eBay.co.uk For Dummies, 2nd Edition

All Rights Reserved. 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 under the terms of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 4LP, UK, without the permission in writing of the Publisher. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, England, or emailed to permreq@wiley.co.uk, or faxed to (44) 1243 770620.

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 and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. 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.

LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: The publisher, the author, AND ANYONE ELSE INVOLVED IN PREPARING THIS WORK make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.

For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 800-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002.

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data: A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

About the Authors

Marsha Collier spends a good deal of time on eBay. She loves buying and selling (she’s a PowerSeller) as well as meeting eBay users from around the world. As a columnist, author of three best-selling books on eBay, and guest lecturer at eBay University, she shares her knowledge of eBay with millions of online shoppers. Thousands of eBay fans also read her monthly newsletter, Cool eBay Tools, to keep up with changes on the site.

Out of college, Marsha worked in fashion advertising for the Miami Herald and then as Special Projects Manager for the Los Angeles Daily News. Upon the birth of her daughter in 1984, she founded a home-based advertising and marketing business. Her successful business, the Collier Company, Inc., was featured by Entrepreneur magazine in 1985, and in 1990, Marsha’s company received the Small Business of the Year award from her California State Assemblyman and the Northridge Chamber of Commerce.

Most of all, Marsha loves a great deal – that’s what drew her to eBay in 1996, and that’s what keeps her busy on the site now. She buys everything from replacement toothbrush heads to parts for pool equipment to designer dresses. Marsha knows how to work eBay, and in this book, she shares that knowledge with you.

Jane Hoskyn has been a journalist for 13 years. After a number of years writing features for leading UK lifestyle magazines including FHM and Cosmopolitan, she joined IPC Media’s Web User magazine as Features Editor. In 2003 Jane was named IPC Commissioning Editor of the Year, and a year later she returned to the successful freelance writing and editing career that spans publications from Woman & Home to Loaded.

Jane is currently writing the online Buying Guides for eBay.co.uk and resisting the temptation to bid for everything she sees.

Steve Hill is a freelance journalist and university lecturer. He has held senior editorial positions at Internet Made Easy and Internet Magazine, and has also written on a freelance basis for numerous publications, including The Independent, Sunday Express, and New Media Age. He currently works as a lecturer specialising in electronic publishing at Southampton Solent University.

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 also dedicate this book 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 endeavours; you make eBay a fun and profitable site to visit for millions of people. Keep on doing what you’re doing.

––Marsha

To my wife Tina.

–– Steve

Authors’ Acknowledgements

From Marsha: 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. My original co-author on the first book, Roland Woerner: If it wasn’t for you, this book wouldn’t be here. There’s also my close friend and eBay buddy, Jillian Cline: Thanks for trying out all my wacky eBay ideas; I’m glad they’ve helped both of us! 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: project editor Becky Huehls; my super tech editor Louise (aunt*patti) Ruby (who, by the way, was one of the very first eBay employees); Steven Hayes, who amazes me all the time with new ideas; and Andy Cummings, my publisher, who’s never been too big to inspire a little guy like me. Thank you all!

From Jane: Writing eBay.co.uk For Dummies would have been a much taller order without the help of eBay’s Charlie Coney, whose e-mails always refresh the parts the Help section can’t reach. My fellow eBay addicts Charlotte and Barbara, a.k.a. hoolatallulah and cleobarbara_woodyatt, answered every question with great speed and grace – and I am indebted to Matt (meejaboy), who not only gives me eBay advice but also has to live with me. Long may you all earn positive feedback.

Finally, but most importantly, this book would never have happened without Sam Clapp, Daniel Mersey and Steve Edwards at Wiley, or Richard Clark at IPC. Big thanks to one and all.

From Steve: Special thanks to Isabel Atherton at Watson Little, Rosemary Mason and Fiona Western at Southampton Solent University, Samantha Clapp, Wejdan Ismail, Steve Edwards, and Malcolm and Brenda Hill.

Publisher’s Acknowledgements

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration form located at

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development

Project Editor: Steve Edwards

(Previous Edition: Daniel Mersey)

Content Editor: Nicole Burnett

Commissioning Editor: Samantha Clapp

Copy Editor: Sally Lansdell

Proofreader: Andy Finch

Publisher: Jason Dunne

Executive Project Editor: Daniel Mersey

Cover Photos: © UKraft / Alamy

Cartoons: Ed McLachlan

Composition Services

Project Coordinator: Erin Smith

Layout and Graphics: Stacie Brooks, Alissa D. Ellet, Melissa K. Jester, Barbara Moore, Christine Williams

Indexer: Rebecca Salerno

Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies

Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies

Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director, Consumer Dummies

Kristin A. Cocks, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies

Michael Spring, Vice President and Publisher, Travel

Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel

Publishing for Technology Dummies

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User

Composition Services

Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

Introduction

W elcome to the second edition of eBay.co.uk For Dummies! Shopping and selling on eBay is more than just a smart way to make extra pocket money – it can also be loads of fun, as more than 15 million UK members can tell you. Whether you’re just starting out on eBay, or you’ve done a bit of trading and fancy moving things up a notch, you’ve come to the right place to find out all you need to know.

Of course, eBay is not only a UK site. eBay now has more than 233 million users worldwide – that’s quite a community. It’s a community of buyers who can purchase things they’d never find on the high street, and save serious money while they’re at it; and of sellers who clear their attics or forage out wholesale bargains to sell online and gain a few quid. This makes eBay the new international marketplace, and the best part is that eBay is available to anyone who wants to take the time to find out how it works.

eBay isn’t hard to master, but just as with any tool, if you know the ins and outs, you’re ahead of the game. You can get the bargains, and when you sell, you can make the most money. This book is designed to help you understand everything you need to know about buying and selling on eBay, the most successful person-to-person trading community Web site. You get all the tools you need to get moving at eBay, whether you’re new to the Internet or a Webaholic. You see how to turn your everyday household clutter into cold, hard cash – and how to look for items that you can sell on eBay. If you’re a collector (or you’d like to be), we show you how to work out how much you should spend, how to make clever bids, and how to win the auctions. How much money you earn (or spend) depends entirely on how often and how well you conduct your eBay transactions. You decide how frequently you want to run auctions and place bids; we’re here to help with the rest by sharing tips we’ve discovered along the way.

A Web site as complex as eBay has many nooks and crannies that may confuse the first-time user. Think of this book as a detailed road map that can help you navigate the site, getting as much or as little as you want from it. Just come back to the book whenever you need a question answered.

After you know the nuts and bolts of eBay, you can start buying and selling stuff. We’ve got a whole load of canny buying and selling strategies that help you get the most out of your auctions. With this book and a little elbow grease, you can join the ranks of the millions of people who use their home computers to make friends, become part of the eBay community, and turn a profit.

About This Book

Remember those surprise tests that teachers sprang on you at school? Well, sometimes you may feel like eBay is setting you little tests while you’re online. Think of eBay.co.uk For Dummies as your book of answers. You don’t have to memorise anything – just keep this book handy to help you get through the confusing parts of eBay.

With that in mind, this book is divided into sections to help you find your answers fast. We show you how to

Get online and register to buy and sell on eBay.

Find the bits of eBay where you can search for items for sale, set up auctions, monitor your transactions, and babble on the discussion boards.

Bid on and win eBay auctions.

Choose an item to sell, pick the right time for your auction, market it so that loads of bidders see it, and make a profit.

Communicate well and close transactions without problems, whether you’re a buyer or a seller.

Become part of a great community of people who like to collect, buy, and sell items of just about every type.

And finally . . . do not adjust your eyes. To protect the privacy of eBay users, some screen images (commonly called screen shots) in this book blur User IDs to protect the innocent.

Foolish Assumptions

You may have picked up this book because you heard that people are raking in cash by selling stuff on eBay, and you want a piece of the action. Or you heard about the bargains and bizarre items you can find in the world’s largest boot sale. If so, this is the right book for you.

Here are some other foolish assumptions we’ve made about you:

You have, or would like to have, access to a computer and an Internet connection so that you can do business on eBay.

You have an interest in collecting stuff, selling stuff, and buying stuff, and you want to find out more about doing those things online.

You want tips and strategies that can save you money when you bid and make you money when you sell.

You’re concerned about maintaining your privacy and staying away from people who try to ruin everyone’s good time with negligent (and sometimes illegal) activity.

If you think that the expression surfing the Web has something to do with spiders and wetsuits, this book can get you started, but you may want to browse through The Internet For Dummies, 10th Edition, by John R Levine, Margaret Levine Young, and Carol Baroudi, for a crash course in Internet confidence. The book comes from Wiley, just like the one you’re reading now. From time to time (and by astounding coincidence), we mention other titles in the For Dummies series that you may find helpful.

How This Book Is Organised

This book has five parts. The parts stand on their own, which means that you can read Chapter 5 after you read Chapter 10 or skip Chapter 3 altogether. Everything is up to you. But if you’re new to eBay, you should at least dip into Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 to get an overview on what eBay is all about and find out how to become a registered user.

If you’re already buying and selling on eBay, feel free to jump ahead to get good tips on advanced strategies to win the bargains or make your items fly off the cyber-shelves.

Part I: Forget the Shops: Getting a Feel for eBay

In this part, we tell you what eBay is and how to use it. We take you through the registration process, help you organise your eBay sales and communication using the My eBay page, and get you comfortable finding your way around the site from the home page.

Part II: Are You Buying What They’re Selling?

If you’re pretty sure that you want to start making bids on items, this part fills you in on searching, grading an item’s value, researching, bidding, and winning auctions.

That old cliché ‘Let the buyer beware’ became a cliché because even today (maybe especially today) it’s sound advice. Use our top tips to help you decide when to bid and when to pass.

Part III: Are You Selling What They’re Buying?

This part 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 to conduct your auctions, what to do after you sell an item, how to post the item, and how to keep track of all the money you make. The tax collectors are only too aware of eBay (they probably use it themselves!). Know the rules so that your friendly local tax officer doesn’t invite you over for a sandwich and a little audit.

We also show you how to jazz up your auctions by adding pictures and how to use basic HTML to link your auctions to your own Web site if you have one. You can make your digital images look like high art with our tips, hints, and strategies.

Part IV: Bells and Whistles: Special Features

Here you discover how to handle privacy issues relating to eBay and how you can resolve buying and selling issues with the help of the Safety Centre, eBay’s problem-solving HQ. Also included are ways of having fun with the eBay community and using charity auctions to bid on unique items for a good cause.

Part V: The Part of Tens

In keeping with a long For Dummies tradition, this part is a compendium of short chapters that give you handy references and useful facts. We share more smart tips for buying and selling items, as well as descriptions of our favourite software programs that can help lighten your auction load.

Part VI: Appendixes

In addition to all these parts, you also get two appendixes. Appendix A gives some insider information on how to spot a trend before the rest of the world catches on, and how to acquire items cheaply that others may blow the bank on. Appendix B is an introduction to starting your own part- or full-time business on eBay.

Icons Used in This Book

These are facts that you’re really going to want to know. Time is money on eBay. When you see this shortcut or time-saving tip, read the information and think about all the cash you just saved.

Think of this icon as a memo for your brain. If you forget one of these pearls of wisdom that we reveal to you, go back and read it again. If you still can’t remember it, dog-ear the page, use a highlighter pen, or draw a big black circle around it – we don’t mind, honest.

Don’t feel our pain. We’ve done things wrong on eBay before and want to save you from our mistakes. These warnings are big and bold so that you take notice and avoid a bad experience. Don’t skip these warnings unless you’re a masochist.

When you see this icon, you’re in for a war story (or a success story) from an eBay veteran. Their tales of brilliant buys, staggering sales, and miscellaneous mishaps are a great real-life guide to eBay’s fun and perils. You can skip over these anecdotes if you want to, but you may be missing out on some solid gold insight into what not to do on eBay.

What Now?

Like everything else in the world, eBay is evolving constantly. Some of the eBay screens in this book may look slightly different to the ones you see on your home computer monitor. That’s just eBay tweaking and changing. Our job is to arm you with everything you need to know to join the eBay community and begin buying or selling or both. If you hit choppy waters, just look up the problem in the table of contents or index in this book. We either help you solve it or let you know where to go on the eBay Web site for some expert advice.

Although eBay makes its complex site as easy to navigate as possible, you may still need to refer back to this book for help. Don’t get frustrated if you have to keep reviewing topics before you feel completely comfortable trading on eBay.

Feedback, Please

Communication makes the world go round, and we’d love to hear from you. Contact us at talk2marsha@coolebaytools.com and jane@janehoskyn.co.uk. We can’t answer every e-mail, but we do read them all. The best questions are answered in Marsha’s free monthly newsletter.

Part I

Forget the Shops: Getting a Feel for eBay

In this part . . .

New technology can be intimidating for anyone. You want to have a look at eBay, maybe buy something, but eBay feels huge and overwhelming and you’re not sure where to start. What you want is someone to point out the most useful tools you need to get around, help you find out how eBay works, and start showing you how to do your own buying and selling. That’s what we do in Part I.

In this part, we give you the information you want to know about how eBay works and what it offers its members. Find out how to become a registered user, explore the eBay home page, and customise 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.