eBay For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)) (Paperback)

by Marsha Collier (Author)
Key Phrases: sell your item, insertion fee, feedback forum, Are You Selling What They're Buying, Are You Buying What They're Selling, Final Value Fee (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Thinking about buying or selling items on eBay? Whether you want to use eBay to make smart bids and win auctions or turn household clutter into cash, eBay for Dummies, Fifth Edition is your passport to the most successful trading community on the planet. Beginning with an overview of what eBay is and how to become a registered user, eBay for Dummies helps you discover how you can:

• Search for items to buy and list items to sell on eBay
• Place a bid—and determine how much you should spend
• Use pictures and basic HTML to make your eBay listings more appealing
• Communicate well and close deals without a problem
• Identify auction terms (reserve price, starting bid, Buy It Now, etc.)
• Organize your transactions and interactions using the My eBay page
• Resolve buying and selling issues with eBay’s Trust & Safety program
• And much more!

Registering at eBay makes you part of a really unique community of people who like to collect, buy, and sell items of just about every kind! So if you’re ready to join the millions of people who use their home computers to make great deals, buy cool stuff, and turn a profit, eBay for Dummies does all the legwork so you can sit back and let the bidding begin!

From the Back Cover
Buy low, sell high, and join the eBay community

Economy shopper or entrepreneur — discover the secrets to eBay success!

The bucks start here! Whether you're saving them or earning them, eBay's the place, and Marsha Collier is the person to show you how. Get great safe-shopping secrets, find out how to sell what people are buying, ship stuff the right way, bag auction bargains, deal with problem transactions like a pro, and more.

Discover how to

• Bid to win your first auction
• Unearth unmatched bargains
• Earn positive feedback points
• Turn your junk into cash as an eBay seller
• Enhance listings with photos

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 386 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 5 edition (October 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470045299
• ISBN-13: 978-0470045299
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (74 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #149,696 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #53 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Business & Culture > eBay
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

160 of 167 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Was Afraid...I Was Very Afraid!...., May 8, 2004

By	L. Shirley "Laurie's Boomer Views" (fountain valley, ca United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

This review is from: eBay for Dummies, Fourth Edition (Paperback)

This review refers to "ebay For Dummies" (4th Edition) by Marsha Collier....

I did alot of "window" shopping over at eBay, but never actually got up the nerve to bid, buy or sell over there. I felt real safe here at Amazon. I saw so many items over there that I was interested in(you name it..they got it!), but was just afraid of jumping in. Was it safe? Would I wind up with something I really didn't want? How do you know when and what to bid? If your selling, how do you go about that? etc. etc...

This book answered ALL those questions and much, much more. Even this book itself was intimidating to me when it first arrived. There was sooo much 'stuff' in it. Did I have to know ALL that before i could hang out at eBay? So I just started glancing through it and realized what a treasure chest of info it was. Pretty soon I was reading it chapter by chapter just because I found it all so interesting.

"eBay for Dummies" covers it all. From the very basics...getting a feel for eBay, how to sign up,getting the "lay of the land", getting info on the seller, and bidding, to putting items up for sale, completeing cyber paperwork, shipping and dealing with buyers and sellers.There are chapters on rules and a safety program, bidding stategies, and there's even one on how to present the best pictures of your items if you are selling.

Yes..I was afraid..I was very afraid..but there's no better feeling than going into something armed with knowledge, even if you are a newbie! And you don't need to read it cover to cover to get started. It's easy to look up and find answers to questions you have to get started, and it'll always be there as a refrence as you go along and become more comfortable.You'll be a biddin' and a buyin'(and maybe even a sellin')in no time at all. Be careful though..you may get hooked!

Thanks Marsha Collier for this great fountain of new age shopping information for beginners. I'm not afraid anymore!

Go For It...Laurie

80 of 86 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm not a dummy, but it still helped!, April 1, 2001

By	K. Stuckey "kateling" (Port Huron, MI USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: eBay for Dummies, Second Edition (Paperback)

I have always considered myself a fairly proficient eBay-er, but this book has helped me fine tune my habits. It may not be as helpful to more experienced user, but is definitely great for the beginner to intermediate user.

This book breaks down buying and selling point by point, everything from how to find exactly what you are looking for to a bidding practice called 'sniping' (which I use A LOT!). It also has lots of eBay's rules and is incredibly easy to read. There is really not much more I can say about it than that.

79 of 85 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book - Missed one critical tool, September 21, 2003

By	Jim Allen (MIT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ebay for Dummies (Paperback)

This book is very well written and will give you a lot of instruction on how to use eBay that will save you lots of time. To find out how to sell products on eBay I would recommend Marsha's other book Starting an eBay business for Dummies in addition to this one. I recently became a millionaire buying and selling on eBay in my spare time in addition to my academic work and I can tell you its not that hard. You do have to know the secrets though and this book includes a lot but left out the biggest one. There is a software tool called www.powersnipe.com. eBay auctions are often lost in the last few seconds of the auction because the majority of people wait until the last seconds to place their bids. This tool bids for you at the last second and ensures you win, a big time saver and the biggest key to success.