May you have a wonderful New Year. May it be filled with friends, happiness, and successes. May it be better than the last one. May you accomplish some of the things that you have wanted to do, and may you realize some of your fondest dreams.
Best wishes
David Larson
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Saturday, December 30, 2006
eBay- the largest online shopping mall
You may have heard the hype. It says:
Whatever you need, you can get on eBay.
You can find a great deal on eBay, the world’s largest online marketplace.
You can find items that you would love to bid on.
You can discover hard to find, or one of a kind items on eBay.
You can find collectables and rare items on eBay.
You can find what you want without paying too much.
You can buy anything from computer parts to cars, jets, boats, and houses on eBay.
You can shop locally, regionally, nationally, or around the world, all on eBay.
There is one thing, however. The hype is true. eBay is all of these things. It lists popular items, such as collectables, antiques, clothing and accessories, computers, books, DVD’s and movies, hobbies and crafts, toys, jewelry, games, watches, cars, trucks, auto parts, consumer electronics, music, sporting goods, cameras and photo, video games, home and garden, pottery and glass, and sports memorabilia, among its total of 60 plus million items daily, in some 50,000 categories. It is the most popular shopping destination on the internet.
eBay was founded in 1995, and now has 168 million registered members world wide.
eBay is found in 36 countries. The English-language sites are: Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, United Kingdom,and the United States; German language sites- Austria, Germany, and Switzerland; French language sites- Belgium, Canada, and France; Dutch language sites- Belgium, and the Netherlands; Simplified Chinese language sites-China and Hong Kong; Traditional Chinese language site-Taiwan (Ruten.com.tn); Italian language site- Italy; Polish language site- Poland; Swedish language site- Sweden; Spanish language site- Spain; and the Korean language site- South Korea. Ebay is part owner of the mercadolibre auctions in the 11 Spanish- speaking American countries- Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela; and mercadolivre in Brasil, where it is in Portuguese.
There are translation services which allow speakers of all of these languages to communicate with each other. Registering with 1 ebay country will allow the bidder to place bids on the sites in other countries.
eBay uses 2 formats, the traditional auction format, and also a buy it now format, which cancels the auction. Both are easy to use.
When you enter the eBay site, you will be asked to register. It is easy, and relatively quick and painless. You will be asked your name, your address, your e-mail address, and then you will have to think up a username, to use on the site. There is a button to check its availability. You will then have to give a password, a private question, and your birth date. You will have to be over 18 years old. Once that formality is out of the way, you can browse the listings- check the home page, check the site map, go to the areas that you are interested in. When you win a bid, or sell an item, you will get a feedback rating. This will build up, and is one way of checking your reliability. You can check what feedback others have left for sellers or buyers, and act accordingly.
eBay also has tutorials on how the site, and the processes, work. They are excellent.
If you are serious about using ebay, either as a buyer or a seller, it is a good idea to get an ebay toolbar. This is free, and upgrades security. Yes, like everywhere else, there are security issues.
eBay also has 3 other areas- eBay stores, where dealers, large and small, can set up an internet presence very cheaply (from $15.99 to $249.99 per month); Prostores, which is an internet and web-site design company, and Half.com, which sells books, textbooks, music, movies, video games, game systems, DVD’s, and CD’s. These can be used or new. Here, however, they are only fixed –price, stores for sellers are free, and buying more than one item from an individual seller will give you a cheaper postal rate. Unfortunately, this site is only open to US and US-APO addresses, both for buyers and sellers.
I joined eBay in 2004, and did a little buying to see how the system works. I found some bargains, some incredibly expensive items, many good deals, some auction excitement, and some fun. I started selling in a bigger way this last summer, and am now the owner of an ebay store- coinsnpaper ( http://stores.ebay.ca/coinsnpaper?ref=store ), a power seller, and a trading assistant. A power seller has a certain level of sales per month, and a certain feedback level. A trading assistant is allowed to sell items for others. Again, a certain sales experience and a certain feedback level is expected. I am now starting to experiment with what I can do with my store.
I sell coins and paper money, and have not yet experimented outside of that area, despite interests in other areas.
I have had some successes, and a few upsetting incidents. However, comparing them with the things I have seen in physical stores, I feel that they are not worth worrying too much about. I will be mentioning some of the problems, and some of the things that you can do to protect yourself against them, as this blog progresses.
Whatever you need, you can get on eBay.
You can find a great deal on eBay, the world’s largest online marketplace.
You can find items that you would love to bid on.
You can discover hard to find, or one of a kind items on eBay.
You can find collectables and rare items on eBay.
You can find what you want without paying too much.
You can buy anything from computer parts to cars, jets, boats, and houses on eBay.
You can shop locally, regionally, nationally, or around the world, all on eBay.
There is one thing, however. The hype is true. eBay is all of these things. It lists popular items, such as collectables, antiques, clothing and accessories, computers, books, DVD’s and movies, hobbies and crafts, toys, jewelry, games, watches, cars, trucks, auto parts, consumer electronics, music, sporting goods, cameras and photo, video games, home and garden, pottery and glass, and sports memorabilia, among its total of 60 plus million items daily, in some 50,000 categories. It is the most popular shopping destination on the internet.
eBay was founded in 1995, and now has 168 million registered members world wide.
eBay is found in 36 countries. The English-language sites are: Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, United Kingdom,and the United States; German language sites- Austria, Germany, and Switzerland; French language sites- Belgium, Canada, and France; Dutch language sites- Belgium, and the Netherlands; Simplified Chinese language sites-China and Hong Kong; Traditional Chinese language site-Taiwan (Ruten.com.tn); Italian language site- Italy; Polish language site- Poland; Swedish language site- Sweden; Spanish language site- Spain; and the Korean language site- South Korea. Ebay is part owner of the mercadolibre auctions in the 11 Spanish- speaking American countries- Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela; and mercadolivre in Brasil, where it is in Portuguese.
There are translation services which allow speakers of all of these languages to communicate with each other. Registering with 1 ebay country will allow the bidder to place bids on the sites in other countries.
eBay uses 2 formats, the traditional auction format, and also a buy it now format, which cancels the auction. Both are easy to use.
When you enter the eBay site, you will be asked to register. It is easy, and relatively quick and painless. You will be asked your name, your address, your e-mail address, and then you will have to think up a username, to use on the site. There is a button to check its availability. You will then have to give a password, a private question, and your birth date. You will have to be over 18 years old. Once that formality is out of the way, you can browse the listings- check the home page, check the site map, go to the areas that you are interested in. When you win a bid, or sell an item, you will get a feedback rating. This will build up, and is one way of checking your reliability. You can check what feedback others have left for sellers or buyers, and act accordingly.
eBay also has tutorials on how the site, and the processes, work. They are excellent.
If you are serious about using ebay, either as a buyer or a seller, it is a good idea to get an ebay toolbar. This is free, and upgrades security. Yes, like everywhere else, there are security issues.
eBay also has 3 other areas- eBay stores, where dealers, large and small, can set up an internet presence very cheaply (from $15.99 to $249.99 per month); Prostores, which is an internet and web-site design company, and Half.com, which sells books, textbooks, music, movies, video games, game systems, DVD’s, and CD’s. These can be used or new. Here, however, they are only fixed –price, stores for sellers are free, and buying more than one item from an individual seller will give you a cheaper postal rate. Unfortunately, this site is only open to US and US-APO addresses, both for buyers and sellers.
I joined eBay in 2004, and did a little buying to see how the system works. I found some bargains, some incredibly expensive items, many good deals, some auction excitement, and some fun. I started selling in a bigger way this last summer, and am now the owner of an ebay store- coinsnpaper ( http://stores.ebay.ca/coinsnpaper?ref=store ), a power seller, and a trading assistant. A power seller has a certain level of sales per month, and a certain feedback level. A trading assistant is allowed to sell items for others. Again, a certain sales experience and a certain feedback level is expected. I am now starting to experiment with what I can do with my store.
I sell coins and paper money, and have not yet experimented outside of that area, despite interests in other areas.
I have had some successes, and a few upsetting incidents. However, comparing them with the things I have seen in physical stores, I feel that they are not worth worrying too much about. I will be mentioning some of the problems, and some of the things that you can do to protect yourself against them, as this blog progresses.
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