Marsha Collier Bestselling author of Starting an eBay Business For Dummies Learn to: • Start saving and making money on eBay • Find deals on everyday items and place winning bids • List items for sale using tricks proven to win big bids • Take the first steps toward building your income with an eBay business eBay ® 6th Edition Making Everything Easier! ™ Open the book and find: • How and why to give feedback • Secrets for great item listings • When to bid for the best deals • Cool sites and software to make using eBay more fun • Ways to keep yourself safe when selling or buying • How to communicate effectively with buyers and sellers • Tips for finding eBay’s most trustworthy sellers • Why you should check out charity auctions Marsha Collier is the undisputed empress of eBay, with more than a million copies of her eBay books in print. She is cohost of the Computer & Technology Radio Show heard online at wsradio.com and an in-demand educator for all things regarding online business. Marsha was also one of eBay’s original PowerSellers. $24.99 US / $29.99 CN / £17.99 UK Computers/Electronic Commerce ISBN 978-0-470-49741-8 Go to dummies.com ® for more! Cash in on the eBay phenomenon! Bag big bargains, sell like a pro, and make a profit What’s better than saving money and making money, all without leaving home? That’s what eBay is all about, and this bestselling, fully updated guide covers all its newest features. eBay expert Marsha Collier shows you how to use My eBay, make smart bids, conduct your own auctions, market and ship your stuff, handle privacy issues, and keep everything safe and legal. • Feel at home — get registered, find your way around the site, and customize your My eBay page • Be a savvy collector — find out how to identify real deals on collectibles and learn what people are buying • Join the community — share ideas in discussion groups and use the Trust & Safety resource • Become a stellar seller — learn to determine what your stuff is worth, when to list it, and how to make it irresistible • Picture perfection — get tips for photographing your items and showing them to best advantage • Mind your business — keep track of items you’re bidding on, items you’ve won, and items you’re selling • It’s a wrap — complete your auction, accept payment, ship your items, and manage feedback • Keep the tax man happy — maintain the proper records and keep yourself out of trouble eBay ® Collier 6th Edition est. spine=.81” by Marsha Collier eBay ® FOR DUMmIES ‰ 6TH EDITION eBay ® For Dummies ® , 6th Edition Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River Street Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permit- ted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http:// www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com, Making Everything Easier, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/ or its af liates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. eBay is a registered trademark of eBay, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. 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Library of Congress Control Number: 2009928738 ISBN: 978-0-470-49741-8 Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 About the Author Marsha Collier spends a good deal of time on eBay. She loves buying and selling (she’s a PowerSeller with her own eBay store) as well as meeting eBay users from around the world. As a columnist, an author of three bestselling books on eBay, and an invited lecturer at eBay Live, she shares her knowl- edge of eBay with millions of online sellers. eBay For Dummies is published in special versions for the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and Australia. Currently, she has 15 books in print on her favorite subject — eBay. Before her eBay career took off, Marsha owned and operated her own mar- keting and advertising  rm, a company that won numerous awards and earned her “Small Business of the Year” accolades from several organiza- tions. She got started with eBay during the site’s early years and quickly mas- tered the art of buying and reselling for pro t. Marsha is one of the foremost eBay experts and educators in the world and the top-selling eBay author. In 1999 Marsha created the  rst edition of eBay For Dummies, the bestselling book for eBay beginners. She followed up the success of the  rst book with Starting an eBay Business For Dummies, a book targeting individuals interested in making e-commerce their full-time profession. That book became an instant nationwide hit, making several notable bestseller lists. These books are updated regularly to keep up with site and market changes. Marsha’s books have sold over 1,000,000 copies (including the special edi- tions in foreign countries — two in Australia, two in Canada, and two in the United Kingdom — as well as translations in Spanish, French, Italian, Chinese and German). Along with her writing, Marsha is an experienced e-commerce educator. She was the lead instructor at eBay University (teaching seminars all over the United States), as well as a regular presenter at the eBay Live national con- vention since its inception. Marsha also hosted “Make Your Fortune Online,” a PBS special on online business that premiered in 2005. The show was the basis for her PBS premium  ve DVD set, “Your Online Business Plan.” In 2006, she was invited to address the Innovations Conference in Singapore to pres- ent the ideas of e-commerce to a new market. In 2008, she was dubbed one of twenty in uential iCitizens in Kelly Mooney’s The Open Brand: When Push Comes to Pull in a Web Made World, and was invited to speak at a leading e-commerce conference attended by Coca-Cola, Hewlett Packard, Procter & Gamble, Victoria’s Secret, and leading e-commerce leaders. During the holiday season, she does several national satellite media tours to explain the safety of shopping online. She hosts Computer & Technology Radio on KTRB 860 AM in San Francisco as well as on the Web at www. computerandtechnologyradio.com. She also makes regular appearances on television, radio, and in print to discuss customer needs and online commerce. Marsha currently resides in Los Angeles, CA. She can be reached via her Web site, www.coolebaytools.com or her blog at http://mcollier. blogspot.com. Dedication To all the future eBay buyers and sellers who have purchased this book to get a taste of how much fun online buying and selling can be. I look forward to seeing your auctions and hearing your stories. I dedicate this book also to all the employees at eBay, who work very hard and don’t always get noticed or appreciated by the community. I want to thank all of you for your endeavors; you make eBay a fun and pro table site to visit for millions of people. Keep on doing what you’re doing. Author’s Acknowledgments This book couldn’t have been written without the input from thousands of eBay sellers and buyers that I’ve spoken to from all over the country. You inspire me to work harder and do my best to help all of you. I’ve made so many friends along my eBay travels: if it wasn’t for them, this book wouldn’t be here. Thanks to the rest of my eBay buddies — who always seem to have a moment when I call. I particularly want to thank my editors at Wiley Publishing, Inc.: my really fun and smart project editor Susan Pink; my super tech editor Louise (aunt*patti); Ruby (who, by the way, was one of the very  rst eBay employ- ees) — she’s always there for me!; Steven Hayes, who is always there for sup- ports and ideas; and Andy Cummings, my publisher, who, lucky for me — still takes my calls! Thank you all! Publisher’s Acknowledgments We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration form located at http://dummies.custhelp.com. For other comments, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002. Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following: Acquisitions and Editorial Project Editor: Susan Pink (Previous Edition: Nicole Haims) Acquisitions Editor: Steve Hayes Copy Editor: Susan Pink Technical Editor: Patti Louise Ruby Editorial Manager: Jodi Jensen Editorial Assistant: Amanda Foxworth Sr. Editorial Assistant: Cherie Case Cartoons: Rich Tennant ( www.the5thwave.com) Composition Services Project Coordinator: Lynsey Stanford Layout and Graphics: Reuben W. Davis, Andrea Hornberger, Christine Williams Proofreaders: Cynthia Fields, Amanda Graham Indexer: Glassman Indexing Services Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher Mary Bednarek, Executive Acquisitions Director Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director Publishing for Consumer Dummies Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher Composition Services Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services Table of Contents Introduction 1 About This Book 2 Foolish Assumptions 3 How This Book Is Organized 3 Part I: Getting a Feel for eBay 4 Part II: Buying Like an Expert 4 Part III: Making Money the eBay Way 4 Part IV: Even More of eBay’s Special Features 4 Part V: The Part of Tens 5 Icons Used in This Book 5 What Now? 6 Feedback, Please 6 Part I: Getting a Feel for eBay 7 Chapter 1: Why You’re Going to Love Your Time on eBay . . . . . . . . . . .9 What Is eBay, and How Does It Work? 10 All about Auctions 12 eBay auctions 13 Reserve-price auctions 13 Restricted-access auctions 13 Private (shhh-it’s-a-secret) listings 14 Buying It Now on eBay 14 eBay Stores 15 Buy It Now and  xed-price sales 15 So You Wanna Sell Stuff 15 So You Wanna Buy Stuff 16 Research for Fun and Pro t 16 eBay’s Role in the Action 16 Features and Fun Stuff 17 Chatting it up 17 Trust & Safety 18 Extra Gizmos You’re Gonna Want 18 Chapter 2: Ready, Set, Go: Signing Up on eBay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Registering on eBay 19 Registering Is Free, Fun, and Fast 20 Like, what’s your sign? Filling in required information 21 Do you solemnly swear to . . . ? 23 eBay For Dummies, 6th Edition viii It must be true if you have it in writing 24 Getting to know you: Optional information 25 A Quick Word about Passwords 26 A Not-So-Quick Word about Choosing a User ID 27 Your License to Deal (Almost) 29 Chapter 3: You Can Go Home — Again and Again! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 What Is the Home Page? 31 Sign In, Please 33 This Bar Never Closes 34 Exploring Your Home Page Search Options 39 Peering through the home page search box 40 Going where the Advanced Search link takes you 40 Home Links, the Next Generation 42 Maneuvering through Categories 43 Going Global 45 Using the Seller’s Items Links 45 Charities 46 Promotion du Jour 46 Bottoming Out 47 Chapter 4: My Very Own, Private eBay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49 Getting to Your My eBay Page 50 Keeping Track of Your Personal Business 52 Checking your account information 53 Choosing your noti cation preferences 54 Your Feedback link 56 Account links 56 Understanding Your Seller Dashboard 58 Using the Resolution Center 58 Organizing in the Organize Area 59 Saved searches 60 Saved sellers 61 Following the Action on Your Buying and Watching Pages 62 Seeing the Items I’m Buying 62 Keeping track of Items I’ve Won 62 Sleuthing with Items I’m Watching 63 Surveying Your Sales on Your My eBay Selling Page 64 Your Sell page 64 Your Sold page 64 eBay’s Selling Manager/Selling Manager Pro 66 Keeping Track of Your Transactions 66 Getting and Giving Feedback 67 How to get positive feedback 69 How to get negative feedback 70 The Feedback page 71 Reading your feedback 73 You have the last word — responding to feedback 73 Leaving feedback with  nesse 74 [...]... Check out eBay 369 Check out magazines 369 The Hunt for eBay Inventory 370 The goods are out there 370 Tips for the modest investor 371 Index 373 xv xvi eBay For Dummies, 6th Edition Introduction W elcome to eBay For Dummies, 6th Edition! Thanks for opening up this book This is the newly updated version of the original best-selling eBay how-to guide,... time to graduate from this book, look for my Starting an eBay Business For Dummies, 3rd Edition (Wiley) — it’ll take you to the next plateau About This Book Remember those open-book tests that teachers sprang on you in high school? Well, sometimes you may feel like eBay pop-quizzes you while you’re online Think of eBay For Dummies, 6th Edition, as your open-book-test cheat sheet with all the answers... 336 The eBay Friends from All Over discussion Board 336 Category-Specific Chat Boards 337 eBay Groups 337 Blog It on eBay 338 xiii xiv eBay For Dummies, 6th Edition Chapter 18: eBay s Fun Features 339 Truly Righteous Stuff for Charity 339 eBay Giving Works 340 Creative charity auctions 341 And Now for Our Feature... expert with an answer for you Your biggest problem is deciding whether to keep the sign or put it up for auction Those are good problems to have! For more about posting messages and chat rooms, visit Chapters 5 and 17 17 18 Part I: Getting a Feel for eBay Trust & Safety Trust & Safety is the catchall resource for information and services about making deals on eBay safer — and for information on what to... on what eBay is all about and find out how to become a registered user If you’re already conducting transactions on eBay, you certainly can jump ahead to get good tips on advanced strategies to enhance your sales Don’t wait for permission from me — just go for it I won’t argue with you that wellwritten listings equal higher profits! 3 4 eBay For Dummies, 6th Edition Part I: Getting a Feel for eBay In... stuff you can see and do on eBay You can conduct searches, find out what’s happening, and get an instant link to the My eBay page, which helps you keep track of every item you have up for sale or have a bid on You can read more about the eBay home page in Chapter 3 and find out more about My eBay in Chapter 4 Figure 1-1 : The eBay home page, your starting point for bargains and for making some serious cash... 291 What eBay Knows about You 291 What you tell eBay 292 What cookies gather 292 Your eBay sign-in cookie 293 Web beacons 294 What Web servers collect 294 Cookie removal-ware 295 eBay s privacy policy 296 What Does eBay Do with Information about Me, Anyway? 298 What Do Other eBay Members Know about Me?... beware,” (caveat emptor for the literati in the audience) became a cliché because even today (maybe especially today) it’s sound advice Use my friendly, sugar-free tips to help you decide when to bid and when to take a pass Part III: Making Money the eBay Way Part III gets you up-to-speed on how to sell your items on eBay Think of it as an eBay course in marketing Here you find important information on how... know where to go on eBay for some expert advice Although eBay makes its complex Web site as easy to navigate as possible, you may still need to refer to this book for help Don’t get frustrated if you have to keep reviewing topics before you feel completely comfortable trading on eBay After all, Albert Einstein once said, “Don’t commit to memory something you can look up.” (Although I forget when he said... the eBay home page, and customize your very own private My eBay page You can also find out about the all-important feedback profile that follows every eBay user around like a shadow Chapter 1 Why You’re Going to Love Your Time on eBay In This Chapter ▶ Finding out about eBay ▶ Getting the scoop on types of auctions ▶ Figuring out fixed-price sales ▶ Selling stuff ▶ Researching items ▶ Knowing eBay . was also one of eBay s original PowerSellers. $24.99 US / $29.99 CN / £17.99 UK Computers/Electronic Commerce ISBN 97 8-0 -4 7 0-4 974 1-8 Go to dummies. com ® for more! Cash in on the eBay phenomenon!. READ. For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 87 7-7 6 2-2 974, outside the U.S. at 31 7-5 7 2-3 993, or fax 31 7-5 7 2-4 002. For. top-selling eBay author. In 1999 Marsha created the  rst edition of eBay For Dummies, the bestselling book for eBay beginners. She followed up the success of the  rst book with Starting an eBay