Buying & Selling on eBay Richard Kershenbaum Endacott Society Computer Study Group

“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 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, 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

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