and you’re surrounded by unwanted DVDs and oversized jumpers. If you can’t face battling through the high street, eBay can provide a more tranquil way to dispose of unwanted gifts or snap up that coveted item that failed to appear in your stocking. Since eBay launched 10 years ago it has built up a global user base of 168m. It now sells a car every two minutes and a CD every seven seconds.
So what is eBay?
EBay is an online auction website that operates in 33 countries on which you can register as a buyer or seller and trade almost anything.
How do I get started?
First you need to register on www.ebay.co.uk. Complete the online registration which will ask you for a user name, password, e-mail address and a credit or debit card for verification purposes. This process does not cost anything.
How do I buy goods on eBay?
You can browse the vast number of items available by category or search for something specific. Once you find what you are looking for click on the item for more details, bid information, payment methods and postage costs.
If you want to buy the item it’s time to place a bid. You can either bid once and keep returning to make higher bids if necessary or enter into a proxy bidding system, whereby you enter the maximum you want to pay and eBay will do the bidding for you. You can also enter the item into a watch list, which will e-mail you a reminder when the bid is coming to an end. All bids are binding.
You often also have the opportunity to buy an item there and then at a price set by the seller and thereby avoid a bidding frenzy.
How do I pay?
About 90 per cent of payment is done through PayPal – eBay’s money transfer network. This is the most secure way to pay but you can sometimes also pay by cheque or cash.
How do I sell my stuff?
You need to create a seller’s account online, for which you have to provide credit/debit card details and bank account information for verification purposes. You then follow the listing instructions, giving product details, the duration of your listing – from one to 10 days – and the starting and reserve price if you want to set one. You have to pay a listing fee, which depends on the item’s value and is a maximum of £3. If the item is sold, you pay eBay a final value fee which will be around 5.25 per cent of the closing price.
What can I buy/sell?
Almost anything. Favourite categories include clothes and shoes, musical instruments, electronics and collectables but the choice of products is endless. The most expensive item sold on the site to date was a Gulfstream aircraft for $4.9m. Other items have included the football that David Beckham kicked when he missed a penalty in the Euro 2004 competition, which sold for £18,700 and Ronan Keating’s leather trousers, which sold for £5,000.
Are there any banned items?
You cannot trade anything illegal, shares and securities, air tickets, football tickets, fireworks and animals.
What happens if I don’t receive my goods or payment or the product is not what I was expecting?
If you pay for goods and don’t receive them or are not satisfied with them you should first contact the seller. Most sellers will replace or refund the item, although this is at their discretion.
When you pay by PayPal you will generally be insured for up to £500 for goods that do not arrive or do not fit the description. Look on the site for the PayPal buyer protection shield. If you cannot rectify the problem with the seller, the best thing to do is give the seller negative feedback and report them to eBay. EBay’s feedback system is the most important way to assess a seller or buyer. It grades every trader and lists their transaction history and comments from previous buyers or sellers. If someone has received negative feedback, you should generally steer clear of trading with them.
What can I do to make sure I get a good deal?
■If you are a buyer: always read the terms and conditions laid out by the seller and get in touch with the seller directly to ask any questions. Look around the site to see how much similar products are going for and make sure you check the seller’s feedback.
EBay has banned transactions using Western Union money transfers as there is a high risk of fraud and it is hard to trace. If a seller wants this type of payment, shop elsewhere.
For high-value goods you could pay for an escrow service. This holds on to your money until you receive the product and then releases it to the seller.
■If you are a seller: eBay advises you to write an open and honest description of the product and start the bidding at 99p, with no reserve as this helps lure buyers in. However, if you are concerned that your goods could be sold at too low a price you can set a reserve price. If the reserve is not reached, your goods are not sold.
What should I watch out for?
EBay connoisseurs often wait until the dying minutes of an auction to make their bids so be careful about missing out at the very end or getting carried away with the final scramble and overpaying.
Also be wary of sellers that try to take you off the site to complete the transaction privately. This is where most fraud is conducted and your purchase will not be insured.
