Buying & Selling on eBay
Richard Kershenbaum
Endacott Society Computer Study Group
01-06-2009
“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
• 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
Example: Richard sells his DSL
modem -- bidding
• 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
Example: Richard sells his DSL
modem -- bidding
• 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