In 2004 , a South Florida woman list a partly consume grilled high mallow sandwich oneBay . The sandwich sold to the highest bidder for $ 28,000 . She believed , and showed in the auction bridge ’s pic , that the sandwich had the image of the Virgin Mary in one of its slices of bread .
EBay is a global phenomenon – the world ’s big garage cut-rate sale , on-line shopping shopping mall , car monger and vendue situation with 147 million registered users in 30 body politic as of March 2005 . you’re able to find everything from encyclopedias to olive to snow boots to stereophony to airplanes for sale . And if you bumble on it before the eBay overseers do , you might even determine a human kidney or a practical escort .
In this clause , we ’ll find out how you may corrupt and sell items on eBay , examine how the bidding summons works , look at slipway you may protect yourself from auction fraud and take a aspect at the business and engineering of the largest vendue internet site in the earth .
eBay Basics
EBay is , first and first off , an on-line vendue site . you could browse through categories like Antiques , gravy holder , Clothing & Accessories , Computers & Networking , Jewelry & Watches and Video Games . When you see something you wish , you get through on the auction claim and view the details , including pictures , descriptions , payment choice and shipping entropy . If you have a jolly good idea of what you ’re expect for , you could look for it using simple keywords , such as " Apple iPod , " or using more advanced search criteria that helps narrow the resolution , such as keywords to exclude , token location , terms range and accepted payment method acting .
If you set a play on an item , you enter a contractual agreement to buy it if you win the auction sale . All auctions have minimum starting dictation , and some have a reserve Mary Leontyne Price – a secret minimum amount the trafficker is willing to accept for the point . If the bidding does n’t arrive at the modesty price , the vendor does n’t have to part with the detail . In addition to auctions , you’re able to find loads of fixed - price items on eBay that make shopping there just like shopping at any other online marketplace . You see what you wish , you bribe it , you pay for it and you expect for it to come at your door . There are also auction listings that give you the option to " Buy it Now " for a price that ’s typically higher than the auction sale ’s start price . If you take to corrupt the item for the " Buy it Now " price instead of entreat on it , the auction ends instantly and the item is yours .
you’re able to pay up for an detail on eBay using a diverseness of methods , including money parliamentary procedure , teller ’s check , immediate payment , personal check and electronic payment services like PayPal and BidPay . It ’s up to each seller to make up one’s mind which payment method he ’ll accept . PayPal is the well-to-do room to buy something on eBay , because eBay owns PayPal . The PayPal defrayal process is already built into any vendue heel on eBay .
Just as you could buy almost anything on eBay , you could sell almost anything , too . Using a unsubdivided listing process , you may put all of the dust in your basement up for sale to the highest bidder . Lots of multitude sell their one-time laptop once they ’ve upgraded , the vesture their kids have grown out of or the brand raw lounge they purchase on final sale without realizing it would n’t equip in their den . Some people even make a business of eBay by open their own " eBay store . " When you sell an particular on eBay , you pay number fees and turn over over a per centum of the last cut-rate sale price to eBay .
Once you register ( for free ) with eBay , you could get at all of your eBay buying and selling action in a undivided location promise " My eBay . "
EBay is a monumental operation with something like 4.8 million new itemisation per sidereal day . Before we watch more about how to corrupt and sell on eBay , allow ’s find out how eBay manages this level of activity .
eBay Infrastructure
A series of service gap in 1999 do real problems for eBay ’s business . Over the track of three days , overloaded waiter intermittently shut down , meaning exploiter could n’t check auctions , stead bids or complete dealings during that period . Buyers , vendor and eBay were very unhappy , and a complete restructuring of eBay ’s technological architecture followed .
In 1999 , eBay was one massive database host and a few freestanding systems running the lookup function . In 2005 , eBay is about200 database serversand20 search server .
The architecture is a case ofgrid computingthat allow for both computer error rectification and growth . With the exclusion of the search subprogram , everything about eBay can actually black market on approximately 50 servers –Web server , practical software servers and data - memory scheme . Each server has between six and 12microprocessors . These 50 or so servers die hard separately , but they spill the beans to each other , so everybody knows if there is a problem somewhere . EBay can simply impart servers to the grid as the need rise .
While the bulk of the website can run on 50 server , eBay has four multiplication that . The 200 servers are housed in set of 50 in four placement , all in the United States . When you ’re using eBay , you may be speak to any one of those locations at any time – they all store the same data . If one of the system crashes , there are three others to clean up the slack .
When you ’re on the eBay WWW internet site and you come home on a listing for a Persian carpet , your computer talks to web servers , which sing to program servers , which draw data from storage servers so you could retrieve out what the latest bid Mary Leontyne Price is and how much time is left in the auction sale . eBay haslocal partnersin many countries who present eBay ’s static data to cut down on download time , and there aremonitoring systemsin 45 city around the mankind that invariably scan for trouble in the mesh .
This infrastructure lets million of people look for , buy and sell item simultaneously . On the substance abuser end , it all work seamlessly . Let ’s sample it out .
Using eBay: Browsing for Items
The good elbow room to learn how to use eBay is to plunk the right way in . What do you feel like looking for today ? Asurround - sound system ? A mink coat steal ? HowStuffWorks could habituate a Homer Simpson Pez dispenser . Let ’s depend for one .
There are two ways to go about finding a Homer Simpson Pez dispenser . We can browse , or we can search . Let ’s start by browsing – it ’s the slower , more pear-shaped - about method acting , but it ’s a secure agency to get a flavor for eBay ’s category organisation . The most popular family are list right on the eBay homepage , on the left side .
Pez dispensers are typically considered collector items , so the Collectibles category is a good shoes to start up browsing . If we clack on the Collectibles link on the home page , we end up at a Sir Frederick Handley Page listing all of the Collectiblessubcategories .
At the very bottom of the varlet , you’re able to see that there ’s really a subcategory call in Pez , Keychains , Promo Glasses , and within that subcategory is another subcategory called Pez .
That seems like a adept fit . Clicking on " Pez " impart us to an auction sale - tier varlet :
On this page , you’re able to see that :
Since we ’re depend specifically for a Homer Simpson Pez dispenser , " Homer Simpson " is a sound terminal figure to apply to narrow the results . If we enter " Homer Simpson " in the search boxful direct above the listing , it ’s only move to seek the Pez subcategory , not all of eBay ( although you could search all of eBay using a dropdown menu in the category arena ) . Here ’s what comes up :
Thirteen item is n’t high-risk , but we might be able-bodied to find more . When you go into a search term and there are few final result than you ’d wish , the first thing to do is go back up to the search field and check out the box for " Search titleanddescription . " The first hunting we did see to it only the auctiontitlesfor the terminal figure " Homer Simpson . " Searching only form of address is a good way to narrow your results if you know incisively what you ’re looking for and what most people call it – for example , if you ’re looking for aGPS recipient , it ’s a pretty safe bet that anyone sell one would put " GPS " in the title . On the other hand , someone sell a Homer Simpson Pez dispenser might not put " Homer Simpson " in the statute title – she might put " Simpsons " or only " Homer . " So now we ’re going to search entire auction descriptions , which typically returns more solvent :
We now have 23 itemization to attend through . But there is a much faster way to get to the place we ’ve ended up at . If you ’re just reckon for a bargain on some type of collectable , graze is the way to go ; but if you ’re looking for something specific , the eBay hunting map is the quickest path to it .
Using eBay: Searching for Items
At the top of the eBay homepage , there ’s a search box where we can enter what we ’re look for .
Here ’s what hail up in our simple keyword search :
When you do a simple search , the auction sale results page also tells you which categories your results are in . You ’ll find that there are matches for Homer Simpson Pez dispensers in other position besides the Pez family . So when we search both titles and descriptions , we end up with 25 results – more than we did when we were browsing .
There ’s a listing about midway down the pageboy for a full solidification of Simpsons Pez dispenser , including Homer , with a starting price of just 99 cents .
That seems like a beneficial good deal . Here ’s the top of the auction sale varlet , where you ’ll receive the basic auction sale stats :
Thestarting priceis low , theshipping priceis sensible , and the seller has 99.6%positive feedback . Always ensure the shipping damage , as some sellers mislead buyer by selling the detail for cheap and then relieve oneself up the difference by severely overcharging for shipping , and always check the seller feedback . The feedback is how you know if you’re able to trust the seller ( and your feedback is how the trafficker knows he can trust you ) . We ’ll talk more about feedback in the next section , but for now , we just need to know that 99.6 % positive feedback is a good mark .
Since we ’re interested in this auction sale , we ’ll tap " Watch this detail in My eBay " ( top right of the auction sale page ) so we can get back to it easily . Now it ’s in our picket list :
In the next section , we ’ll bid on this item .
Using eBay: Buying Items
To search for an item , you do n’t need to register – you’re able to pasture , search and watch detail ( up to 10 ) as a guest . You ca n’t call or purchase as a invitee , though . So the next step is to show with eBayhere . It ’s speedy and free .
Now we can place a command on the set of Simpsons Pez dispensers . If we select the link in our watch list , we end up back at the auction sale page . There are four main sections to any auction pageboy :
eBay ’s bidding process works like this : You get into the maximal amount you are uncoerced to pay for the item , and eBay bids incrementally on your behalf until the command strain the maximum amount you entered . So if we decide we are willing to pay up $ 2.00 for this set of Pez dispensers , we enrol $ 2.00 in the tender time slot .
When we click " Place bidding , " the next screen is a substantiation screen where we can see the bid price and charge to it .
The top part of the page with the blue ground is for our eye only – no one else can see what our maximum bid is . Why is the current price $ 0.99 and not $ 2.00 ? It ’s because when you ’re the first bidder , no matter what you enter as your maximum price , your first bid is always the start price . If someone bids against us , eBay will entreat on our behalf up to $ 2.00 in $ 0.05 increments ( low - price auctions use very little growth , while mellow price auctions employ larger increase ) . So if another user comes along and get into $ 1.25 as his maximum , eBay will conjure $ 1.31 on our behalf , and we ’ll still be winning . But if another exploiter places a maximum bid of $ 2.01 , we ’ve been outbid ( and eBay will commit us ane - mailto this force in case we ’re not watching the auction ) . At this peak , if we still want these Pez dispenser , we have to get into a novel maximal bidding .
This is where eBay ’s bidding procedure does n’t work on the button like it ’s opine to – and start to get exciting . If every bidder truly entered the uttermost he was willing to give , auction would finish with little fanfare . The person who entered the high maximum bid would softly pull ahead . But humans being human , the existent maximum amount they ’re uncoerced to pay is unremarkably " a tiny piece more than what everyone who ’s bidding against me is uncoerced to pay . " If we still want our Pez dispensers , we ’ll put down a new maximum tender of , say , $ 3.00 ; and as long as the other bidder ’s maximum amount is less than $ 3.00 , we ’ll be winning the auction bridge again . Our coup might be temporary , though , because if the other bidder wants these Pez dispenser as much as we do , he ’s going to bid again until he outbid our maximum . And now we have a dictation war .
dictation warsare a rush – and they ’re sometimes very expensive . If this warfare continue for the three days until the vendue ends , we could terminate up paying a hundred bucks for these Pez dispensers . It pass . The epinephrine takes over and people part bidding to acquire – not necessarily to win a few Pez dispenser , just to WIN . For this reason , most of the bidding happens in the last two moment of an auction bridge . multitude hold back to rate a play until an vendue is about to close – this way , they can catch other bidder off guard , and hopefully no one will get the chance to outbid them . The last 10 seconds of a bidding war often becomes a conflict of bandwidth . Someone using adial - up connectionwill never be capable to aim a winning command in 10 seconds . Someone using acable modemcan billet a winning bid in two seconds .
There is at least one reason why someone would identify a bid very early in the auction : to remove a " Buy it Now " choice . retrieve that when an auction item also has a " Buy it Now " option , if someone decides to " Buy it Now " the auction is over . But the reverse is also true : As soon as someone bids on the detail , the " Buy it Now " alternative disappears . If someone come across an item she wants but she ’s not willing to pay the " Buy it Now " toll , she ’ll enter the lower limit starting tender just so another exploiter does n’t come along and buy it out from under her .
Using eBay: Paying for Items
If we deliver the goods our Simpsons Pez dispenser , the next footstep is to pay for the item . The seller in this itemization accepts two forms of payment : PayPal electronic defrayment or money gild / cashier ’s check . Overall , there are typically four methods of payment you could apply on eBay :
Cashis simple but dangerous , because you have no refuge if it gets lost in the mail , and send it by registered chain armor is just going to be you more money . Personal check are safer to commit in the post . The downside to paying by deterrent is that once the check make it , the seller usually expect for it to clear thebankbefore shipping your item , so it ’ll in all probability take you an extra couple of weeks to take in it . With money orders and cashier ’s impediment , the wait fourth dimension is unretentive because there ’s nothing to clear . Electronic defrayal is the immobile method – practically instantaneous . Using site likes PayPal , BidPay and WesternUnion.com , you may draw money from your depository financial institution account orcredit cardor purchase an electronic money order and send the defrayal to your seller over the net . The downside to e - payments is the hazard component involved in any online transference of financial information .
Once we complete payment , the seller will ship it to us . The auction states the transportation method as " Standard matt Rate Shipping Service , " which does n’t tell us much , so if we want to get laid more we ’ll have to ask the vender . We can do this using the " Ask seller a motion " link in the Seller Information loge at the top of the vendue listing .
Once we find the item , our next step is to leave feedback . If the seller has met all of her obligations ( If the auction stated a shipping timeframe , did the item arrive consequently ? Does the particular equalise the seller ’s description ? ) , then our feedback should be confirming . If we are not satisfied that the seller met the standards for positive feedback , the next move is link her to stress to correct the matter . Always let a seller test to fix the berth before leaving negative feedback . Most of the time , all it takes is a simple due east - mail substitution to resolve a job , and you ca n’t retract negative feedback once you submit it .
eBay Etiquette : Buyer Do ’s and Don’ts
Do :
Do n’t :
So far , we ’ve searched for , offer on and paid for an item . Our next step is to sell one .
More Resources
Using eBay: What Can I Sell?
you may sell almost anything on eBay – almost , but not quite . You ca n’t sell illegal items , like illegitimate drug , or government - ensure product like spirits , tobacco , gunslinger or prescription drug drug . You ca n’t selllock - blame toolsor surveillance equipment likewiretapsor hide cameras . You ca n’t betray human trunk parts or remains , like your extra kidney ( that ’s been tried ) or your deadened uncle ’s foot , and you ca n’t sell something that does n’t subsist in some concrete form – for instance , you ca n’t deal your soul to the high-pitched bidder . An eBay user distinguish David Finn try that and got pip down . Just for a coup d’oeil into the complex nature of running a site like eBay , here ’s an selection from the alphabetic character Finn received from an eBay representative regarding the decision to pull out the fireplug on his auction :
For a complete listing of no - no ’s , seeWhat particular may not be sold on eBay ? . If your item is not listed anywhere in that section , it ’s believably hunky-dory to sell . The author has a refurbished Samsung Yepp MP3 player that she grease one’s palms on eBay a twain of class ago and never uses . That ’s in spades hunky-dory to sell . In the next section , we ’ll number this MP3 player on eBay .
Using eBay: Selling Items
We are going to seek to sell a renovate Samsung Yepp MP3 player on eBay . To betray something on eBay , you do n’t need much – a few descriptive details is about all it take . And if your item is in palpable human body , it ’s good to have a picture of it . If we flick the " Sell " button at the top of the home page , we make it at the first step in the listing process :
We do n’t have an eBay Store , so we ’re not going to be sell at a set price . And we ’re not publicise real demesne . So we ’re going to choose " Online Auction . " The next step is to take the category we desire our detail in . MP3 thespian definitely belong to in the consumer electronics category .
At the bottom of this page , we can choose to list our particular in a 2d category for an extra fee , but Consumer Electronics is the obvious post for buyers to seem for an MP3 player , so we ’ll just stick with that . On the next pageboy , we ’ll opt " MP3 Players " as our subcategory , " Samsung " as the brand and " Yepp " as the model .
Now it ’s time to describe the MP3 thespian we ’re selling .
The field for the freestyle item description is at the bottom of the page . You do n’t need to make out HTML unless you want to do something fancy with your verbal description ( seeHow Web Pages Workto learn HTML ) . If your description will reckon fine as a block of schoolbook , you do n’t need any HTML tags at all . If you want any font modification or space between paragraph , you may apply this simple HTML template , which includes a head setup and a few paragraph shred :
AUCTION TITLE
ITEM DESCRIPTION
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
This is what we ’re give way to paste into the description loge :
Samsung Yepp 64 MB MP3 Digital Audio Player REFURB
Up for auction sale is a refurbished Samsung Yepp exemplar YP-30S MP3 player with 64 MB onboard memory . It ’s also a digital voice recording machine . It measures about 2.5 inches tall , 1.75 inches across-the-board and just over 0.5 inches deep . I buy it on eBay a couple of year ago but did n’t end up using it much . On the outside , the player is spick , and as far I know it works . you’re able to definitely load and listen to music and navigate through your MP3 single file . Aside from that , I ’m not sure because I never read the manual of arms or tested its various functions .
Along with the player , you ’ll receive the user manual , instalment CD , USB cable television ( not shown in motion-picture show ) and carrying case with belt clipping .
Next , we ’ll set a starting price , adjudicate if we want to ply a " Buy it Now " option and set the auction sale duration . A little research secernate us that a brand new Samsung Yepp YP-30S is selling for about $ 90 , and a refurbished one is selling for about $ 40 . Since we ca n’t say for certain that every function on this player works , we ’ll set off the bidding depression – at $ 9.99 . This is a unspoiled idea for several reasons :
Setting areserve monetary value , which is the low price at which you ’re unforced to sell your item , costs extra , and it really only makes horse sense to set one when you ’re selling a in high spirits - value item . In that face , starting the command at the lowest monetary value you ’re willing to accept would think a very high listing fee , so you might start the bid low but pay a small fee to plant a military reserve . We ’ve chosen not to set a " Buy it Now " Leontyne Price because auctions are fun , and we ’ve gone with the standard , 7 - day auction sale that will depart as presently as we submit our listing . Next , we ’re going to scroll down a bit and bestow a pic .
We ’re usingeBay Basic Picture Servicesbecause we only have one picture to load , and the first film is barren . All we have to do is click " Browse , " locate the picture on ourhard driveand threefold - click the file . If you have only a few pictures and you ’re not selling 50 items a workweek , it makes sense to habituate eBay ’s organization . Otherwise , you might want to look into the price - effectiveness of going with your ownimage - host service .
The rest of that pageboy is take with additional features that you could purchase for a fee , including sheer - face case for your deed , a fancy frame for your itemisation and a situation in the " Featured Items " box that start any leaning of hunt results . We ’re going to clear up those extras so as to keep our list price down .
On the next Thomas Nelson Page , we choose our payment method acting and set our shipping fee . We ’re going to make this a PayPal - only auction sale to keep it simple ( and because the author already has a PayPal account ) , and we ’ll guess our transportation cost so buyers know up front what they ’ll be paying if they get ahead . We could also expect and commit the gain bidder the transport toll once we know his zilch computer code , or we could limit up a shipping computer that allows the buyer to put down his nix computer code and find out the exact shipping charge . A seller can send using any letter carrier , let in the U.S. Postal Service , UPS and FedEx , or the seller can allow the buyer choose the shipping method acting once the auction ends .
At the bottom of this page , we found our return insurance policy and furnish any additional payment statement if we have them :
The net step is to refresh our list details on the next page and make certain everything is right . If not , we can create changes and review it again . The bottom of this page prove our full itemization fee :
eBay charge aninsertion feeof $ 0.35 for starting prices between $ 1.00 and $ 9.99 . We did n’t purchase any extra feature , so that ’s all it costs us to list this token . When someone buy the MP3 player , we ’ll also pay eBay afinal - economic value fee . If it sell for $ 25.00 or less , the fee is 5.25 percent of the final sale price . For a gross list of vendor fees , go toeBay.com Fees .
Once we ’re satisfied that everything is right , we officially submit the itemisation . Since we chose to start the itemisation immediately , it like a shot shows up on the eBay Web internet site :
Now we have an item for sale on eBay . The field with the blue backdrop only shows up for us . We can make change to the listing by click " Revise your particular " as long as no one has put a bidding and there are more than 12 hours leave in the auction bridge .
If at least one soul place a bid before the auction terminate in seven day , we ’ve fuck off ourselves a buyer . When the vendue is over , we ’ll send our buyer aninvoicethrough eBay – it ’s basically a one - click process . We chatter on the " Send Invoice " button either on the auction sale page or in the sales agreement - confirmation einsteinium - ring mail we receive from eBay , enter any payment details we did not already include in our itemisation , and pip " institutionalise Invoice . "
Once we receive presentment from PayPal that the buyer has sent his electronic defrayal , we ’ll ship the point to the vendee ’s confirmed PayPal address and leave confident feedback . Hopefully the purchaser will also leave behind convinced feedback once he has receive his MP3 role player in a well timed fashion and finds it to be as we described it in the listing .
Feedback is the best tool usable for weeding out the bad Peter Sellers and back up the good ones . Still , with all of the purchasing and sell that go on on eBay , all of it based on pictures and descriptions , faker does happen . In the next section , we ’ll spill about some ways you’re able to protect yourself from usual schemes .
Using eBay: Security
TheInternetin superior general is a hotbed of fraud schemes , and eBay is certainly a microcosm of the Internet . Anonymity supply an easy track to cheating multitude out of money . But while eBay users are anonymous on the aerofoil , eBay almost always get laid who they are . In most cases of fraud committed through eBay , the victims do have some refuge .
so as to make buyers experience dependable when make purchases on eBay , all real items are mechanically insured for $ 200 . A recipe that was supposed to be delivered to you viae - mailis not considered a palpable item . But if you buy a set of speakers that never arrive , and you go through the contravention process and eBay determines you were defrauded , you could get your money back up to $ 200 . As an incentive to utilise eBay ’s PayPal payment organisation , most item buy through PayPal are covered up to $ 1,000 .
Buyer fraudis typically less damaging than vender fraud . The most common character of fraud a buyer can pull is only not make up for an item . seller can treat with non - paying bidders by filing an Unpaid Item dispute . eBay will then attempt to connect with the vendee and get her to give . If she does not respond to eBay ’s attempts after eight mean solar day , the marketer is reimburse for eBay ’s cutting of the final sale price and can relist the item for free . If the vendee does respond , the difference of opinion can terminate in one of three way :
In the end , the damage to the marketer is comparatively small . Another type of buyer sham go on when a buyer sends simulated requital . In most grammatical case , this is in the shape of a bounced check , and the seller find out about it before shipping the item . Bounced deterrent are as common on eBay as they are in the rest of the world , and many marketer select not to admit personal checks for this reason .
Tips to avoid buyer fraud:
trafficker fraudis what what most citizenry conceive about when they worry about using eBay . There are two main ways in which a purchaser can be rook by a seller : The item the buyer buy is dramatically different from how it was depict in the listing ; or the item plainly never arrives .
One thing to keep in head when you believe you ’ve been defrauded is thatmiscommunicationis common on eBay . For instance , if you did n’t read every word of the auction sale listing for your item , you may have overlook the part the say the seller would be out of township for three weeks and would n’t be able to ship the item until she returned . This could be why you do n’t have your item and the vendor is n’t answering your tocopherol - chain armor . Also , e - mail is not the most straight form of communication . If your item has n’t get in after two calendar week , and you ’ve e - mailed the seller but have n’t heard back , it ’s a secure theme to check your junk mail folder . Your seller may have institutionalise a reply e - mail that just never made it to your inbox . If there ’s nothing from the marketer in your junk folder , you’re able to request that eBay disclose your seller ’s phone identification number so you’re able to give him a call and see what ’s go on .
If you do n’t get an answer to yourphone call(or if your seller dwell in another rural area and it would cost too much money to call ) , your next dance step is to start the contravention process . When a emptor trust he has been defrauded , he can file away a complaint , and eBay will work to puzzle out the problem . ( If you used PayPal , you should lodge a complaint there first , because your item is probably covered under PayPal ’s vendee protection insurance and there ’s a separate organisation for that . ) When you charge a complaint in eBay ’s " Item Not Received or importantly Not as Described " system of rules , eBay will act as mediate humankind between you and your vendor to stress to settle the dispute . If that fails , you’re able to register a claim to get reimbursed for your leverage ( but if you made your purchase using a credit card , you need to file away a claim with your credit add-in company first – eBay wo n’t reimburse you if your reference lineup company is willing to ) .
Tips to avoid seller fraud:
Fake escrow servicesare another way in which both buyers and sellers can be rook . SeeeBay Help : Using Escrowto learn about the safest style to apply escrow for expensive purchases .
These are the principal methods of fraud commit through eBay , but there ’s another kind of eBay - related pseud that happens outside the eBay vane site . If you take in an eastward - chain mail from eBay asking you to revise your account info , it ’s a good idea to be suspect . Identity theftresulting fromspoof e - mailsthat look like they ’re from eBay is a braggart job . Many people know this scam as " phishing . " These e - mail typically say you that there is a problem with your credit card numeral stored on eBay , and unless you upgrade your business relationship information you wo n’t be able to use the site . Sometimes there ’s an chronicle information form in the e - ring armour itself , and sometimes there ’s a connection that directs you to what looks like eBay ’s account info pageboy but in fact is a spoof Web site . When you accede your account entropy , the scammer get his mitt on your credit batting order information and your eBay password . ( PayPal burlesque is just as common as eBay spoof , so you should be on the lookout for those atomic number 99 - post , too . SeePayPal : Protect Yourself from Fraudulent Emailsto learn more . )
If you ’re aware of the problem , it ’s actually pretty easy to avoid getting scammed in this way . First , e - mails from eBay never admit account entropy flesh ; second , even though the link in the e - mail await like an eBay URL , once you press it , you could see in your web browser ’s address bar that you ’re not at eBay at all . One middling surefire way to obviate this type of scheme is by downloading the eBay security measures toolbar , which will simply say you when you ’re at a fake land site . For a full list of ways to square off a spoof , seeeBay : Spoof Email Tutorial .
If you find yourself the victim of one of these scams , and you ’ve submitted your report information in a non - eBay form , you should immediately cancel the credit circuit board numeral you provided and change your eBay password . In accession to using your acknowledgment circuit board , these spoofers can use your eBay indistinguishability to rip off the great unwashed , ruining your eBay reputation in the process .
It ’s deserving noting that you may also become the victim of indistinguishability thievery but by providing your course credit identity card number in a vendor ’s own checkout time process . Most sellers who have their own check-out procedure process are mellow - book seller with plenitude of positivistic feedback ( in the thousands ) . If you come across a vendor with a low feedback figure , be wary of ply your credit card information outside the eBay checkout system .
Tips to avoid identity theft:
If you ’re persevering and careful , eBay can be a safe place to shop . Millions of people buy and sell on eBay with no problems at all , and as a result , eBay is thrive . In the next section , we ’ll take a flavour at the business of eBay , feel out how it start and see what competition is out there .
The Business of eBay
In 1995 , reckoner programmerPierre Omidyarset up a Web site anticipate AuctionWeb as a place for people to auction off their collectibles . The news report goes that his girlfriend need a place to trade her Pez accumulation , and thus eBay was have a bun in the oven . A niggling bit nigher to the truth is that Omidyar , like every other innovative mind in the calculator manufacture in the early ' 90s , saw the potentiality of the net and was compulsive to utilize it . His girl ’s worry finding collectors who were concerned in buying her Pez aggregation helped uncover the bid idea that would finally become eBay . Omidyar advertise AuctionWeb in the first place through placard in Usenet radical . Some of the first item on AuctionWeb included a twain of underwear autographed by Marky Mark , a Superman lunchbox circa 1967 , an old Sun-1 workstation , a 35,000 - straight - foot warehouse in Idaho and Omidyar ’s own brokenlaser printer(which sold for $ 14 ) . In 1996 , AuctionWeb became eBay .
In 2004 , eBay host 1.4 billion listings with a total of $ 34.2 billion changing hands . In September 2005 , eBay purchased Skype , a globalVoIPservice with 54 million customer , for $ 2.6 billion . It also possess PayPal.com , Half.com , Shopping.com , Kijiji.com , ProStores.com and Rent.com , and it has a 25 percent stake in CraigsList.com . By all fiscal measures , business in eBay world is good .
The rise ofeBay stores , where sellers can make their own computer storage presence and deal items just like they had their own Web site – except that they pay eBay for each list and a cutting of every sale – is bringing eBay into the mainstream consumer market and give people a new revenue stream . A2005 surveyfound that around 725,000 people subsist in the United States garner all or part of their income from eBay sales , and another 1.5 million regularly use eBay to gain a little extra cash . The eBay juggernaut has spawned an intact industriousness that revolve around its platform . Software developer are create applications to help masses find misspelled listing on eBay so they can win detail for less than they ’re deserving . Otherauction - come to softwareincludes " sniper " program that mechanically invest a substance abuser ’s bid at the last potential second and programs that alert users to outbids and soon - end auctions on theircell phoneorPDA . Brick - and - mortareBay consignment shopsexist solely to deal people ’s unwanted point on eBay if they do n’t feel like doing it themselves .
EBay is n’t the only on-line auction Web situation , but it ’s by far the bounteous . Yahoo ! , Amazon andOverstockall have their own vendue services , and others include uBid.com , AuctionFire.com and PoliceAuctions.com ( where you’re able to bid on government - seized dimension ) . There are also dozens of fledgling auction sale website that extend free list and other inducement to draw customer from eBay , but eBay carry on to break records . Some masses cerebrate eBay ’s success will ultimately lead to legal problems . With almost 5 million newfangled listings per day , it ’s insufferable for eBay to make certain none of them breaks a law . In 1999 , eBay cancelled an auction bridge for a human kidney ( which had contact a command price of $ 5.7 million ) and several auction sale for large firearms , including a rocket rocket launcher and a bazooka . That twelvemonth , eBay had 6 million register users . Now it has 150 million . Although eBay prohibits the cut-rate sale of human torso parts and piece , it ’s unclear what type of legal province the company might have if one of those auctions were successfully fill in . As of October 2005 , eBay is looking at possible fine ensue from the alleged sales event of prescription contact lens on the site , even though " Prescription drug and Devices " are on eBay ’s list of interdict items .
Its astonishing compass may ultimately be its ruination , but for now , eBay remain the bill sticker child for Internet success .
