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jams_r1
FeedbackonShoes.xlsShoes
| ID | Site | Review | Coding | Codes | Theme | Frequency | % |
| 1 | 32 | Every Aspect Of My Online Experience Was PERFECT! | |||||
| 2 | 32 | Zappos.com -- A Store that Fits Just Right | |||||
| 32 | They are so service oriented that I almost feel guilty. | ||||||
| 32 | Fastest and Easiest and Best Shoe Store On-line! | ||||||
| 32 | A++ Customer service, website, & everything in between! | ||||||
| 32 | Great selection, well designed site, not great fulfillment | ||||||
| 32 | Super Shoe Store Excellent Customer Service | ||||||
| 32 | Good Selection of Hard-to-Find Sizes, Friendly Customer Service | ||||||
| 32 | Everything about Zappos is great | ||||||
| 32 | Great place to shop for shoes online! | ||||||
| 32 | Best online shopping experience to date | ||||||
| 32 | The easiest pair of shoes I've ever bought! | ||||||
| 32 | Site is easy to navigate and most shipping is free! | ||||||
| 32 | Hassle Free Shopping | ||||||
| 32 | Excellent! Will definitely order from Zappos.com again. | ||||||
| 32 | What More Could I Ask For? | ||||||
| 32 | Be careful if you have to return or exchange! | ||||||
| 32 | I love zappos.com. I searched... | ||||||
| 32 | I buy all my shoes... | ||||||
| 32 | I ordered purple Diesel shoes... | ||||||
| 32 | I ordered shoes from Zappos.com... | ||||||
| 32 | Ordered several shoes to be... | ||||||
| 32 | Bought the new(old) Converse Weapon.... | ||||||
| 32 | I ordered the Ecco City... | ||||||
| 32 | Very bad customers service! | ||||||
| 32 | Second to none. Fantastic. | ||||||
| 32 | Zappos had free shipping so... | ||||||
| 32 | Fast, Easy, Respectful and Very Impressive. | ||||||
| 32 | Fast shipping...okay prices....good selection | ||||||
| 32 | Zappos.com went above and beyond any expectations I could have had for them. | ||||||
| 32 | Best Online Shopping Experience Anywhere | ||||||
| 32 | Excellent service! Very responsive to the customer's needs! | ||||||
| 32 | Great selection, great shoes! | ||||||
| 32 | Best online shopping experience ever + free upgraded shipping | ||||||
| 32 | Excellent Shopping Experience!! Fastest Delivery I've ever had! | ||||||
| 32 | Quick, affordable, easy, great web site, huge selection | ||||||
| 32 | The best online shopping experience I ever had!!! | ||||||
| 32 | Based on one experience (so far), this is a GREAT store | ||||||
| 32 | GREAT! | ||||||
| 32 | If you want shoes, this is the place to buy 'em. | ||||||
| 32 | THE BEST ONLINE SHOPPING EXPERIENCE!!! | ||||||
| 32 | GREAT! | ||||||
| 32 | I'd shop there again. | ||||||
| 32 | 5 STARS! Never buy from a traditional retail shoe store again! | ||||||
| 32 | Never Again | ||||||
| 32 | Great service, great shoes | ||||||
| 32 | Excellent service | ||||||
| 32 | CUTSOMER SERVICE was great!!! | ||||||
| 32 | The best online shoestore. | ||||||
| 32 | Best on line shoe store to date. | ||||||
| 32 | best online experience ever | ||||||
| 32 | No other online retailer even comes close to Zappos on service. | ||||||
| 32 | Met and exceeded my expectations - I'll be back! | ||||||
| 32 | Zappos is fast and friendly | ||||||
| 32 | An Excellent Online Shoe Shopping Option! | ||||||
| 32 | Unbelievable POOR customer service. Zappos is a RIP-OFF | ||||||
| 32 | My New Favorite Online Shoe Store! | ||||||
| 32 | Wonderful, Easy, THE BEST!! | ||||||
| 32 | FAST BARGAINS, FREE SHIPPING | ||||||
| 32 | Wonderful! | ||||||
| 32 | The best online shopping experience ever! | ||||||
| 32 | Excellent customer service | ||||||
| 32 | Excellent. Will buy from Zappos again | ||||||
| 32 | Incredible service. You won't be disappointed. | ||||||
| 32 | The service and communications with Zappos are both supper! |
&A
Page &P
EBay
| ID | Site | Review | Coding | Codes | Theme | Notification |
| 1 | 48 | THE premier auction site! I've been buying/selling on Ebay for years, and I've run into one buyer who didn't send me my purchase (a $4 pair of earrings). However, since the purchase was under $25, Ebay basically gave me a hard time and I had to write it off as a loss. Research your sellers VERY CAREFULLY! They have "feedback" which previous sellers leave. If your item doesn't look like what was promised, or you don't receive it, don't hesitate to leave appropriate feedback (this is different from leaving negative feedback out of vengefullness or spite, which is just plain wrong/idiotic). ALWAYS check that feedback. <br><br>However, it's a great place to shop for presents (as long as you buy well BEFORE their birthday, to avoid slow shipping...it happens, and sometimes the mail is just SLOW). My husband collects Zippo lighters, and I've been able to find some great lighters for an unbelievably low price--all new (many stores sell their overstock on Ebay; most of the items I buy from Ebay are still in the original packaging). My niece loves Hello Kitty, and I've been able to surprise her with a different Hello Kitty doll every year, thanks to Ebay. I could never find these in the local stores.<br><br>There is a fee to sell items, but it's minimal (I think $.50 is the lowest you can get), and if you're selling a pair of shoes for $20, that $.50 fee won't break you. If you're going to sell, try not to stick to low-priced items, otherwise the Ebay fees will eat at you. If you plan to sell books for $1 each, for example, try to add some higher-priced items in with that, to make it worthwhile.<br><br>In closing, Ebay's a great place to shop. But be careful, because as with any business, there ARE people out there to take you for a ride! But with the feedback system, they can't stay hidden for long, so CHECK THAT FEEDBACK!<br> <br> <b>Recommended</b><br> Yes<br> <br><b>What product did you purchase or try to purchase?</b> Last purchase--leather purse | Please use the formula CountIf() to calculate frequency for each theme category. Please calculate the percentage of each category to the total. Please also create a graph of your statistical analysis results. If you see a feedback contains several themes, you can split it into several according the number of themes contained. | |||
| 2 | 48 | I have been an Ebay member for five years now. Ebay is something that most people have heard of. When I'm talking to folks who don't know what it is (like my Grandpa for example) I explain to them that it is much like a garage sale, but on the computer. Sellers have auctions that people bid on and buy things. The great thing is that so many people use this service that you are able to sell things with millions of people looking at the auctions and you can purchase unique things that you may not be able to find locally.<br><br><b>Seller Information:</b><br><br><i>Fees:</i><br><br>Ebay charges an insertion fee to list your auction. If your item does not sell then you are still charged the insertion fee. However, you can re-list your item for a second time and if it sells then the second insertion fee is refunded. If your item does not sell for the second time you are out of luck and are out of pocket the fee for listing two auctions. The insertion fee is based on the amount of the starting price of your auction. For items that you start under $1.00 the fee is .30. The fee goes up from there based on the amount for a maximum insertion fee of $4.80 (additional fees for items listed under Ebay motors or Ebay Real Estate). Then when the auction closes another fee is charged, which is called a final value fee. This depends on the closing price of the auction. If it ends at less than $25 the fee is 5.25% of the closing price. If the closing amount is more than that the percentage goes down based on the amount. <br><br>With each auction listing you get to show one free picture. After that the fee is .15 per picture. I usually use the one free picture with Ebay. Then I would like to show additional pictures of the item for sale I use my image hosting service that is called <a href="/content_121868881540">Inkfrog</a>. Having a picture with your auction listing will increase your chances of selling the item and getting a higher price. People want to see what they are buying.<br><br>There are other fees that can be charged for various things that you can add to your auction such as featured auction, highlight, border, subtitle, gallery or buy it now. Normally I don't use the extra services because I try to keep my fees as low as possible.<br><br><i>Duration of Auctions:</i><br><br>You decide how long to run the auction for. You can pick one day, three days, five days, seven days or ten days. There is an additional .20 fee if you chose the ten day option. Normally I have all of my auctions for the seven day period. That is the longest you can run an auction without paying an additional fee.<br><br>If you are listing your auctions, but would like them to start at a later day you can pick the schedule option as well. There is a .10 fee per auction that you schedule. You can pick the date and the time to start the auction.<br><br><i>Ways You Can Sell:</i><br><br>You can list your items in a normal auction that is listed for one-ten days depending on what you pick. During a normal auction you can add the buy it now option for an additional .05 charge. This is where you start the auction out at a certain price, but if someone wants to end the auction early they can at a price that you set. Or you can sell your item at a fixed price where people do not bid, but can only buy at the price you set. <br><br><i>Misc. Sellers Info:</i><br><br>If you want to sell on Ebay you must first register with them. It is free to register. After you are signed up you will go to the section that says "Sell". It will take you to a sell your item that will guide you through doing the listing. It is easy to use. If you have a problem with something there is a help section at Ebay that I have went to many times when I have had questions. <br><br><b>Buyers Info:</b><br><br>When looking for a particular item you can go to search and type the item that you are looking for. Or you can look at items by the category that it is in. You need to look at the item good and if you have any questions be sure and email the seller. There is an "ask seller a question" link on each auction where you can get in touch with the seller through Ebay's mail system. <br><br>You also need to look at the seller's feedback very carefully. Feedback is left on a buyer or seller when the transaction is complete. This is like an Ebay member's report card. You can leave a comment for each transaction that you have and that comment must be labeled positive, negative or neutral. You want to be very careful when looking over the feedback. If a seller has 42 negatives for not sending out the item or having crappy items you know that is someone you don't want to deal with.<br><br>You then place a bid for the maximum amount you want to spend. If the auction is listed at a fixed price or has a buy it now price that you would like to pay you can end the auction immediately. Be sure and read all of the terms on the auction carefully. If the seller says that they don't take personal checks you don't want to get into a disagreement with them because they won't take your personal check. It is best to read all of the seller's terms and conditions so that you know what to expect up front and know what you are agreeing to. <br><br>Normally when I win an auction I will complete the Ebay checkout which sends my name and address to the seller. I then wait for the seller to contact me with payment instructions if it is not listed on the auction. Many times the seller will take Paypal and I can pay immediately when the auction ends. If they do take Paypal I send the payment right then or I wait to get instructions from the seller if the payment information is not included on the auction.<br><br><b>Categories at Ebay:</b><br><br>There is such a huge variety of things that you can buy or sell at Ebay. The categories at Ebay are the following: Antiques, Art, Books, Business & Industrial, Cameras & Photo, Cars, Parts & Other Vehicles, Clothes, Shoes & Accessories, Coins, Collectibles, Computers & Networking, Electronics, Crafts, Dolls & Bears, DVDs & Movies, Entertainment Memorabilia, Gift Certificates, Health & Beauty, Home & Garden, Jewelry & Watches, Music, Musical Instruments, Pottery & Glass, Real Estate, Sporting Goods, Sports Mem, Cards, Stamps, Tickets, Toys & Hobbies, Travel and Video Games. <br><br>You can find most anything at Ebay.<br><br><b>Final Thoughts:</b><br><br>I really do love Ebay. I enjoy making a little extra money through Ebay and I also enjoy buying things from there. It is great for people to make extra income from the comfort of their own home. It's nice to be able to work on it at 2 am in your pajamas with no makeup. You set your own schedule and do it as much or as little as you like. <br><br>I have been able to find a variety of things at Ebay that I could not find locally. I have found books and CDs that were out of print. I added to my John Ritter movie collection from Ebay. I have bought jewelry and Christmas gifts. My son is now starting a hat pin collection and I hope to find some cool baseball pins for his hat. <br><br>Between buying and selling I have done literally several thousand transactions. Most of the transactions have went very smoothly and have not had any problems. There have been a few times when I've wanted to pull my hair out, but for the most part it has been great.<br><br>Using the site is easy. It guides you through the process. At times I have had to email Ebay about a particular question that I couldn't find the answer to. They usually respond politely within 24 hours. I have also signed up to get announcements sent to me through email. There is usually a couple of times a year that they have a free listing day. I love those days because you can really save a lot of money on your listing fees if you are able to spend the day working on your Ebay stuff. At other times they offer specials such as you can list your items with a gallery picture for .01 instead of the normal .25 fee.<br><br>A great place to find things to sell is at estate sales, local auctions and yard sales. You can sometimes get some really good deals and turn around and sell them on Ebay for a profit. That is always fun. If you enjoy that type of work it is a great business to get into. I am a stay at home mom and at times the Ebay income has helped our family stay afloat.<br><br><b>Other Ebay Related Reviews:</b><br><br><a href="/content_121868881540">Inkfrog.com ~ My Image Hosting Place</a><br><br><a href="/content_119234924164">Bidpay.com ~ A place you can buy Western Union money orders to pay for an auction (free service for sellers)</a><br><br><a href="/content_123055738500">USPS.com ~ estimate your shipping costs before you mail</a><br> <br> <b>Recommended</b><br> Yes<br> <br><b>What product did you purchase or try to purchase?</b> numerous items | ||||
| 3 | 48 | <b><i>eBay</i></b>- What a fun way to buy and sell things! <br> <br>I was introduced to eBay about 2 years ago. The whole concept was foreign to me at the time. So, when a friend asked me to check out the site, I did so with caution. I looked and searched for several days before I actually signed up to become a member.<br><br>Finally I couldn't take it any longer. I had watched everyone having all the fun for too long. I wanted a piece of the action. <br><br>So, I signed up for <b><i>eBay</i></b> and made my very first bid that night. It was so exciting! Here I am, bidding on a pair of brand new shoes that were for half the price that they would have been in the store. And when the screen read, <i>"Auction Over- High Bidder "Patch3boys"</i> I almost came unglued! How fun and easy and look at all the money I saved. So, that is all it took. From there on I proceeded to go on a year buying Spree on <b><i>eBay</i></b>. I got everything from clothes and shoes for my children, to children's software and toys. I had never had so much fun in my life. <br><br>Then about 8 months ago, after my husband suggested that maybe I calm down on the bidding and buying a little bit, LOL! I decided to learn how to sell on <b><i>eBay</i></b>. to my surprise, that was even more fun than buying. I have sold so much stuff on <b><i>eBay</i></b> and have made so much money. I did it for a long time as an addition to our income. I made some extra money to pay bills and buy Christmas presents, as well as get rid of an of the extra "stuff" laying around in my house. <br><br>I have had nothing but good experienced on <b><i>eBay</i></b>. It is a very reputable site and although there is always a chance of finding some loser that might try to take advantage of you, I haven't come across any yet. I have made over a 150 transactions on <b><i>eBay</i></b> and have only had one problem. (And that was when I bided on an item from a first time user, and he was never in contact with me.)<br><br>Below I am going to add some helpful tips for using <b><i>eBay</i></b>, to help make your experience as enjoyable and as prosperous as ever.<br><br><b><i>-Money Orders-</i></b> I have found that by only allowing Money Orders for payment of my auctions, the whole transaction is much faster and much easier. You don't have to wait for a check to clear and haggle with all that. Once the money order is received, you can send out the package and complete the sale.<br><br><b><i>-Shipping-</i></b> Make sure you know how much something is going to cost to ship. I didn't do this very well when I first started to sale things on eBay and it lost me a lot of money. <br><br>What I started to do, is to take my package down to the Post Office and weigh it to find out how much it would cost to ship and then let the bidder know how much this package was going to cost to ship form the start. Or, if it was a small to medium item, I would just charge $3.20 which is what it cost to send something priority mail <i>(Under 5lbs)</i>. <br><br><b><i>-Check Feedback-</i></b> Always check the feedback on a member before bidding on their auction. If you click on the number beside their name, you can read what others have said about their transaction with this person, either good or bad. That way if it is bad, you can avoid that seller and that auction.<br><br><b><i>-Records-</i></b> Always keep records of who you sold what to or bought what from. I opened up a folder in WORD and I would document the following information <i>(the item, the item number, the price + shipping, the persons name, address and email address)</i>. Because if you start to sale or bidding on a lot of different items, this will come in handy to avoid confusion.<br><br><b><i>-Communications-</i></b> Keep good email communications with the person you are doing the transaction with. This will help to show that you are responsible and on top of things and ensure that more people will consider you a trustworthy seller or buyer.<br><br>Also if need be, you are able to get the persons home telephone number by request from <b><i>ebay</i></b> to handle any situation that may arise.<br><br><b><i>-Feedback-</i></b> Always leave feedback for a person after a transaction is complete. This is a way to let the other know that you are happy or "unhappy, if that is the case" with the transaction and will ensure that they leave feedback for you as well.<br><br><br><b><i>Tip-</i></b><br>One little tip that I would like to share with you, is to never bid on something until the end of the auction draws near. If you do, you will end up boosting the price on that auction, that much more quickly. <br><br>Once you are in a "bidding war" it is hard to turn away. You get that feeling, "I am going to win this NO matter what!!!" Instead, try this. Patiently sit back and watch the auction closely. Then when the clock hits 2 minutes left, rush in and bid the highest amount you are willing to pay. Chances are, the auction is yours at this point. Trust me, from someone who has been there a hundred times! <br><br>Other than that, all you need to do is to go have fun! I have yet to find a person that has joined <b><i>eBay</i></b> and decided they didn't like. Only problem is, you have to be careful to not like it <b>too</b> much! As I said earlier in this article, my husband had to give me a gently reminder to stop buying so much! : )<br><br>So what are you waiting for, get over there and join in on the fun!<br>http://www.ebay.com/<br> <br> <b>Recommended</b><br> Yes<br> | ||||
| 4 | 48 | I have to admit I really didnt know much bout Ebay 2 years ago but have since learned. <br>In laymans terms if you dont know much about Ebay , ebay aka http://www.ebay.com is a website for selling and buying virtually anything you can imagine over the internet from such things as socks, shoes all the way up to $200,000 cars and more. Some of my friends started using this service to sell their various wares around and get some useful cash in their pocket, which was my initial point of interest.<br><br>I started playing around with the website and true to any net addiction, next thing I had my very own Ebay account (HURRAH , HURRAH!) although I didnt buy anything off ebay, I was good to go. Fast forward a couple of months ahead, and I start selling stuff on ebay that I have laying around the house and now Im a happy man. From this expericence and continuing buying and selling (in my case selling) theres several things Ebay has going for it over any other online marketplace/auction site on the web.<br><br>Benefits<br>SECURITY<br>Well obviously any website will have good security if your dealing with real money, but ebays security just seems a little ahead of the others and it nearly requires a password for everything you do (which is both a good thing and bad thing) but in the overall spectrum works in its advantage to give people peace of mind over their personal finincial info such as cc number , etc.<br><br>PAGE LAYOUT<br>Ebay has to have one of the best websites visually in terms of its simplicity and overall design layout. It is very easy for any novice to get around ebay with minimal learning and can be mastered so YES EVEN you can become a Ebayer all your own.<br><br>MULTIPLE ways of PAYMENT (Both buying and selling)<br>Other sites give you only 1-2 options, but ebay gives you many depending on the sellers. You can often have the option of payment by paypal.com, money orders, cash , checks and many other useful terms of payment that give this online marketplace an advantage over the rest of the auction/trading marketplace.<br><br>PRODUCTS OFFERED <br>Some sites offer just a certain genre of items to be sold and bought, but not ebay. Ebay covers nearly anything you can imagine can be bought and sold over the internet (well barring the illegal stuff such as drugs etc) and gives it much flexability as such.<br><br>FEEDBACK RATINGS<br>This is bascially a history of the sellers and buyers feedback. If you wanna perhaps get more ppl to buy from you, be prompt in you dealings and courtous and you will get feedback in which you can use to build up an established history of great ebay business. There are 3 forms of feedback(Positive, Negative, and Neutral) Negative feedback is often given for buyers not paying or sellers not giving item or given bad product. So words of wisdom to futer ebayers, be professional in your ebay dealings and the fruit of your labors will be good feedback ratings and a establish feedback history.<br><br>Overall conclusion, In my opinion, this is as the title suggests, the Past, Present and Future of online buying and selling and if you want the best website for buying and or selling your products whatever they may be, you wont go wrong with Ebay.<br> <br> <b>Recommended</b><br> Yes<br> | ||||
| 5 | 48 | Brothers and Sisters, please turn your eBay bibles to page 7, as we read from St. Spongebob_Man1 please feel free to throw out some "Amens!" and "Halleluyahs!" as needed. Thank you Brothers and Sisters, Reverend - you have the podium. <br><br>I'll cover Selling Tips, Buying Tips, and give an overall view of the website itself. <br><br><br>---------------------------------------------------------<br><br><br>I've been on eBay for a while now. I've sold things as big as a bike to as small as a book and shoes. I've turned "junk" into CASH! How nice is that?! I enjoy selling and buying on eBay, it's addicting for some reason. Maybe it's the competition for stuff or the fact that you can get extremely good deals. (Can I get an Amen?!)<br><br>There's a lot of fees (aka - the Devil) you have to watch out for though. Especially, if you actually want to make some money. Watch out if you use PayPal too, they charge lots of fees. I recently sold a cell phone for like $136 and the fee to PayPal alone was over $4! <br><br>Be weary Brothers and Sisters, because even in properly tended grass snakes tend to lurk...I've only had one person not actually go through with a transaction like they said they would. It was a lady that purchased a Motorola Two-Way from me. She asked if I could hold it for two weeks till she got her check, I said no problem. Then she started demanding a belt clip or she wouldn't pay. I filed complaints against her, to what end I don't know eBay never updated me on the results. Luckily though my prayers for justice paid off and I was able to get a Final Fee refund on my account. <br><br><br><b>Selling Tips:</b><br><br>To sell things well you need to have a catchy headline. It is also important that you have a picture for the gallery. It costs like $0.10 more to add the picture to the gallery but it draws in more buyers so it's worth it. Don't pay more for bold letters, it's pretty much a waste of $1.00. <br><br>Be sure to describe <i>exactly</i> what the person is buying. For example, if you're selling a cell phone with accessories don't just say, "You're bidding on a new cell phone with accessories," list it like: <br><br>1 - Nokia 6610<br>1 - Car Charger<br>1 - Home Charger<br>1 - Regular Life Battery<br>1 - Extended Life Battery<br><br>That'll save you and the buyer from potential miscommunication problems which can lead to negative comments on your account or other problems. <br><br>Also, have an extensive description of the condition of the product as well as the features and specs. It's almost like writing an Epinions review. <br><br>When you can, use Reserve prices so you don't lose money on the sell. It costs a little more to use but it's a great way that you'll get a set amount from the sale. Along the same lines, offer the Buy It Now feature it actually gets used quite a bit. Both of these though require that you have at least 10 comments on your account. <br><br>Answer questions from potential buyers! I've written emails on products and never received a response. That's someone I won't buy from. Others have the same idea. <br><br>Don't ship the product until payment has been received. When it comes to checks, make sure they clear before you send them. What I do with personal checks is just cash them. That way if it bounces or something, the bank can't take it back. Using PayPal is a double edged sword. They charge a lot in fees but it's fast and simple to use. <br><br>The most important, <b>be honest and complete all transactions quickly!</b><br><br><i>Recap It - Selling Tips:</i><br><br>- Catchy headline<br>- Use pictures, but not too many<br>- Describe everything included in purchase<br>- List features & specs<br>- Use Reserve prices and the Buy It Now feature<br>- Answer questions<br>- Secure payment before shipping product<br>- Be honest<br>- Complete transactions quickly<br><br><br><br><b>Buying Tips:</b><br><br>The obvious plan is to get the product you want at the cheapest price. Well, no sh^t Sherlock. But how? <br><br>The most often used tactic by eBay buyers is to wait till the last possible minuted to place a bid. It's simple, just add the particular listing to your watching page and check it every once in a while. You literally want to wait till the auction ends in like 1 or 2 minutes to bid. <br><br>Remember, when you enter your bid price that's the amount that you don't want to go over. eBay will automatically raise your bid up to that limit as others place bids also. It's a nifty feature. (Can I get an Amen?!)<br><br>Another way to get low prices is to skip the bidding and utilize the Buy It Now feature. This is offered on accounts that have at least 10 comments on them.<br><br>Bid in odd amounts. For example, if I bid $10.00 for a pair of sunglasses and you bid $10.02 you win. Simple concept, extremely effective. <br><br>Pay promptly, the quicker you pay the quicker you get your product. It's easy and considerate. The final thing to do is, once you receive your product, leave a comment on the sellers account. <br><br><br><i>Recap It - Buying Tips:</i><br><br>- Wait till the last minute to bid<br>- Place your highest bid, eBay will raise on your behalf<br>- Use the Buy It Now feature<br>- Bid in odd amounts<br>- Pay promptly<br>- Leave appropriate comments (negative, neutral, positive)<br><br><br>---------------------------------------------------------<br><br><br><b>eBay:</b><br><br>The website itself is ok. When you first get to the homepage, you may notice that it looks a bit cluttered. (Amen?!) And you may feel like this is an amatuerish looking website - I did. But in any case, eBay's the most popular and arguably the best online auction website available. <br><br>There are always specials and highlighted items available. The categories cover everything from houses to cars to jewelry and movies. Virtually anything you want they'll have. Interestingly, they don't offer firearms. I suppose it is a security/registering consideration. (I have exorcised the demons!) <br><br>I've included some tips on Selling and Buying, eBay also has extensive information on how to be a successful buyer or seller. And of course, many have cashed in on this idea and printed numerous books on the same subjects. <br><br>Navigating the website is fairly simple. It isn't the easiest or most exciting but it gets the job done. The site loads quickly for dial up users as well as broadband users. Purchasing is quick and easy once you have an account set up. eBay is a secure website and of course all transactions are as well. I haven't had any problems with identity theft or unauthorized charges. The search function is extremely good. It'll direct right to what you want. <br><br>eBay is a publicly traded company that has a great reputation for customer satisfaction. On the website there is extensive company information. Investing information is also available. <br><br><br><b>Final Say:</b><br><br>I would recommend using eBay to sell stuff or buy things. You can save yourself a lot of time buy purchasing online and on eBay you also save lots of money! If you're comfortable giving up private information you should do just fine once you've signed up. Just be careful or you may become addicted. And you all know how the Reverend feels about that! <br><br>Let's lift up our hearts to eBay in a moment of silence and give... <i>Thanks For Your Page Views!</i><br><br>I hope this was helpful! (Make that Very Helpful!)<br><br><br> <br> <b>Recommended</b><br> Yes<br> <br><b>What product did you purchase or try to purchase?</b> Lots of stuff. | ||||
| 6 | 48 | <br><br>Ebay is an interesting concept which really works. It is an online flea market, which you can buy and sell anything from shoes, pottery to cars and houses!- and even that speical designer item, you are only limited by what people will sell!! <br><br>Ebay was founded when dot com fever was at it's height within the economy. A couple of years later many dot com's failed, but Ebay has been one of the few that has been extremely successful in recent years. It is a winning concept and encapsulates the well known saying that one mans trash is another mans treasure! Ebay's profits for the last quarter were £54m. Which is an amazing achievement for a company based on such a basic format- it brings the world market to the intended users fingertips! <br><br>Ebay is of particular interest to me as my wife (who has dual UK/US nationality) went to Harvard with Meg Whitman who is the CE of Ebay. (If you are interested they both graduated with MBA's) To this day my wife and Meg are still in contact. Meg has an amazing passion for the company and saw it's potential to be massive. She is extremely experienced and her ideals are firmly set in the ruthless and challenging world of real businesses, having previously held a senior position at Hasbro. She is forever quoting fascinating facts and figures at me such as over a billion items have been sold on ebay. This is astonishing ebays forecast profits for 2003 are £1.2bn. We both have meg to thank for asking us to invest in ebay as we have made large gains from the share price (floatation price 18US now around 90US) <br><br>As a company director myself I consider ebay to be a perfect model of a business. The company holds no stock has no delivery costs and has an excellent cash flow record, as the company has little need for capital expenditure. Instead of being a traditional business it acts as an agent between buyers and sellers to meet and do business with each other on a global scale. It makes its profits from taking what is known as a listing fee from each seller, allowing them to list their items for auction. <br><br>In basic terms anyone, anyone can register themselves and there item on ebay for a small fee. Adding a description and perhaps picture of the item. The item is then placed in an auction and a bidding war begins! The item is sold to the highest bidder on closure of the auction. <br><br>This is a great sight for collectors, people looking for a bargain, or someone looking for a specific and perhaps rare item. With such a large market most tastes and trends of consumer needs can be catered for. <br><br>One of my most recent purchases was a rare Louis Vuitton, large trunk in monogram made around the 1930's, it was in mint condition and there were allot of people interested including I suspect dealers. I submitted a number of bids, which was both exciting and easy to do and eventually won the auction paying around £3,000 for the trunk. I paid around £75 insurance and delivery costs and the item arrived 2 weeks later. Since then it has been on the move again- it makes a perfect coffee table (I had a glass top fitted) in the drawing room of our villa in Tuscany. A couple of weeks ago I had it valued at £6,000!! To summarise this was a great buy from a very easy to use and functional site. To new comers the information can be a bit daunting at first but the comprehensive help guide is very useful and also easy to use. <br><br>Ebay also operates a payment system called pay pal, which makes it easy for the buyer to pay the seller. You simply register a credit or debit card and email the money to the seller! <br><br>Meg often reminds me that on paper her 2.3% (tiny!)stake in Ebay is worth around 640 million US, although she is a very modest woman really- that is a true measure of a great concept and great leadership.<br><br>As I have said before ebay is a fantastic concept and a shining business example. Whether you are just clearing out your junk or want to find that rare item it's the place to trade! <br><br><br> <br><br> <br> <b>Recommended</b><br> Yes<br> <br><b>What product did you purchase or try to purchase?</b> just browsed | ||||
| 7 | 48 | It seemed so innocent at first. Just a click here and a<br>click there. I came home from work one day to find my husband sitting in front of our computer, grinning like a fiend. He thought he could hide what he'd been doing from me, but he's an amateur. I could tell where he'd been. And it wasn't pretty. How could he go so quickly from innocent buyer of penny ante items on ebay to this serious problem? Well I tell you, curiosity killed the cat and it almost killed me.<br><br>I showed him how the newest version of Internet Explorer<br>stored every search. His activity was no longer secret. Once caught though, instead of coming clean, he decided he'd ensnare me as well. He thought that would keep him out of trouble. He thought wrong. He almost ended up having to<br>call 911.<br><br>I thought I'd warn you all now before you too get caught up<br>in this nasty business. When I walked in on Greg that day, he was searching for "old stuff." The search trail confirmed it. He had typed in "old stuff" and he'd found quite a bit of it from what I could see. There were about 60<br>entries. Now of course, they counted every item that had either one of those words, but let me tell you that is a lot of old stuff!<br><br>He proceeded to show me how much crap (35 entries), junk<br>(285 items), and trash (800 frigging items!) a person could find on ebay. With each successive search we giggled like two adolescents looking at the magazines we'd found under Dad's bed. He typed in "attic treasures" and much to our<br>surprise, there it was. Right in front of us. Evidence that people had gone absolutely bonkers. We kept looking and giggling, looking and giggling. Ebay must have some policy on using really bad words because, although we could find<br>lots of "old crap" there wasn't a piece of "old sh*t" to be found.<br><br>Almost as much fun was typing in phrases like "junk from the<br>attic that no one wants." The response would come back, "I'm sorry, we can't find any junk from the attic that no one wants." I typed in "belly button lint"<br>and we got back "I'm sorry, we can't find any belly button lint." I guess you had to be there, but it was funny to us. It was easy for us to imagine a "HAL" type voice from 2001:A Space Odyssey intoning these answers to us.<br><br>Greg became a little drunk on his own success and started<br>typing in phrases I was sure would bomb, but no?he was perfectly entitled to search for "dirty socks," "toilet paper," "shoe strings," and "Kleenex." We found them all. Have any of you got a toilet paper collection? If so, you better get on over to ebay as soon as possible. You can find antique toilet paper from 1923, Jimmy Carter tp from<br>1980, Al Davis butt wipe from the days when the Raiders had been moved to LA, and the "piece de resistance" a roll of Canadian "that would fit well in any collection." No lie! That's what the description said. Can you believe that<br>people have actually saved toilet paper for 75 years?<br><br>My giggling was getting worse. Several times I had to stop<br>and catch my breath before he could go on. I had tears streaming down my face, I'd been laughing so hard.<br><br>I was so glad our son was out playing baseball with some of<br>his buddies. I'd hate for him to find out what we had been doing. Talk about embarrassing! After a couple hiccups, I looked over at Greg weakly and said, "what I'd really like to have right now is a chocolate ice cream cone."<br><br>That little imp was so full of himself that he had the nerve<br>to type it in. "chocolate ice cream cone" and BINGO! Right before our eyes were three items that fit the bill! These weren't even partial hits, like "ice cream" or "chocolate." These three had all four words in the title.<br><br>Then it happened. I started laughing so hard, it was no<br>longer funny. My face got all scrunched up. I had two streams of tears running down my cheeks, my chest shook convulsively and I could barely breathe! Greg was reaching for the phone when I was finally able to catch my breath. It would be okay Besides, we were online. He couldn't use the phone anyway!<br><br>We quickly clicked on the first one. It was a cookie jar in<br>the shape of a chocolate ice cream cone. Of course, that's what the title had said, but the description explained the slightly squashed look by telling us it was a "frozen custard" cone. Well there you have it! That wouldn't do at all. We clicked on the next one. It was a plastic coin bank in the shape of my dream, "a chocolate ice cream cone." It was perfect! Then we noticed that it was two feet tall. Not exactly something you hide when the neighbors show up<br>unexpectedly and it's sitting in the middle of the living room. We clicked on the third item. Here it was! The most perfect chocolate ice cream cone? plastic coin bank that was only 8 inches tall (much less tacky, wouldn't you say?). I made him put a bid on it right then and there. It was meant to be.<br><br>The other day, a huge box came in the mail. I couldn't<br>imagine what it would be. I slit open the tape and folded back the flaps. There it was nestled in a bed of shredded paper. My chocolate ice cream cone. I proudly display it on the coffee table Well, under the coffee table. I mean, under<br>the coffee table behind some magazines. Anyway, people would ask questions and then they'd find out what we've been up to.<br><br>Well, you've been warned. Keep your minds where they belong<br>and your fingers off the keyboard. If you do decide to follow our bad example, at least have the decency to tell people you thought the activity up by yourself. Leave me out of it. I don't want to be getting any bills for 911<br>calls.<br> <br> <b>Recommended</b><br> Yes<br> | ||||
| 8 | 48 | Yes, my mother, who has just hit the ripe old age of 60, was an eBayer long before digital pictures were a necessity for your auction. This was about 5 years ago. Now she is a seasoned veteran and knows more about the art of auctioning on-line than I could ever dream of knowing!<br><br>Ebay is the ultimate auction site. Don't even bother with its bastard brothers, such as Amazon. Ebay has an incredible selection of items for sale any time of the day any day of the week. If you lose out on an auction this week, I bet you will find the same item up for sale again in a matter of days. <br><br><b>What can I find on eBay?</b><br><br>There are more categories than I can list here, but, just to give an example, you can buy books, clothing, furniture, bedding, jewelry, toys, lunch boxes, magnets, ornaments, picture frames, calendars, telephones...WHATEVER comes to mind, it is there.<br><br>The hardest part sometimes is figuring out how to do your search to get the exact item you are looking for. As some sellers are not good at describing precisely what they are selling, you must be diligent in your search.<br><br>Even if you have trouble finding the item you want or winning an auction, don't despair! I have had other eBayers contact me through email to help me in my search. Someone notices you bidding on a certain item, you lose the auction, and they will give you friendly advice about other auctions of the same item or how to search better.<br><br><b>Why would I be interested in an online auction?</b><br><br>Ebay is <i>the</i> place for hard-to-find items. Like a certain glass pattern from Pier One, but they don't sell it anymore? I will bet you that you will find it on eBay.<br><br>My mother purchased a comforter on eBay to match her unusually-painted bedroom. It was a one-of-a-kind item. She decided to look on eBay a few weeks later to see if she could find some pillow shams to match...lo and behold! She found the <i>same<i> pattern up for auction on a set of pillow shams! What are the chances that you could do the same in the real world?<br><br>You can make extra money emptying out your basement or closets by selling things on eBay. Although it is possible to sell on eBay without a digital camera, I highly recommend that you buy even a cheap one, if you plan on selling on eBay. My husband and I scanned in photos of items we wanted to sell, but it was time-consuming and expensive. I <i>have</i> sold a few things solely through a written description, but your chances of getting top dollar (or even someone to bid on an item) is very slim using this method.<br><br>My mother has made eBay into a nice retirement income. She goes to garage sales and estate sales, picks things up for pennies, and will sell them online for much more. <br><br><b>What else can you do on eBay?</b><br><br>Not only can you do a traditional search on eBay, but you can search by buyer, seller, item number, and completed items. You can also, on your own personal account, create specific searches, and eBay will email you if an item comes up for auction that meets those search requirements. Additionally, you can track auctions, keep track of items you've bid on and items you have won.<br><br>Ebay allows you to create a personal "About Me" webpage. If you are a seller, this can be a very important part of eBay. It gives you an online personality, which may keep people coming back to see what you have up for auction at any given moment.<br><br><b>What is bad about eBay?</b><br><br>Too many items! There are so many auctions to bid on that either you get frustrated paging through all the things offered to find what you really want or you have trouble locating what you are looking for. It is really important to have specific goals when logging on to eBay and as much detail as possible about the sought-for item. This will mean less time spent on eBay...and less time bidding for things you didn't even want!<br><br>I have found myself, out of curiosity, in completely different categories than I intended...searching for an old toy or book, maybe, just to see how much it goes for. Many times I have found myself bidding on these nostalgic item without giving it a lot of thought. Luckily, I have lost more of these types of on-the-spot auctions or I would be spending obscene amounts of money that I don't have.<br><br>So, warning! Make sure you restrict your bidding to those items that you REALLY want!<br><br>Also, I get annoyed by all of those overly professional types of sellers who start the bidding extremely high or have a very high reserve price, making any sort of bargain impossible and taking the fun out of auction bidding.<br><br>Turning it into on online store, instead of an online auction, is also an irritation. For example, a seller will have 20 of the same item, all listed separately, all asking the same $15.99, knowing that someone will buy it for just that amount. Where is the auction in this type of sale? I wish these people had a different section altogether!<br><br><b>Conclusion</b><br><br>Ebay is the best, most complete online auction site that you will find on the web. From cars to tap shoes, eBay has it all...no other site will ever match the variety or quality. Besides the number of items for sale, eBay is very well organized, makes searching for an item a breeze, and has a great tracking system for its users.<br><br>Anyone looking for extra income (or even a full-time job, if you are really ambitious), look no further than eBay! Better than a garage sale, better than a flea market, better than the mall!<br><br>Have fun bidding!<br> <br> <b>Recommended</b><br> Yes<br> | ||||
| 9 | 48 | I love shopping -- maybe a little too much. So when I found eBay four years ago, I thought I was in shopping heaven. Millions of items to choose from, at all price points, including designer clothing and accessories! Woo hoo!<br><br>Not so fast...<br><br>When shopping on eBay, especially for high-ticket items, you have to be extremely careful. Despite the fact that eBay doesn't allow auctions for counterfeit merchandise, this self-proclaimed "venue" is rife with them. There are literally hundreds of auctions for fake Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Gucci, and other high-end designers. From handbags to shoes to clothing -- even brands you wouldn't think anyone would counterfeit.<br><br>Don't get out your wallet yet...<br><br>First, it's important to understand that eBay is a community-policed auction venue. It's up to buyers and sellers to report suspicious auctions, but they're not always reported or pulled from the roster. There are, however, a few ways you can protect yourself.<br><br>When purchasing Louis Vuitton, for example, you can look for the "My Poupette" logo in the seller's auction. This usually signifies that the seller belongs to an informal group of sellers who have banded together to make sure their auctions are ONLY for authentic goods. It doesn't always guarantee online satisfaction, but it's better than diving in uncharted waters alone.<br><br>Look closely at the seller's feedback. A feedback percentage of 98% is usually my cutoff. Any lower than that, especially if they have a low feedback total (100 or less) is a good indication this seller isn't doing their job. And specifically read all of the seller's negative feedback comments -- if there are any comments that suggest the seller is listing fake designer goods, RUN like the wind and find another seller.<br><br>Look closely at the auction photos. Good sellers use good photos, and sometimes lots of them. If you're not sure, ask the seller for more photos. Again, a good seller will be more than happy to oblige.<br><br>Look at the payment methods accepted. Western Union only? Cash or money order only? Again, I wouldn't take the bait. When purchasing expensive goods, you want a safety net -- most reputable eBay sellers accept balance transfers and/or credit card payments through Paypal, an online payment service that's now owned by eBay. Wherever possible, use a credit card through Paypal so that you not only have Paypal's buyer protection, you have your credit card company's protection too.<br><br>Lastly, common sense comes into play here, too. Remember the old adage -- "If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is." You won't find any real steals on eBay in the high-end designer market, so if you see a hot sold-out-everywhere $1000 Christian Dior purse listed for $100, chances are, it's a fake.<br><br>Ebay is a great way to shop, but being a savvy customer will save you a lot of headaches later on.<br> <br> <b>Recommended</b><br> Yes<br> <br><b>What product did you purchase or try to purchase?</b> High end designer purse | ||||
| 10 | 48 | If you've never been to Ebay, I know what you are saying! You're saying how can someone shop on Ebay, they don't even know the people they are buying from.. You could get scammed! I'm here to tell you, not if you do your homework.<br><br>I love collecting Wedgwood Jasperware, and got started on Ebay searching for unique pieces. I found that the prices on Ebay were about 75% lower than at the local antique malls I had been shopping at previously. I couldn't believe the deals I was getting. But, I also did my homework, so I've never gotten burned. Here are a few hints..<br><br>First, make sure you know what you are looking for. Some sellers don't intentionally misrepresent (I'm sure some do, however) their items, they just don't know what they have. I see many items listed as "might be Wedgwood." Make sure you know the markings that your collectible has on it (be is a "Wedgwood; Made in England" or a "F" for Fenton, etc). Some people will try to pass off milk glass with a star etched on it as Fenton, when Fenton has never used a star to mark their glass -- ever. Also be careful in the designer clothing market. If you want an authentic Coach, Gucci or Chanel purse, make sure the person guarantees the authenticity. Then, once you get it, call the company to verify the item number (Coach puts a number on the inside of every bag, so you can tell if it is counterfeit). But an educated buyer knows how to spot these auctions and avoid them.<br><br>Second, read the ENTIRE AUCTION! Many sellers list everything you need to know there. Some buyers are shocked to find out that shipping charges are $17.95 for that particular seller because the seller charges "handling" fees -- but if they would have read the auction page before bidding, they would have noticed that and avoided the auction if that was an issue.<br><br>Third is read the seller's feedback. If someone has multiple negatives, investigate why. If you don't feel comfortable buying from that person because they have a number of negative or neutral comments, then don't buy it. There's no worse feeling than feeling like you got scammed. Ask the sellers questions. If you feel they were rude, or unprofessional, don't do business. With Ebay, there is always someone else listing products like the one you are looking for.<br><br>I've bought everything from Coach purses, Wedgwood collectibles, to books and pet carriers on Ebay. I've made about 20 transactions so far and have yet to be disappointed. It's so easy! Just type in what you are looking for, and viola, you get a list a mile long! Their checkout and payment procedures are a snap, and they make it so easy to ask sellers questions about the products they have.<br><br>Of course there are going to be your bad apples, but do your homework.. and I'm sure you'll find shopping on Ebay is worth every minute!<br><br>**********UPDATE 4/04************<br>I'm going to offer a few more pieces of advice on purchasing designer handbags and shoes on Ebay. I've recently learned that "replica" designer bags can have the serial numbers that designer bags have. I haven't gotten burned, but I've also revised my policy. First of all, if they are selling "brand new authentic" merchandise, I ask them if they have a receipt. If they do not, then I don't buy from them. Many people will claim to have genuine Louis Vuitton bags, but in reality they are made in China and are a replica. Unfortunately, you cannot go by the person's feedback alone. Why? Because many people who buy the bags don't realize they are fakes. Fakes and replicas have gotten so good, that only a keen eye can tell the difference. <br><br>So here are a few guidelines I've come up with for myself.<br>1) If the item is brand new, ask for a receipt. If they say they don't have one, watch out. You don't know where they bought it, but it's probably not from an authorized dealer.. and thus you can't be sure it's real.<br>2) Never, ever, ever, ever buy from someone who doesn't offer a total money-back guarantee if it is a "fake." If they state their sales are final, and no returns are possible, but they guarantee the merchandise's authenticity -- don't buy from them. Why? Because even though they SAY they guarantee the authenticity, you can't return the bag for your money back if you determine it is a fake bag.<br>3) Use your good judgement. If the pictures are blurry, ask for better ones. Ask the seller questions about the authenticity (such as, if they don't have a receipt.. how do they know it's authentic). If the item is used, ask for a rundown of the defects (water stains, pen marks, etc).<br><br>Please everyone remember.. as with everything in this world.. CAVEAT EMPTOR. Let the buyer beware. If you think a deal is too good to be true (such as a Louis Vuitton handbag that retails for $800, and it's being sold on Ebay for $20), then IT IS! I promise. Good luck and good Ebaying :)<br> <br> <b>Recommended</b><br> Yes<br> | ||||
| 11 | 48 | There I was, thinking about what I could write an opinion about next and ...BANG?it came to me. Why not write an opinion about the website I now spend most of my online time on ? EBAY.<br><br>Unlike many other ?big? internet names that have hit hard times as the internet ?bubble? has well and truly burst, Online auction site EBAY has gone from strength to strength. Only recently, I was reading an in depth article about the company, how it began, how it has progressed and how it has continued to flourish while other web enterprises have failed or at the very least, struggled to survive.<br><br>The one great thing about any of the auction sites is that they actually do generate revenue. Think of them as either a cyber 'yard sale' or an online classified ads operation. Every time you ? or I ? as an eBay member, want to list an item for sale or auction, we pay a ?listing fee?. If the item sells, we pay eBay a ?final fee? too. There are other fees for ?sprucing up? your advert, such as adding a photo to your listing (the first photo is free, but if you want an extra one, it costs you another fee), highlighting your listing as a ?featured? auction in some way and so on.<br><br>No need to go into too much detail about the extra fees, because they would only effect you as a seller (no fees to pay if you are a buyer) ? I mention them purely to indicate how Ebay make it?s money and continues to thrive.<br><br>The one thing that you must consider if you are entering any sphere of sales or commerce, is how many people want to buy my items? That?s one thing ? but letting all those people know you have that item to sell, is another. That?s where advertising comes in. You may have the best product around ? but if no one knows about it, you won?t sell it! Same principle with Auctions. There is no point in you putting you precious (or not as the case may be) item up for auction on a site that has very few visitors. Yes, you may be lucky and find someone just happens across your item, bids and wins the auction. Great ? but if you advertise on a much busier site like eBay, you increase the amount of people who will see your auction and thius increase your chances of a sale. AND ? more importantly ? rather tham just the one bidder, you may have several bidders who bid the price up and you make more money. See the idea, now?<br><br>When I first began listing a few items online, I kicked off with Amazon auctions. The UK site charges no fee ? up front ? for listing your items and if it does not sell in the specified time scale of 3/4/5/7/10 days, Amazon relist it for automatically ? for free. They only charge you if and when your item sells. The same also went for Yahoo ? another well known name that also operate Auctions on their site. But they have recently closed their auction operations to all but their main US site. <br><br>The first two months that I was ?auctioning?, I sold a few things and decided I?d try eBay ? but I was a bit put off by the fact that I had to pay to list my items. What if it doesn?t sell? List 20 items @ minimum of 25c/15p fee each = $5/£3 If none sell, I?ve wasted three quid. Oh Well, I?ll give it a try, I thought.<br><br>That first time, back in February 2001, I listed around 20 items ? 6 had received bids by the time they ended after 7 days. Similar items that I had listed on the other two sites received only 2 bids ! (and there was around 50 items listed altogether on those sites).<br><br>Every now and then Ebay advise members of a ?free listing day? whereby everything you list on the site during that 24 hours is listed for free ? the only fee is if your items sells (a final fee of around 5%). I made full use of that day and had around 120 items up for auction at the end of the 24 hours. ?Might as welll?, I thought, ?see what sells and what does not?.<br><br>Gradually as the week wore on, I got bids for all kinds of things that I?d never have considered listing if I had to pay. Around 40/50 items had bids on in that week and it was quite a busy time keeping up with the emails from buyers too.<br><br>So that proved the point of eBay to me ? it was a busier site, with much more ?traffic?, more sellers, but more importantly MORE POTENTIAL BUYERS.<br><br>I have used eBay as my primary Online auction site ever since and things have gone from strength to strength. My fees each month have risen from around £15 (I'm a Brit, so I'll quote my fees in £sterling if that's OK), through to £25 and £40 to around £65 I will pay this month ? BUT, for the past three months, my average sales have risen well into the hundreds. I have got a PAYPAL Account which is a godsend for dealing with US and foreign bidders ? since the beginning of December, I have been transferring back to my UK Account and average of $300 per week from auction sales on eBay alone. What began as a ?toe in the water? and progressed to a ?hobby? of sorts, is now beginning to become very much a ?second income?.<br><br>And I am definitely only ?small fry? when it comes to Ebay. I never have many more items than 100-150 listed at any one time, yet the ?big hitters on the site may have 000s of items listed. But there is space on Ebay and each buyer or seller can find his way around and sell for decent prices, plus if you are a bidder, pick up some interesting items that you just could not find if it were not for the internet!<br><br>Right then ? so that?s my experience with Ebay ? but what are the ?nuts and bolts? of buying and selling on the site?<br><br>First, you have to register. Go to www.ebay.com and you complete the online membership form. You have to register a credit card (or debit card) with them <br>a) so that they can charge your sellers fees to it <br>and <br>b) so that they can confirm who you are. <br>If you intend buying only, you do not have to pay for your items by credit card. Each seller has his own terms of business and usually will accept the usual forms of payment ? cash, cheques, cards etc. If you are buying from an overseas seller you could find it very useful to investigate www.paypal.com - an online payment system, or www.bidpay.com - a very convenience way to buy US$ International money orders instantly.<br><br>Right then, you?ve signed up so you are now ready to auction. But are you going to be a seller or a bidder?<br><br>Let?s examine the ?art? of bidding first of all.<br><br>? BIDDING AND BUYING<br>You have two regular ways of looking for items you are interested in. Firstly, eBay has a search facility. You enter the words pertaining to the items you are after, say,?Harry Potter? for example. You can request listing of items ?available to? the UK, or items which are ?located in? the UK. You will then be faced with an absolute mountain of items with ?Harry Potter? in the title?.that I can assure you. So maybe you?d better be more specific. ?Harry Potter T Shirt? will bring up just the items with that in the title and so on. You get the drift now.<br><br>? The other way ? ideal if you are just browsing to see what is available ? is to just click on the ?categories? available. Say, for instance you are interested in Film memorabilia ? posters, photos, lobby cards, etc. Start off at the home page and you will see a list of categories on the left. Click on ?film and television?. It will lead you through to a page showing DVDs, Videos, Memorabilia etc. <br><br>So there you have it ? you can navigate the site very easily and take it from me ? there really is something for everyone to buy on eBay, from High performance cars, High quality electronic equipment, right through to pieces of pseudo ?junk? that you and I might throw out, but someone across the other side of the world is willing to pay good money for.<br><br>? When you have found something you want, you will see there is a current bid price shown. You must bid whatever the minimum says ? or you can bid higher to cover yourself. If for example the item is £5 at present, you can bid say a maximum of £10. Your bid will be recorded at the £5 ? but if someone else comes in later on and outbids you, you have already covered yourself with what is known as a ?proxy bid? (that limit you set of bidding ?up to £10). Just make sure that you don?t try to chase the price up too high. Stick to what you believe is a bargain or fair price, depending on your usual instincts. You?ll soon get the hang of it.<br><br>? Right then ? you have won that auction, so what happens next? You will get an email from eBay giving you the seller?s contact info. He will also probably contact you (after all I?m sure he?d like you to pay), giving you instructions on what kind of payment he prefers. Remember as eBay is worldwide, you can enter through the www.ebay.co.uk portal, but you can be bidding on an item that is located in the USA, Australia or just 5 miles up the road from you!<br><br>Send off your cheque, pay for your item and wait for the prompt arrival of your first winning bid. Be warned it does not always go so smoothly. Think of any problems you may have had either buying by Mail order or even at a Car Bot sale. ?Buyer Beware?. Sometimes something that looks good and sounds good may not be all that good when it arrives.<br><br>? FEEDBACK <br>If you are happy with your item and with the seller, eBay encourages you to leave ?feedback?. By each seller?s ID there is a number in brackets. This is his (or her, of course, sorry ladies) ?rating?. For each auction he has completed, a seller and buyer can receive feedback on the transaction. If you click on the number in brackets you can see how other members have rated the sellers transactions before. If he/she has a whole load of ?positives? the chances are you are buying with confidence from a reputable and trustworthy seller. Similarly, when the shoe is on the other foot and you are a seller, who has receive a bid from someone, you can click on their feedback rating to see if they are likely to be a good buyer.<br><br>It works both ways and is an excellent barometer to any potential bidder or seller as to whether the prospective transaction will be a good one.<br><br>So that takes us nicely on to the ?what tos? and ?how tos? of being a seller on eBay.<br><br>? SELLING AN ITEM<br>Firstly you have to choose which category is the most suitable for the item you wish to sell. You will have some general idea as to what is best just by navigating around the site. Let?s say you have an Autographed photo of Danny La Rue (like you?d really want one of those!). Probably best under one of the sub headings in ?Film and Television?. But, it?s your choice.<br><br>Then, of course, you must decide on a Price. Remember, it?s an auction, so it?s not as if you are saying ?I?m selling this for £10?. If you do get the auction ?bug? you will realise that there are a few ?tricks? and ploys to setting a price. Some sellers choose a ridiculously low starting price ? ONE PENNY, maybe. I?m sure that there is a reason behind this and personally would never risk doing it ? BUT Plenty of people do and it works for them. If anyone can explain it to me, I?d be grateful. Of course, the item never sells for a penny, that?s just the opening bid price and if it does the job and gets your auction noticed, fine. When you realise that at any one time on eBay there might be over 1 million items listed !! Set a reasonable price, maybe at the bottom end of what you are expecting. That way it?s not pitching it too high and you should stir up a little interest in your auction, without scaring off bidders because the price is too rich.<br><br>You can list your Auction for 3, 5, 7 and 10 days, with an extra fee for a 10 day auction. Seven days seems a reasonable length of time for an auction to run, but if you know you are listing something that is likely to be ?hot? maybe try a shorter time. Most auctions do get more bids nearer to the expiry time of the auction. You may find your item receives a bid early on then stays dormant until just before the ?off?. Suddenly it doubles in price ? you get a real buzz and feel that it was all worthwhile and you can?t wait to sell something else.<br><br>When you have sold an item, you will receive an email from Ebay confirming your auction has a winner and giving you their contact details. You can also access their details direct from the Ebay website. When you log in to eBay ? you have to if you intend bidding and to access your own ?my eBay? page ? you can pull up your current items listed for sale. If you have an auction that has just ended with a winning bid, just click on their name and it will show their email address.<br><br>? TIP > Clicking on a member?s Ebay Feedback number will also show you which Country they come from. Extremely useful if you are a seller and you are about to write to a winning bidder.<br><br>Now you have the bidder?s detail, compose an email along the lines of ?Thanks for bidding?..your winning bid was?.Please sent a cheque for?.to me at ?etc?. If the winning bidder is from overseas you will have to work out how you are going to accept payment ? cash ? Money order ? Paypal (see above or do a search on this site for how Paypal operates) ? or whatever.<br><br>It is entirely up to you whether you are happy to despatch your item upon receipt of his cheque or whether you wait till it clears. But once you have been paid the transaction is just like any other mail order transaction you may have had.<br><br>? BUT WHAT IF THE BIDDER NEVER PAYS?<br><br>If you have received to response to your email after three or four days, you can send the bidder a reminder direct from the eBay site or by email. Give them a little time, because after all they may be away on holiday or just away from their PC. If after around two weeks you?ve had no reply ? or you had a reply but no sign of a payment, you can send eBay a ?Non Paying Bidder? alert. This is the start of a process which will either give your bidder a ?kick up the jacksy? and he pays ? or, at the very least, get eBay to refund your fees.<br><br>Fees ? yes there are some and I?ll cover those shortly.<br><br>Ebay are very good at replying to your emails. They also will give you several suggestions at how to proceed if something does go wrong with your deal ? as a seller or buyer. This, in itself cuts down ?timewasters? ? people who bid and have no intention of paying and fraudsters who sell items they don?t have.<br><br>There are also a selection of Community boards that you can post on to contact other eBayers in the UK and beyond to ask for advice or just swap ideas and experiences.<br><br>? FEES<br>As a Buyer you pay no charges to Ebay. Simple<br>As a seller, you must pay a ?listing fee? ? minimum of 15p per item (up to a £4.99 threshhold) and the higher you set the minimum bid, the higher fee you are charged. But for an average small item of around £10 it will cost you 30p to list. If your item does not sell first time around, you can relist it and your fee is refunded if it then sells.<br><br>In addition to a standard listing fee, if your item sells you must pay a ?final fee?. This is 5% of the final price that the item sells for. So, say for instance you list an item for £3 ? you pay a listing fee of 15p. The item proves popular and sells for £15 ? so you also pay an additional ?final fee? of 75p. <br><br>There are also additional fees you can incur if you want a ?special service? . (No, Ebay do not operate Massage parlours too!). If you are auctioning something of great value you may wish to have your auction highlighted as a ?featured auction? (around £20). You may wish to sell your item, but with a ?Reserve? put on the price it sells at. There are other small fees that be charged for minor enhancements to your auction ? like listing in bold type, adding an additional photograph and so on. But for general run of the mill auctions the basic package is fine. <br><br>The listing fee includes the provision of a photo of the item you are auctioning. When you are posting your auction on the site you are given the chance to add a photo. If you do not have one handy, you may be able to find a similar item already on Ebay which you could ?borrow? the photo from. Just click on the pic and ?save as? to put it onto your hard drive, then load it up with your auction. A bit naughty and some of the ?power sellers? undeniably frown on it, but it does no harm, in my eyes.<br><br>Well, I have certainly taken up plenty of your time if you have ploughed through all of this article. I have tried to cover the whole concept of the Auction and how it works as well as some of the facilities that eBay offer. As I seem to remember saying some 3000 words ago, the beauty of eBay is the fact that your Auction is seen by an awful lot of people, thus giving you a greater chance for it to sell at a good price. There are a few pitfalls and things to be wary of and I hope I have tipped you off about some.<br><br>I?d like to finish by wishing any of your eBay virgins the very best of luck and good fortune. We were all newbies once upon a time and generally speaking you will find other eBay members helpful. Us Brits love to find a bargain, but also love to be able to make a few bob too ? on eBay both things are possible.<br><br>NOTE - You will find me under 'screentwo' current feedback rating 431. Cheers<br><br> <br> <b>Recommended</b><br> Yes<br> | ||||
| 12 | 48 | I did it. I am the guilty one. I introduced my friends to <b>EBAY</b> and now we are all <b><i>Addicted to EBAY</b></i>.<br><br> The addiction started out easily enough. My girlfriend owned a children's clothing store. It is part retail and part consignment. She had a high demand for certain sized clothing that she was not getting in in consignments. My job was to go on Ebay and find the sizes, after winning the bid, I would then place them in her store. I found gobs of clothing. At that time, over 3,000 pcs of clothing were being added daily, so I could even be choosy about what I bought. Because of the store, this got me in the habit of checking Ebay on a daily, sometimes twice daily basis for new uploads.<br><br> The next step of addiction came when my son, who is 8, went to a friend's house and played with thier very old <b>Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles</b>. He had to have some of his own. Now I remember Turtles from when I was young, and since we make regular trips to the toy store, I knew it would be impossible to find them. Back to <b>Ebay</b> I go. And did I find Turtles. There were regular Turtles, Turtles in Halloween costumes(Super Turtle is his favorite, clown Turtle is not), Turtles with weapons, Turtles without, Turtle vehicles, Turtle movies, sheets, dishes...etc. Apparently, <b>TMNT</b> are another hot commodity as some of these items go high. I accidentally shot my budget bidding on several multi-Turtle packs.<br><br> The third step was when I introduced my best friend to Ebay. At the time she was reluctant to even try it out, but after she saw all the Turtles I had invested in, she decided to give it a try. She ended up purchasing a box of over 30 pairs of shoes for little of nothing. Now, we compete and see who can get the best deal off of Ebay.<br><br> That was then and this is now. <br><br> After I accidentally blew my budget I had to swear off Ebay for about a month. My friend the store owner is closing her store, and I have a lifetime supply of Turtles, Turtle vehicles and Turtle movies. So now, I am looking for My Little Ponys for my 5 yr old daughter.<br><br> I love the ease of which to see a variety of things and check out competing prices, plus many items are hard to find like Turtles, and My Little Ponys-but these can be found on Ebay by the hundreds.<br><br> I love the <b>Feedback Forum</b> in which you can see a seller/buyer's rating, and read the feedback left on them by others who have bought/sold to them. This is a great way to weed out the negative users of Ebay. But as always, nothing is guaranteed so use your gut instinct. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.<br><br> I love how most seller's include the shipping charges right on the item description. This makes it handy in deciding whether you really want to bid on a certain item or not by allowing you to figure in the shipping charge. Buyers almost always pay the shipping charges.<br><br> But I do hate how some will charge <b>3.50</b> for shipping, but when I get the item, I found out that they paid only <b>1.74</b> for shipping. <br><br> So, if you plan to bid on Ebay, watch your shipping charges as you will be paying those also, unless stated otherwise.<br><br> Ebay is a great way to spend a rainy afternoon, they have thousands of items and it is a good way to see what the going prices are of those old toys you were going to yard sale anyway. But watch your budget, or hide your credit cards, read the feedback left on each user- and watch your shipping charges.<br><br>Happy bidding!!<br> <br> <b>Recommended</b><br> Yes<br> | ||||
| 13 | 48 | I originaly heard about Ebay through a friend. I signed up and didn't know much about it so I let it set. Then she kept telling me she won this and that auction. So I thought I better go try it again.<br>I browsed for awhile to learn how to use the site, then I began bidding.<br>At first I was leery of sending money because I didn't know how honest people would be with sending the product.<br>So far so good. I have bought shoes, winter coats for both of my girls. Clothes for myself, and jeans for my husband. My husband also has received coins, and baseball cards. He isn't one that likes to mess with this kind of site but he was instantly addicted.<br>This site has many many catergories to choose from. Lets says you hit womens. You get clothes, shoes, outerwear, casual wear, everything from hats, gloves, coats, bras, socks, panties, jeans, slacks, and shoes. And that's just the beginning. With all those to chose from you can pick the auction that was just listed today, or ones that end today, or ones that are down to ending in minutes. This site is unreal when it comes to finding things. They have knick knack, lots of stuff, if you sell stuff at a flea market this would be perfect.<br>Depending on the seller you can send money order or pay online. I have done both. The difference between the 2 is when you send payment online you receive your product much quicker.<br>You can also leave comments to the seller, and he or she can leave you comments also..<br>The only thing I dislike about buying is last minute bidders. You will be winning something for days upon days, and the last 5 minutes someone bids over you. I have gotten smart and have done this also to get what I want.<br>You also get e-mails when you place a bid, when you get outbidded, and when the auction ends. Ebay really keeps you informed..<br>So far I have received everything I have paid for in a reasonable time manner, and all products have been worth what I have paid.<br>As far as selling My husband and I just started this, this week. So I don't know alot about it. I know it cost 30 cents per item you list, and when your product sell Ebay takes a small percent. I think 5%. You can add 1 free picture to your add, and additional pictures cost extra.<br>And it was very easy to do!<br>I think Ebay is Great.. Use to I got online to read mail. Now I get on to go SHOPPING! What else could a girl want?? <br> <br> <b>Recommended</b><br> Yes<br> | ||||
| 14 | 48 | Don't get me wrong, I love E-Bay. In my 6 months as a member, I have had many safe and admittedly fun transactions, primarily as a buyer. But the catchphrase of the site should not be "Everything for Everyone"....in fact, left to me, it'd be "Buyer beware". Fun as bidding, selling and getting stuff for "wholesale" at this "online thrift store" is, be warned: E-bay is work. First time users, check your seller's feedback carefully. Note the negatives/neutrals (BEFORE bidding) and weigh up whether those Gucci shoes are really worth waiting 6 weeks for while your seller/shipper daillies....if they arrive at all. Does the seller offer a return policy? A warranty? How high are shipping and handling costs? Careful, careful E-Bayers; hidden traps like these are the basis of many an unresolved dispute and fraud complaint. And for goodness' sake, don't be afraid to e-mail the seller a question before you bid!! Remember always that E-Bay is NOT A STORE; this is PERSON-TO-PERSON selling. You deal with thousands of different people everytime you search, whether it be for a drill or a dress. Wouldn't it be great to know what (or WHO) you were working with before you bid? The big secret of E-Bay is that you CAN: simply e-mail them a question. An irrelevant question even. Intelligable is preferable, but in the end, who cares? A brusque one line response or none at all can help you read into what kind of "customer service" you can expect, and that information is certainly worth your time and energy. A seller who seems eager to please, markets their positive feedback and answers your queries promptly is almost always good news. I completely empathize with being confronted with the exact item you wanted for your significant other (for $2.00 with 3 weeks to their birthday and 1 minute left to bid), but Caevat Emptor should always be your watchwords. Liase with your seller beforehand and do your homework. For larger purchases it also might not be a bad idea to e-mail others who have done business with the seller you have in mind. I recently bought a Sony Vaio online with the clear knowledge that the seller was honest but a notoriously slow shipper: 9 weeks later (he stipulated 6) I am writing this from it, no heart attacks involved. So chin up, new E-Bayer, it's going to be a great ride. Dive in and fight till the finish--you DO watch your auctions till the end, don't you? "E-Bay sharks" are very real and pretty slick--and you're sure to get some great bargains. <br>Just remember: what you see isn't always what you get.<br><br> <br> <b>Recommended</b><br> Yes<br> | ||||
| 15 | 48 | I signed up for ebay in November of '99 but didn't actually start using it until a couple months ago. I looked at it a few times but it was a little intimidating to me at first. I collect Beanie Babies and there were a few I was missing so I decided to check out ebay. It didn't take long to get comfortable with navigating around the site and narrowing down lists of items I was looking for, one of the main things that was so intimidating to me at first. Well that's all she wrote, I managed to get my Beanie collection up to date and managed to find several other items to buy. I was totally surprised to do a search for a perfume I used to wear made by Avon that had been discontinued for several years, yes, ebay had it! They also had another discontinued cosmetic item I wanted. <br>I've now forayed into buying clothing for my son, I got him 2 winter coats for about $15!! Not including shipping, still a great deal if you ask me. I've also gotten him brand new Reebok athletic shoes for $10!<br>Once I was a pro at buying I decided to try selling. You won't believe some of the things people will buy! I started off selling some new clothes of my son's that he never wore. They all sold. I've sold other trinkets and clothing of my own that were used but in good condition and they all sold! The only thing you have to be careful of is slow payers or people that won't pay at all! Luckily it hasn't happened to me yet. I had one slow payer but I did eventually receive payment. I've also had no problem receivng items I have won.<br>Ebay has a great system that will help you to know if people are good or bad buyers and or sellers. It's a feedback system and everytime you buy or sell to someone you can leave feedback about the transaction. This shows as a number in parenthesis by their user name and a star of a particular color 10-99 feedback is a yellow star, 100-199 is a blue star I believe and so on. Feedback can be either positive, negative or neutral. Negatives are a bad thing to have on your feedback, people are wary of users with negative feedback. Sometimes there are circumstances and that's where you just have to go with your gut feeling. If I see someone with hundreds of positives and just 1 or 2 negatives that probably wouldn't bother me but you just have to use your judgement. <br>I could write about ebay all day but I'll wrap this up, don't want to bore you! Check out ebay though, you'll love it!<br> <br> <b>Recommended</b><br> Yes<br> | ||||
| 16 | 48 | <br>I have had a lot of experiences with Ebay. My boyfriend sold some wine racks and one of my best friends sold some posters and shoes on Ebay. Most people think they can't sell their products for very much on here. But that?s not true. Both of the people I knew who sold on here got a decent amount for their stuff. <br><br>If you?re selling:<br>You can decide weather to have a picture of your product on the website or not. I suggest having one. This way the buyer can see what he/she is buying and they?re not in the dark. Your item will sell better and faster with one. <br><br>If you?re buying:<br>The site is really easy to work. You just type in your desired product and they will bring up a list of this. It's a bidding process. It's only on sale for a certain amount of time. You have to visit the site and keep bidding. The highest bidder wins the product. Sometimes the seller will make you pay for shipping and handling also, and sometimes they won't.<br><br>You can buy anything at this site, cars, shoes, clothes, TV's, or toys. It's a good way to sell the items you don't use around the house. "One mans trash is another man's treasure," my favorite quote.<br><br><br><br> <br> <b>Recommended</b><br> Yes<br> | ||||
| 17 | 48 | Oh yes, I have been bitten bad!!!<br><br>About 2 months ago I discovered E-bay!!! (My hubby is not so happy!!!)<br><br>My 1st Auction to bid on was SUPER!!! It was a lot of 19 pairs of shoes (ALL FOR ME!) and well worth the money. She through in 3 extra pairs and 4 purses. (Can we say Merry Christmas!)<br><br>Anyway, I found a site of POKEMON... My 8 year old was so happy that I let him do the bidding!!!<br><br>We have found POKEMON cards (VERY REASONABLE!!!) I even let my son sit on my lap and let him do the choosing, that is how great it is.<br><br>I have not had any trouble with making my payments, or receiving my merchandise. Others may have, but not me!!!<br><br>I hope that others have as great a luck as I have, and now I have started an epidemic with my child... (Sure glad he doesn't know my password!!)<br><br>My son is a POKEMON addict!!! I am a shoe nut!!!<br> <br> <b>Recommended</b><br> Yes<br> | ||||
| 18 | 48 | Buyer Beware is E-Bays slogan, and it says everything in a nutshell.<br> You can find anything and everything on this site, but you must be educated on what you are looking for and the items specialties. There are individuals that are less than forth coming in their descriptions and not always honest in there product, but in my experience this is few and far between - IF YOU AS CONSUMER KNOW YOUR ITEM! There are links to other sites such as, Disney auctions, Rosie, specialty stores, Halfcom,etc., in addition to the individual seller's. There is contact between seller and buyer available previous to purchase, ratings of all more than 1-time sellers and buyers, cross references, groupings- it's easier than going to the mall and finding a specialty shop! There are even followup links if you're having problems or need to get a complaint resolved. If you're looking for that special something that's gone missing, this may narrow the hunt and save shoe leather and money! <br> <br> <b>Recommended</b><br> Yes<br> | ||||
| 19 | 48 | <div style="padding:5px 0px">I would have to describe my shopping at E-Bay to be most pleasurable and price worthy.<br>Although at times there can be some miscomunications,it is above and beyond a great store to shop at.<br>The deals are unbievable.I like the "buy it now" feature.<br>It gives you and option to buy it for cheaper than the store cost on most items.<br>If you are a bargain shopper or you have children E-Bay has a lot of great deals on clothing,toys,shoes and many other items new and second hand.<br>It is also great for adults as well and has everything from Computer stuff,Clothes,Shoes odds and ends things that are hard to find in stores and many other items as well.<br>I highly reccomend E-Bay!</div> |
