buying & selling on ebay

Buying & Selling on eBay

Richard KershenbaumEndacott Society Computer Study Group01-06-2009

“The world’s online marketplace”

• 88 million active users

• Over one billion page views per day

• Started in 1995 by programmer Pierre Omidyar of Echo Bay Technologies

• First sale was a broken laser pointer

• Now over 15,000 employees

• Annual revenue $7.7 billion

Millions of items sold daily

• Collectibles, appliances, automobiles, services….you name it

• Used by individuals and businesses, including some of the largest corporations

• It’s a world-wide marketplace

How does it work?

• Auction-style listings

• Fixed-price listings

• Fixed-price with “best offer”

• Sellers pay a listing fee + 1.5% of the selling price

• No fee for buyers

• Buyers and sellers rarely meet in person

Auction listings

• Uses “proxy bidding”− eBay bids for you up to your

maximum bid

• The winner pays the second highest bid amount plus one bid incement

Example: Richard sells his DSL modem

• I take digital photos of the modem

• I compose a description –−Model # −Condition (any damage or problems)−New or used?−Original packaging and manuals?

• I decide to use an action with “buy it now” option

Example: Richard sells his DSL modem (cont’d)

• I decide on a starting bid of $4.95− Low starting bid encourages bidding

and keeps listing fee low− I know the modem will sell for more

• I decide on a “Buy it now” price of $49.95−…after looking at “completed listings”

for similar items

• I decide on a one-week auction period

Example: Richard sells his DSL modem

• I decide on a flat shipping charge of $9 for Priority Mail shipping

• I decide to only accept PayPal payments

• I login to eBay and post the auction

• I obsessively look for bids

Example: Richard sells his DSL modem -- bidding

• First day – Joe bids $5 (If no one else bids, he’d get it for $4.95)

• Second day – Mary bids $8 (If no one else bids, she’d get it for $5.50)

• Third day – Mike bids $20 (eBay has now raised the minimum bid to $8.50)

• Jane bids $10, but eBay automatically enters a bid of $10.50 for Mike – he’s still the high bidder


• Last day – Eric bids $40 (eBay bids $20.50 for him)

• Joe comes back and raises his bid to $45

• Auction time expires and Joe wins at $40.50

• I use the eBay site to send an invoice to Joe for $49.50

• Joe sends a electronic PayPal payment


• I pack the item and ship it to Joe

• I use PayPal to generate a printable paid shipping label

• I drop the package at the post office

• Joe leaves positive feedback after receipt

• I leave positive feedback for Joe

PayPal• Provides a secure and convenient means

of transferring money for eBay purchase – or anything else

• Started in 1999 as X.com

• Works much like a checking account

• Not legally classified as a bank

• Accounts can send and receive payments

• Accounts can use a backup credit card

• Similar to an escrow service

PayPal

• Allows sending money to anyone with an e-mail address

• Receiving party is charged 2.9% + $.30

• Sender is not charged a fee

• Money can be withdrawn to a bank account or credit card account electronically

eBay tips

• Your bid is a contract to buy

• Know what you’re bidding on

• If you’re not sure, e-mail the seller

• Check feedback scores and comments

• Watch out for high shipping charges

• Don’t get caught up in bidding wars

• Use a sniping service such as www.justsnipe.com

Buying and selling safely

• eBay fraud is extremely widespread

• You can protect yourself by following some simple rules:− If it sounds too good to be true, it

probably is−Only pay using PayPal or credit card−Only accept PayPal payments−Only ship to a confirmed PayPal address−Use signature confirmation for large

purchases

Buying and selling safely−NEVER send cash or a Western Union

payment – anyone who demands that is a scammer

− In case of a problem, use PayPal’s resolution service

−Contact eBay’s security department

buying & selling on ebay

Documents