Mormonchic.com is not sponsored by, affiliated with, or endorsed by eBay. This information is provided solely as a help for our readers and contains the opinions and suggestions of the writer, editors and those interviewed.

What is eBay and how does it work?
eBay.com is an online auction house, or simply a website that allows people to buy and sell things like an auction. You can go there to search for items that you are having trouble finding in stores, don’t need brand new, or think you can find cheaper than the store price. You can also find “vintage” items such as toys and books that you enjoyed as a child. eBay works through customer bidding---the highest bid on an item wins the item.

You can buy or sell just about anything on eBay. You can buy tickets to Disneyworld, a new Italian leather sofa set, a printer, cosmetics, electronics, real estate, vehicles, even an old baggage claim ticket for a 1949 Delta flight from New Orleans to Dallas (Why? No one knows, but it is “in fine condition.”)

Buying Items on eBay

Getting Started

How do you register as a buyer?
In order to bid (and ultimately buy) an item on eBay, you must first register to be a user. This is quick and painless, and best of all free. To register, you must submit contact information such as your name, address, phone number, email address and create a username and password. Your mailing address and email address are important because you will (hopefully) win an auction and have items sent to you. From eBay’s main page, click on the “register” link at the top of the page. A guided registration page will make the process fast and smooth.

> Go to the register page

How do you place a bid?
Placing a bid on an item is as easy as typing in the amount you are willing to pay and clicking the "place bid" button. You can even have eBay bid on your behalf by typing in your maxium bid and eBay will bid for you. For example, if the current price is $50 and you bid $75, eBay will first place your bid at the smallest increment the seller will accpect, $1 increments for example. So if you were bid $75, and the auction was in $1 increments, eBay would make your first bid $51. If someone were to bid higher on the item, eBay would continue to bid for you until your $75 limit had been reached.

When you place a bid on eBay you should only bid the total amount you are willing to pay. Remember that a bid placed on eBay is considered a binding agreement to purchase. Don’t bid more than you are actually willing to spend on an item, because you might win it. A piece of advice is to know how much you are willing to spend on an item before you place a bid. The following are some factors to consider before you place a bid.

Last Minute Bids:
eBay will email you when you have been outbid on an item. This is helpful in the days leading up to the close of an auction. If you are set on winning an item no matter how high the bidding goes, your best bet is to be online in the final minutes of the auction. Pull up the page with the item you are bidding on and then refresh the page every 30 seconds. You will be able to see if you are outbid at the last second and might have time to make a counter bid. Some auctions are won and lost in the last 30 seconds.

There are many things to consider before you place a bid.

The Time An Item Is Needed:
Factor in how soon you need the item when deciding whether or not it is worth the wait for an auction to end and the item to be mailed. For example, if you are shopping for facial cleanser, it might be worth the cost and time to go to the store to buy it if you need to have it by tomorrow. But if you were looking for a present for someone and have a month before the birthday, eBay would be a great resource because you will receive the item in time. Be sure to notice when an auction ends—some will be ending within the hour, but some will have more than a week of bidding left.

Shipping Cost:
When the price of an item seems too good to be true, or it is significantly cheaper than similar items at auction, be sure to consider the shipping cost as a reason for the low price. Some sellers charge for shipping based on how far away you live from the seller. Other sellers will have a set shipping cost. Sometimes this cost will be close to the actual cost to ship the item, and sometimes the cost will be much higher. Be aware that the shipping costs are usually not negotiable. (The only time you may be able to negotiate shipping and handling prices is if you purchase multiple items from the seller at the same time.) Factor the cost of shipping into the amount you are willing to spend on an item. You might be able to get a “30 Minute Meals” cookbook for less than you can find it at the store, but when you add in $10 for shipping you might actually be paying more.

Also note that some items are “pick up only.” This is especially common for large items including furniture and automobiles. Don’t agree to pick something up if you don’t live near the seller. The seller might actually be willing to deliver the item themselves for an extra fee if it's convenient to them. You might propose the idea to the seller before you bid on the auction by asking the seller a question. You can do this by clicking on the "Ask the seller a question" in the "Seller Information" box located at the upper right-hand corner of any item's page.

Cost of New Item in the Store:
It would be silly to buy something on eBay for the same price you would pay to purchase the item new in the store. It is even sillier to pay MORE for something on eBay. If you decide how much you are willing to spend in advance, and know how much the item costs in the store, you are not likely to pay more than the item is worth. Spend a little time doing research on the item you are bidding on and you will avoid this pitfall.

Used vs New:
You can find both new and used items on eBay. Some things you might be content owning used, but be sure to read the description of an item carefully so that you don’t receive a used item when you thought you were bidding on a new one. One of the reasons eBay is so popular is because you can find discontinued and older items that are hard to find in stores. Older items are often already used. Some listings will say the item is “gently used” or “like new.” It’s not recommended to purchase cosmetics that are used, but you will be fine purchasing a used book—especially if it is out of print and hard to find in stores.

Feedback:
eBay says, “The Feedback Forum is the place to learn about your trading partners, view their reputations and express your opinions by leaving feedback on your transactions. Such member-to-member comments help the millions of buyers and sellers in the community build trust and share their trading experiences with others.”

After every transaction the buyer and seller have the option to leave a rating and a comment about their experience. The rating can be positive, negative or neutral.

Feedback is a method to protect buyers from fraudulent sellers, and to protect sellers from non-paying buyers. If a seller or buyer receives too many negative ratings, they will not be able to continue as an eBay member. It is important that the feedback you leave is honest.

The threat of negative feedback is actually a very useful tool in the eBay community. If you are dissatisfied with a transaction and have tried to resolve an issue with the buyer/seller and have had no success, you should mention that unless the problem is resolved you will have to leave negative feedback.

Most sellers will go above and beyond the call of duty to make sure their customers (buyers) are happy and do not leave negative feedback.

You shouldn't base your sale totally on feedback, however. Many eBay users have more than one user ID and may have hundreds of transactions on other ID’s. The feedback is a valuable tool, but it is not always perfectly accurate.

Payment Method:
Once you have bid on an item, you need to decide your payment method. There are many ways to pay for items purchased off eBay. Sellers will specify which payment methods they accept in the "Seller's Information" box in the upper right-hand side of the item's page or at the bottom of the page under "Shipping and Payment Details." Most common payment methods include: PayPal, cashier's check/money order and personal check.

PayPal is a company that acts as a middle man between buyers and sellers. It's free to set up an account and there are no charges for using PayPal to purchase items. Essentially, when you set up your PayPal account you give them credit card and/or bank account information. When you want to buy an item, you tell PayPal who to pay using your credit card or bank account. This is helpful because many eBay sellers will not accept personal checks and many sellers don't have the neccessary equiptment to accept credit cards. Also, using PayPal is almost instant payment, instead of waiting for the check in the mail.

Most eBay sellers accept PayPal as their preferred method of payment. PayPal is a safe and secure alternative. eBay members can register with PayPal, which will pull the money directly from a credit card or bank account. The transactions are safe and protected, and I recommend it as the easiest way to shop on eBay.

In edition to using PayPal for eBay purchases, PayPal is becoming popular payment method for merchants and individuals.

> Learn more about PayPal's Buyer Protection

Carrie Brink, a Mormonchic.com contributor, has this advice about eBay and PayPal:

“I highly recommend setting up a brand new checking or savings account at a separate bank from your normal bank. If you attach PayPal to your regular account, eBay and PayPal have access to this account. Any hackers could potentially hack into eBay or PayPal and could access this account. I have a cheapo savings account set up at a local bank only for this purpose. I keep around $20 in it and never over $50. Why would anyone want to set up a PayPal account? It's super! Payments to and from me are quick and monitored by PayPal. It is a desirable feature when selling and convenient when buying. No sending a personal check littered with personal information. No going out with all the kiddies and purchasing a cashier's check or money order."

Money orders/cashier's checks are another form of payment that some eBay sellers accept. The disadvantage of using a check or money order is that the seller will not send the item to you until they have received the check and the money has cleared the bank. This can extend the length of your transaction immensely. Most money orders/casheir checks cost a small fee to have written out.

Restraint:
Buying on eBay can be quite addictive. Maybe you don't really need a Strawberry Shortcake lunchbox circa 1979, but at $10 this bit of your childhood history might seem like a deal. Do you really need 500 pairs of white socks, even if the current bid is $5 and there's only two hours left in the auction? Just because an item is for sale doesn’t mean you have to buy it. Practice some restraint as some can become addicted to shopping at online auctions. If you have an addictive personality, be extra careful.

If you have other questions about buying or selling on eBay, please refer to their website for more, indepth information.

Good luck and happy bidding!