Online Auctions at Ebay: Bid With Confidence, Sell With Success

by Prince, Dennis L.; Price, Dennis L.

• ISBN13: 9780761524144
• ISBN10: 0761524142
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-09-01
• Publisher: Cengage Learning Ptr

Summary

Inside, you'll quickly learn how to hone your bidding skills so you can win more auctions while spending less money. Learn some of the best techniques to make you a bidder par excellence. Then, learn the quick and easy ways to create professional-looking auction listings that will get you more bids and more money!

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. xvii
Understanding Auctions and the Internet	p. 1
The History of the Auction	p. 3
What Exactly Is an Auction, Anyway?	p. 4
Where Did Auctions First Start?	p. 5
Why Auction?	p. 7
Different Types of Auctions	p. 10
The English Auction	p. 11
The Dutch Auction	p. 12
Other Auction Types	p. 14
Traditional Trickery and Other Unfair Acts	p. 16
Collusion	p. 16
Thievery	p. 17
Shill Bidders	p. 18
Afterword	p. 18
The Benefits of an Auction	p. 19
Sellers Find More Buyers	p. 20
Buyers Find More Items	p. 21
Timing	p. 24
Leveling the Playing Field	p. 27
For the Benefit of a Benefit	p. 30
The Birth of eBay	p. 33
The Internet Revolution	p. 34
A Different Form of E-Commerce	p. 36
eBay Goes Live	p. 37
The Growth of eBay	p. 38
Secondary and Tertiary Markets	p. 40
How I Got Hooked on eBay	p. 42
Is It Safe?	p. 45
General Concerns About the Internet	p. 46
Take Care of Yourself	p. 47
Majority Rules	p. 48
Community Minded	p. 50
Basic Netiquette Tips and Techniques	p. 54
eBay's Increased Efforts for Safe Trading	p. 56
Grass Roots, or Power to the People	p. 56
TRUSTe and eBay's Privacy Policy	p. 58
SafeHarbor	p. 59
The Feedback Forum	p. 59
Suspension and Loss of Registered Status	p. 62
Escrow Service	p. 63
Verified eBay User	p. 64
Trade with Confidence--eBay's New Insurance Feature	p. 65
Authentication and Grading	p. 66
Better Business Bureau Online	p. 66
Legal Buddy	p. 67
Open Lines of Communication	p. 68
What Do You Think?	p. 68
Get Started and Join the Fun	p. 69
What You Need to Begin	p. 71
Getting the Basics	p. 71
Hardware That Isn't Soft	p. 72
Software That Isn't Hard	p. 76
Picture This	p. 78
Choosing a Browser	p. 80
Connect!	p. 81
Free Samples	p. 83
Thumbing a Ride Without Thumbing Your Nose	p. 83
How 'Bout My TV?	p. 85
A Final Thought	p. 86
Welcome to eBay	p. 87
Accessing the Web Site	p. 87
The eBay Home Page	p. 89
New to eBay?	p. 92
The eBay New User Tutorial	p. 93
The Auction Listings	p. 94
Get Local or Go Global	p. 99
eBay Extras: Additional User Features	p. 100
Getting Registered	p. 102
Searching for Items	p. 109
Viewing Featured Items from the eBay Home Page	p. 110
Using the Category Listings	p. 112
Looking for Newly Added Items	p. 115
Using the Search Tools	p. 116
Exceptions to the Rules	p. 121
To the Gallery	p. 122
Introducing eBay's Personal Shopper	p. 124
Wanted: Sooner Than Later	p. 126
Go Ahead, Place Your Bid	p. 129
Reviewing the Item You'll Bid On	p. 129
The Bidding Process	p. 139
Your Bid Notification and Daily Status	p. 142
Reviewing Your Bids Online	p. 144
Hey! You Were Outbid!	p. 145
eBay Turns the Page	p. 147
The End of the Auction	p. 149
General Advice and Common Sense	p. 153
Whose Market Is It, Anyway?	p. 154
Supply and Demand	p. 155
An Item for All Seasons	p. 157
Set Realistic Expectations	p. 158
Don't Let Your Eyes Be Bigger Than Your Wallet	p. 160
Get Rich Quick...Not!	p. 162
Do Things Ever Go Wrong?	p. 163
E-Motions	p. 167
What Are Other People Like?	p. 168
The New Users	p. 168
The Casual Users	p. 169
The Professional Users	p. 169
The Elite	p. 170
The Not-So-Nice Users	p. 170
Competition at Its Finest	p. 171
The Euphoric Winner	p. 172
The Disgruntled Loser	p. 173
How Do You Rate?	p. 174
Becoming a Savvy Bidder	p. 175
Being an Informed Bidder	p. 177
Research the Items You Want	p. 177
Rare and Hard to Find?	p. 180
Investigate the Seller	p. 183
Checking Bid History	p. 184
Check Relistings	p. 186
Picture--Perfect?	p. 188
If You Have Questions, Just Ask	p. 189
Understanding the Auction Variations	p. 191
Minimum Bid Auctions	p. 191
Proxy Bid Auctions	p. 193
Reserve Price Auctions	p. 196
Dutch Auctions	p. 200
Private Auctions	p. 202
Bidding Strategies	p. 203
When Should You Bid?	p. 204
Proxy Bidding Strategies	p. 207
The Penny Principle	p. 209
Dutch Auction Strategy	p. 210
Sniping	p. 213
Put Your Money Where Your Mouse Is	p. 225
Knowing When to Walk Away	p. 227
Managing Your Bidding Activity	p. 229
Tracking Your Auctions	p. 230
I've Changed My Mind, I Don't Want to Bid	p. 238
Insufficient Funds	p. 241
You Are the Auctioneer	p. 243
What Do You Want to Sell Today?	p. 245
What Do You Have to Sell?	p. 246
Done Any Upgrading Lately?	p. 247
Know Your Item	p. 247
Researching the Potential Success of Your Auction	p. 248
Using Etiquette When Selling Your Item	p. 253
Verifying Your Item Before You List	p. 254
Flooding the Market	p. 255
Be Realistic	p. 256
Creating a Simple Auction Listing	p. 257
First Things First	p. 257
Setting Your Item's Title and Category	p. 258
Entering the Item Description	p. 261
Setting Your Listing Options, Location, and Payment Terms	p. 266
Setting Your Shipping Terms	p. 268
Establishing the Minimum (Starting) Bid	p. 269
Using Reserve Prices	p. 270
Setting the Duration of Your Auctions	p. 273
Finishing Up	p. 274
How Much Does It Cost to List an Item?	p. 275
Any Other Terms or Conditions You Want to Specify?	p. 276
Verifying Your Item Listing	p. 277
E-mail Notification of Your New Listing	p. 282
Final Thoughts	p. 284
Timing Is Everything	p. 285
Timing Your Auction	p. 285
Time of Day	p. 286
Time of Week	p. 289
Time of Year	p. 289
Choosing the Length of Your Auction	p. 291
A Bad Time Is Downtime	p. 295
Spicing Up Your Listing for Better Results	p. 297
Knowing the Key Ingredient	p. 298
Bait the Bidders and They'll Be Hooked	p. 299
Using Easy HTML for Killer Listings	p. 301
A Picture's Worth a Thousand Bucks	p. 306
How to Get a Picture of Your Item	p. 308
Altering Pictures	p. 308
Storing and Queuing Up Your Pictures	p. 309
Adding an Image to Your Auction Listing	p. 312
Mixing Images and Text in Your Item Description	p. 315
A Few Subtle Tricks	p. 320
Add Inter-Listing Hyperlinks	p. 324
Advertising Your Auction Listings	p. 324
Wrapping Up	p. 325
Managing Your Auctions	p. 327
Answering Bidders' Questions	p. 327
Revising, Improving, or Abandoning Your Listing	p. 332
Revising Items	p. 332
Changing the Category for Your Auction	p. 336
Adding to Your Item	p. 337
Cross-Listing Your Auctions	p. 341
Cancelling Your Auction	p. 343
It's the Last Day and Still No Bids	p. 346
When Bidding Activity Stalls	p. 347
Reasons to End an Auction Early	p. 348
Canceling Bids on Your Auction	p. 350
Keeping Track of Your Auctions	p. 352
If It Doesn't Sell, Are You a Failure?	p. 354
Relisting Your Item	p. 355
After the Auction	p. 359
Closing the Auction and Making Contact	p. 361
Last Bids	p. 362
Assessing Your eBay Commission and Account Status	p. 362
eBay Notification	p. 367
Communicate!	p. 373
Clean and Clear Communication	p. 374
First Contact	p. 375
Reserve Price Not Met?	p. 378
Keeping Track of Your Communications	p. 383
Following Up	p. 383
No Reply	p. 386
Payment	p. 391
Who Goes First?	p. 391
Methods of Payment	p. 392
Popular Ways to Pay	p. 393
Other Ways to Pay	p. 395
International Exchanges	p. 397
The Check Is in the Mail	p. 398
Bad Checks	p. 403
Hello? I Sent My Payment Two Weeks Ago	p. 405
Shipping and Handling	p. 407
What Do You Have to Ship?	p. 407
Where Can You Get Shipping Supplies?	p. 408
Packaging Techniques	p. 412
Photos and Other Flat Items	p. 413
Glassware, Pottery, and Other Things That Go Bump	p. 413
Small Items	p. 414
Framed Items	p. 414
Being Cost-Conscious When You Pack	p. 415
Bullet-Proof Isn't Necessary	p. 415
Choosing the Best Carrier	p. 416
Determining Postage Costs	p. 418
Use Good Judgment When Billing for Shipping	p. 419
Registering and Insuring Packages	p. 421
Satisfaction Guaranteed!	p. 425
Follow Up as Buyer and Seller	p. 426
Buyers	p. 426
Sellers	p. 427
The Cover Letter	p. 430
Dress Up the Item	p. 431
Posting Feedback on eBay	p. 432
Additional Features of the Feedback Forum	p. 443
A Few Guidelines When Leaving Feedback	p. 445
Going Offline for Other Deals	p. 449
Meeting People Who Share Your Interests	p. 449
What Else Do You Have?	p. 450
Suggestive Selling	p. 451
The USENET	p. 452
Helping the Less Fortunate Ones	p. 453
And in the End	p. 457
Appendixes	p. 461
More Information and Resources	p. 463
General Information about Auctions	p. 463
Price Guides and Useful Publications	p. 464
More Info About PCs and Other Gadgets	p. 465
Learning More about Web Browsers and the Internet	p. 466
Internet Safety and Good Practices	p. 468
HTML Help, Tools, and Tutorials	p. 469
More HTML Templates	p. 471
The Low-Frills Listing	p. 471
The Table-Style Listing	p. 474
The Total Atmosphere Listing	p. 476
Index	p. 479
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