Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Ebay shopping experience:

1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Ebay offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Ebay at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.

2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about

3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Ebay? Wrong! If the Ebay is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.

4. Questions - Got a question about Ebay then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....

5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Ebay? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Ebay and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.

6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Ebay wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.

7. Feedback - happy with your Ebay then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.

8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Ebay site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site

9. Contact - got a question about Ebay, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.

10. Payment - ready to pay for your Ebay, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.

{{Infobox Company | company_name = eBay Inc. | company_logo = ] | company_type = [Public company ({{NASDAQ|EBAY-->) | company_slogan = '''''What ever it is, you can get it on eBay.''''', and '''''Shop victoriously!''''' | foundation = {{flagicon|USA--> San Jose, California, [United States ([September 3, [) | location_city = San Jose, California | location_country = USA | key_people = [Meg Whitman, [CEO & [President
[Pierre Omidyar, Founder and Chairman
[John Donahoe, Chief of eBay Marketplace | num_employees = 11,600 (Q1 2006) | industry = [Auctions| revenue = {{profit-->$5.969 billion [United States dollar (2006)| products = [online auction business model, [Electronic commerce, [Shopping mall
[PayPal, [Skype, [Gumtree| homepage = http://www.ebay.com/ www.ebay.com| -->)eBay Inc. () is an United States Internet company that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell goods and services worldwide. In addition to its original U.S. website, eBay has established localized websites in several other countries.countries with localized eBay websites include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United KingdomeBay Inc also owns PayPal, Skype, and other businesses.

Origins and early history The online auction web site was founded in San Jose, California on September 3, 1995 by computer programmer Pierre Omidyar as AuctionWeb, misc.forsale.non-computer post about Auctionweb part of a larger personal site that included, among other things, Omidyar's own tongue-in-cheek tribute to the Ebola virus.

The very first item sold on eBay was a broken laser pointer for $14.83. Astonished, Omidyar contacted the winning bidder and asked if he understood that the laser pointer was broken. In his responding email, the buyer explained: "I'm a collector of broken laser pointers." How did eBay start?, About.com. Retrieved on 2007-January 26. The frequently repeated story that eBay was founded to help Omidyar's fiancée trade PEZ Candy dispensers was fabricated by a public relations manager in 1997 to interest the media. This was revealed in Adam Cohen's 2002 book and confirmed by eBay.

Chris Agarpao was hired as eBay's first employee and Jeff Skoll was hired as the first president of the company in 1996. In November 1996, eBay entered into its first third-party licensing deal, with a company called Electronic Travel Auction to use SmartMarket Technology to sell plane tickets and other travel products. The company officially changed the name of its service from AuctionWeb to eBay in September 1997. Originally, the site belonged to Echo Bay Technology Group, Omidyar's consulting firm. Omidyar had tried to register the domain name echobay.com(this companies slogan is now "What eBay could have been.") but found it already taken by the Echo Bay Mines Limited, a gold mining company, so he shortened it to his second choice, eBay.com. http://www.happynews.com/living/online/history-ebay.htm

eBay went public in 1998, and both Omidyar and Skoll became instant billionaires. The company purchased PayPal in October 2002.

Items and services Millions of collectibles, Home appliance, computers, furniture, equipment, vehicles, and other miscellaneous items are listed, bought, and sold daily. In 2005, eBay launched its Business & Industrial category, breaking into the industrial surplus business. Some items are rare and valuable, while many others are dusty gizmos that would have been discarded if not for the thousands of eager bidders worldwide. Anything can be sold as long as it is not illegal or does not violate the eBay Prohibited and Restricted Items policy. Services and intangibles can be sold too. Large international companies, such as IBM, sell their newest products and offer services on eBay using competitive auctions and fixed-priced storefronts. Regional searches of the database make shipping slightly faster and cheaper. Separate eBay sites such as eBay US and eBay UK allow the users to trade using the local currency as an additional option to PayPal. Software developers can create applications that integrate with eBay through the eBay API by joining the eBay Developers Program. As of June 2005, there were over 15,000 members in the eBay Developers Program, comprising a broad range of companies creating software applications to support eBay buyers and sellers as well as eBay Affiliates.

Controversy has arisen over certain items put up for bid. For instance, in late 1999 a man offered one of his kidneys for auction on eBay, attempting to profit from the potentially lucrative (and, in the United States, illegal) market for organ transplant. On other occasions, people and even entire towns have been listed, often as a joke or to garner free publicity. In general, the company removes auctions that violate its terms of service agreement within a short time after hearing of the auction from an outsider; the company's policy is to not pre-approve transactions. eBay is also an easy place for unscrupulous sellers to market counterfeit merchandise, which can be difficult for novice buyers to distinguish without careful studying of the auction description.

eBay's Latin American partner is MercadoLibre.com.

eBay's rivals include Amazon.com Marketplace.

eBay Express In April of 2006, eBay opened its new eBay Express site, which is designed to work like a standard Internet shopping site to consumers with United States addresses (eBay Express). Selected eBay items are mirrored on eBay Express where buyers shop using a shopping cart to purchase from multiple sellers. The UK version was launched to eBay members in mid October 2006 (eBay Express UK), and differs from the US version by only offering brand new items from pre-vetted business sellers. The German version was also opened in 2006 (eBay Express Germany).

eBay Blogs, eBay Community Wiki, eBay Mobile In June of 2006, eBay added an eBay Community Wiki and eBay Blogs to its Community Content which also includes the Discussion Boards, Groups, Answer Center, Chat Rooms and Reviews & Guides. Ebay has a robust mobile offering, including SMS alerts, a WAP site, and J2ME clients, available in certain markets.

Auction types eBay offers several types of auctions.



Bidding For Auction-style listings, the first bid must be at least the amount of the minimum bid set by the seller. Regardless of the amount the first bidder actually bids, until a second bid is made, eBay will then display the auction's minimum bid as the current high bid. After the first bid is made, each subsequent bid must be equal to at least the current highest bid displayed plus one bidding increment. The bidding increment is established by eBay based on the size of the current highest displayed bid. For example, when the current highest bid is less than or equal to $0.99, the bidding increment is $0.05; when the current highest bid is at least $1.00 but less than or equal to $4.99, the bidding increment is $0.25. Regardless of the amount each subsequent bidder bids, eBay will display the lesser of the bidder's actual bid and the amount equal to the previous highest bidder's actual bid plus one bidding increment. For example, suppose the current second-highest bid is $2.05 and the highest bid is $2.40. eBay will display the highest bid as $2.30, which equals the second-highest bid ($2.05) plus the bidding increment ($0.25). In this case, eBay will require the next bid to be at least $2.55, which equals the highest displayed bid ($2.30) plus one bidding increment ($0.25). The next bid will display as the actual amount bid or $2.65, whichever is less. The figure of $2.65 in this case comes from the then-second-highest actual bid of $2.40 plus the bidding increment of $0.25. The winning bidder pays the bid that eBay displays, not the amount actually bid. Following this example, if the next bidder is the final bidder, and bids $2.55, the winner pays $2.55, even though it is less than the second-highest bid ($2.40) plus one bidding increment ($0.25). However, if the next bidder is the final bidder and bids an arbitrarily large amount, for example $10.00 or even more, the winner pays $2.65, which equals the second-highest bid plus one bidding increment.

For Dutch Auctions, which are auctions of two or more identical items sold in one auction, each bidder enters both a bid and the number of items desired. Until the total number of items desired by all bidders equals the total number of items offered, bidders can bid any amount greater than or equal to the minimum bid. Once the total numbers of items desired by all bidders is greater than or equal to the total number offered, each bidder is required to bid one full bidding increment above the currently-displayed winning bid. All winning bidders pay the same lowest winning bid.

eBay has established detailed rules about bidding, retraction of bids, shill bidding (collusion to drive up the price), and other aspects of bidding. These rules can be viewed on the help pages.

Profit and transactions eBay generates revenue from a number of fees. The eBay fee system is quite complex; there are fees to list a product and fees when the product sells, plus several optional fees, all based on various factors and scales. The U.S.-based ebay.com takes $0.20 to $80 per listing and 5.25% or less of the final price (as of 2007). The UK based ebay.co.uk (ebay.co.uk offices) takes from Pound sterling £0.15 to a maximum rate of Pound sterling £3 per 100 for an ordinary listing and from 0.75% to 5.25% of the final price. In addition, eBay now owns the PayPal payment system which has fees of its own.

Under current U.S. law, a state cannot require sellers located outside the state to collect a sales tax, making deals more attractive to buyers. Although state laws require purchasers to pay sales tax to their own states on out-of-state purchases, most people ignore this requirement.

The company's current business strategy includes increasing revenue by increasing international trade within the eBay system. eBay has already expanded to almost two dozen countries including China and India. The only places where expansion failed were Taiwan and Japan, where Yahoo! had a head start.

Acquisitions and investments

Controversy and criticisms eBay has its share of controversy, ranging from its Data privacy policy (eBay typically turns over user information to law enforcement without a subpoena) to well-publicized seller fraud. eBay claims that their data shows that less than .01% of all transactions result in a confirmed case of fraud. However, eBay states that their stated fraud statistic both undercounts and overcounts fraud. Chat with Rob Chesnut, Vice President of eBay's Trust & Safety Department

Fraud One mechanism eBay uses to combat fraud is its feedback system. After every transaction both the buyer and seller have the option of rating each other. They can give a "positive", "negative", or "neutral" rating and leave a comment no longer than 80 characters. So if a buyer has problems, he or she can rate the seller "negative" and leave a comment such as "never received product".

Weaknesses of the feedback system include:

eBay acknowledges weaknesses in its feedback system on its own policy pages, noting several of the above points.

When a user feels that a seller or buyer has been dishonest, a dispute can be filed with eBay. An eBay account (whether seller, buyer or both) may be suspended if there are too many complaints against the account holder.

The greatest problem with feedback is a poor understanding of how to use it. Many new members mistakenly use it as a communication forum which results in the loss of their ability to leave actual feedback at the conclusion of a transaction. Other members, especially new members, only glance at the overall percentage rating and assume if it is high, the seller must be trustworthy. This is not accurate if the account has been hi-jacked(taken over by a criminal) using a Spoof website. A hijacker can take over an account with a high positive rating, then post expensive items with no intention to ship anything. Such accounts can be identified more than 90% of the time by a simple check of the seller's feedback history. By looking at the past selling history of a seller, the buyer can easily identify hijacked accounts through inconsistencies with past auctions. The buyer must look for differences in the auction layout when compared to past auctions. If the auction format has substantially changed, for instance old auctions used good grammar and normal punctuation and new auctions use poor grammar and are filled with punctuation errors, that indicates the person posting the new auction is not the account owner but a hijacker.. Simple checks like these can help members avoid many scams.

EBay allows Mystery Box and Mystery Envelope auctions, however these are almost all fraudulent auctions because the seller can manipulate the box contents to make sure it is never a good deal for the buyer. Mystery Envelope auctions offer cash prizes of an undisclosed amount to auction winners. The auction winner usually receives from 10% to 30% of the money they paid for the auction back in 'winnings'. Mystery Envelope auctions are considered by many to be illegal lotteries.

Professional scammers target new members to take advantage of their unfamiliarity with how eBay or PayPal work. New members can be easily tricked into thinking there is a special website they should make payments through(which is in fact a fake site setup by a scammer) or they may be tricked more easily into using a fake escrow company.

Many complaints have been made about eBay's system of dealing with fraud, leading to its being featured on the British consumer rights television program Watchdog (television). It is also regularly featured in The Daily Mirror's Consumer Awareness page. The complaints are generally that eBay sometimes fails to respond when a claim is made. And since eBay makes its money on commissions from listings and sales it may not be in eBay's interest to take action against large sellers.

Frauds that can be committed by sellers include:

Frauds committed by buyers include:

Combatting fraud:

Other controversial practices of users







Intellectual property in auctions Holders of intellectual property rights, have claimed that eBay profits from the infringement of intellectual property rights. eBay has responded by creating the Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) program, which provides to rightsholders expedited auction takedowns and private information on eBay users, but has likewise been criticized.









Customer support A source of frustration for some eBay users is that owing to the company's size, it offers no customer support by phone, instead referring all ordinary members to its online help features. Apart from a library of self-help resources, these features consist mainly of e-mail contact forms and "Live Help," which lets users chat with customer service representatives via instant messaging, however this is not available to users from international sites such as eBay.co.uk. In fact, most visitors to the eBay site will not find any company phone number listed at all.

eBay does, in fact, have a phone support department, but that service is limited to members of the rank "Silver PowerSeller" and above, the company's term for members who sell at least $3,000 worth of goods per month on the site. The phone number for that service is not published, although there have been reports on eBay's own forums and weblogs that customers who manage to obtain the number through legal documents are rudely replied and told to use the online service instead.{{cite web]-->{{cite web|url = http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/01/03/business/service.php|title = Hunting a rare breed: Human online support|date = 2005-01-04 |accessdate = 2007-06-30|author = Hafner, Katie|publisher = The New York Times-->

Other eBay controversies Other notable controversies involving eBay include:



url=http://supremecourtus.gov/opinions/05pdf/05-130.pdf | title=EBAY INC. ET AL. v. MERCEXCHANGE, L. L. C. | publisher=US Supreme Court | accessdate=2006-06-17 | format=PDF-->). This case has been particularly controversial since the patents involved are considered to be business method patents. (See also Software patent debate)



{{Cite web|url = http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/21/technology/21ebay.html?ex=1261371600&en=78adb9cf70bc1f73&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt|title = EBay Fights India Arrest Over Sale of Sex Video|author = Rai, Saritha--> eBay supported Baazee's defense.http://investor.ebay.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=150878&FYear=





{{cite web| url=http://www2.ebay.com/aw/au/200612181757292.html| title=Federal Court decision on Big Day Out tickets | publisher=eBay| accessdate=2007-02-05 --> The case was won due to the big day out organizers not being able to fully enforce an anti-scalping policy printed on the back of the tickets. The presiding judge described the decision as "unfortunate".{{cite web| url=http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2006/s1813870.htm| title=EBay wins Big Day Out battle | publisher=ABC Local Radio| accessdate=2007-02-05 -->

{{cite web| url=http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/accepted-payments-policy.html| title=Accepted Payments Policy | publisher=eBay| accessdate=2006-10-20 --> On the U.S. eBay site, while sellers may accept such payments, they are prohibited from advertising them as a payment option. A similar policy applies to mailing cash as a payment option. Certain non-U.S. branches of eBay allow sellers to advertise wire transfers or mailed cash as payment options, provided such methods are not the only payment options the seller accepts.{{cite web| url= http://pages.ebay.com.sg/help/pay/payment.htm| title=Ebay Singapore payment methods allowed| publisher=eBay| accessdate=2006-10-23 -->{{cite web| url= http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/buy/payment.html| title=Ebay UK payment methods allowed| publisher=eBay| accessdate=2006-10-23 -->



Prohibited or restricted Items eBay in its earliest days was essentially unregulated, but as eBay grew, it found it necessary to restrict or forbid auctions for various items. Note that some of the restrictions relate to eBay.com (the US site), while other restrictions apply to specific European sites (such as Nazi paraphernalia). Regional laws and regulations may apply to the seller or the buyer. Among the hundred or so banned or restricted categories:

Unusual sale items {{cite web|url = http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/blokey-weekend-bids-reach-2450/2006/01/27/1138319426355.html|title = Blokes pull in the bids on eBay|author = Hearn, Louisa|date = 2006-01-17--> {{Cite web|url = http://www.wdr.de/themen/kultur/1/versteigerung_deutsche_sprache/index.jhtml|title = 10 Millionen Euro für die deutsche Sprache --> {{cite web|url = http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/12/07/entertainment/main1103557.shtml|title = Hollywood Sign Sold For $450K-->{{cite web|url = http://money.cnn.com/2005/11/17/news/newsmakers/hollywood_sign/|title = Buy a piece of HOLLYWOOD--> {{Cite web|url = http://hollywood.outsidethebeltway.com/2007/02/britney-spears-shaved-hair-on-sale-on-ebay/ |title = Britney Spears' Shaved Hair on Sale on Ebay!--> {{cite web|url = http://www.topix.net/content/cbs/1113319673096549042127422966730442627778|title = Manny Ramirez's Grill Auction Taken Off eBay--> {{cite web|url = http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/05/national/main685791.shtml | title = Matthew Sells The Middle-->

Charity auctions Using MissionFish as an arbiter, eBay allows sellers to donate a portion of their auction proceeds to a charity of the seller's choice. Some high profile charity auctions have been advertised on the eBay home page, and have raised large amounts of money in a short time. For example, a furniture manufacturer raised over $35,000 for Ronald McDonald House by auctioning off beds that had been signed by celebrities. To date, the highest successful bid for a single item for charity was a letter sent to the owner of Clear Channel by Harry Reid and forty other Democratic senators to have a talk with conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh. The winning bid was $2,100,100, with 100% of the proceeds going to the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, benefiting the education of children of fallen men and women serving in the armed forces.

See also

Notes and references Further reading

External links






{{Infobox Company | company_name = eBay Inc. | company_logo = ] | company_type = [Public company ({{NASDAQ|EBAY-->) | company_slogan = '''''What ever it is, you can get it on eBay.''''', and '''''Shop victoriously!''''' | foundation = {{flagicon|USA--> San Jose, California, [United States ([September 3, [) | location_city = San Jose, California | location_country = USA | key_people = [Meg Whitman, [CEO & [President
[Pierre Omidyar, Founder and Chairman
[John Donahoe, Chief of eBay Marketplace | num_employees = 11,600 (Q1 2006) | industry = [Auctions| revenue = {{profit-->$5.969 billion [United States dollar (2006)| products = [online auction business model, [Electronic commerce, [Shopping mall
[PayPal, [Skype, [Gumtree| homepage = http://www.ebay.com/ www.ebay.com| -->)eBay Inc. () is an United States Internet company that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell goods and services worldwide. In addition to its original U.S. website, eBay has established localized websites in several other countries.countries with localized eBay websites include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United KingdomeBay Inc also owns PayPal, Skype, and other businesses.

Origins and early history The online auction web site was founded in San Jose, California on September 3, 1995 by computer programmer Pierre Omidyar as AuctionWeb, misc.forsale.non-computer post about Auctionweb part of a larger personal site that included, among other things, Omidyar's own tongue-in-cheek tribute to the Ebola virus.

The very first item sold on eBay was a broken laser pointer for $14.83. Astonished, Omidyar contacted the winning bidder and asked if he understood that the laser pointer was broken. In his responding email, the buyer explained: "I'm a collector of broken laser pointers." How did eBay start?, About.com. Retrieved on 2007-January 26. The frequently repeated story that eBay was founded to help Omidyar's fiancée trade PEZ Candy dispensers was fabricated by a public relations manager in 1997 to interest the media. This was revealed in Adam Cohen's 2002 book and confirmed by eBay.

Chris Agarpao was hired as eBay's first employee and Jeff Skoll was hired as the first president of the company in 1996. In November 1996, eBay entered into its first third-party licensing deal, with a company called Electronic Travel Auction to use SmartMarket Technology to sell plane tickets and other travel products. The company officially changed the name of its service from AuctionWeb to eBay in September 1997. Originally, the site belonged to Echo Bay Technology Group, Omidyar's consulting firm. Omidyar had tried to register the domain name echobay.com(this companies slogan is now "What eBay could have been.") but found it already taken by the Echo Bay Mines Limited, a gold mining company, so he shortened it to his second choice, eBay.com. http://www.happynews.com/living/online/history-ebay.htm

eBay went public in 1998, and both Omidyar and Skoll became instant billionaires. The company purchased PayPal in October 2002.

Items and services Millions of collectibles, Home appliance, computers, furniture, equipment, vehicles, and other miscellaneous items are listed, bought, and sold daily. In 2005, eBay launched its Business & Industrial category, breaking into the industrial surplus business. Some items are rare and valuable, while many others are dusty gizmos that would have been discarded if not for the thousands of eager bidders worldwide. Anything can be sold as long as it is not illegal or does not violate the eBay Prohibited and Restricted Items policy. Services and intangibles can be sold too. Large international companies, such as IBM, sell their newest products and offer services on eBay using competitive auctions and fixed-priced storefronts. Regional searches of the database make shipping slightly faster and cheaper. Separate eBay sites such as eBay US and eBay UK allow the users to trade using the local currency as an additional option to PayPal. Software developers can create applications that integrate with eBay through the eBay API by joining the eBay Developers Program. As of June 2005, there were over 15,000 members in the eBay Developers Program, comprising a broad range of companies creating software applications to support eBay buyers and sellers as well as eBay Affiliates.

Controversy has arisen over certain items put up for bid. For instance, in late 1999 a man offered one of his kidneys for auction on eBay, attempting to profit from the potentially lucrative (and, in the United States, illegal) market for organ transplant. On other occasions, people and even entire towns have been listed, often as a joke or to garner free publicity. In general, the company removes auctions that violate its terms of service agreement within a short time after hearing of the auction from an outsider; the company's policy is to not pre-approve transactions. eBay is also an easy place for unscrupulous sellers to market counterfeit merchandise, which can be difficult for novice buyers to distinguish without careful studying of the auction description.

eBay's Latin American partner is MercadoLibre.com.

eBay's rivals include Amazon.com Marketplace.

eBay Express In April of 2006, eBay opened its new eBay Express site, which is designed to work like a standard Internet shopping site to consumers with United States addresses (eBay Express). Selected eBay items are mirrored on eBay Express where buyers shop using a shopping cart to purchase from multiple sellers. The UK version was launched to eBay members in mid October 2006 (eBay Express UK), and differs from the US version by only offering brand new items from pre-vetted business sellers. The German version was also opened in 2006 (eBay Express Germany).

eBay Blogs, eBay Community Wiki, eBay Mobile In June of 2006, eBay added an eBay Community Wiki and eBay Blogs to its Community Content which also includes the Discussion Boards, Groups, Answer Center, Chat Rooms and Reviews & Guides. Ebay has a robust mobile offering, including SMS alerts, a WAP site, and J2ME clients, available in certain markets.

Auction types eBay offers several types of auctions.



Bidding For Auction-style listings, the first bid must be at least the amount of the minimum bid set by the seller. Regardless of the amount the first bidder actually bids, until a second bid is made, eBay will then display the auction's minimum bid as the current high bid. After the first bid is made, each subsequent bid must be equal to at least the current highest bid displayed plus one bidding increment. The bidding increment is established by eBay based on the size of the current highest displayed bid. For example, when the current highest bid is less than or equal to $0.99, the bidding increment is $0.05; when the current highest bid is at least $1.00 but less than or equal to $4.99, the bidding increment is $0.25. Regardless of the amount each subsequent bidder bids, eBay will display the lesser of the bidder's actual bid and the amount equal to the previous highest bidder's actual bid plus one bidding increment. For example, suppose the current second-highest bid is $2.05 and the highest bid is $2.40. eBay will display the highest bid as $2.30, which equals the second-highest bid ($2.05) plus the bidding increment ($0.25). In this case, eBay will require the next bid to be at least $2.55, which equals the highest displayed bid ($2.30) plus one bidding increment ($0.25). The next bid will display as the actual amount bid or $2.65, whichever is less. The figure of $2.65 in this case comes from the then-second-highest actual bid of $2.40 plus the bidding increment of $0.25. The winning bidder pays the bid that eBay displays, not the amount actually bid. Following this example, if the next bidder is the final bidder, and bids $2.55, the winner pays $2.55, even though it is less than the second-highest bid ($2.40) plus one bidding increment ($0.25). However, if the next bidder is the final bidder and bids an arbitrarily large amount, for example $10.00 or even more, the winner pays $2.65, which equals the second-highest bid plus one bidding increment.

For Dutch Auctions, which are auctions of two or more identical items sold in one auction, each bidder enters both a bid and the number of items desired. Until the total number of items desired by all bidders equals the total number of items offered, bidders can bid any amount greater than or equal to the minimum bid. Once the total numbers of items desired by all bidders is greater than or equal to the total number offered, each bidder is required to bid one full bidding increment above the currently-displayed winning bid. All winning bidders pay the same lowest winning bid.

eBay has established detailed rules about bidding, retraction of bids, shill bidding (collusion to drive up the price), and other aspects of bidding. These rules can be viewed on the help pages.

Profit and transactions eBay generates revenue from a number of fees. The eBay fee system is quite complex; there are fees to list a product and fees when the product sells, plus several optional fees, all based on various factors and scales. The U.S.-based ebay.com takes $0.20 to $80 per listing and 5.25% or less of the final price (as of 2007). The UK based ebay.co.uk (ebay.co.uk offices) takes from Pound sterling £0.15 to a maximum rate of Pound sterling £3 per 100 for an ordinary listing and from 0.75% to 5.25% of the final price. In addition, eBay now owns the PayPal payment system which has fees of its own.

Under current U.S. law, a state cannot require sellers located outside the state to collect a sales tax, making deals more attractive to buyers. Although state laws require purchasers to pay sales tax to their own states on out-of-state purchases, most people ignore this requirement.

The company's current business strategy includes increasing revenue by increasing international trade within the eBay system. eBay has already expanded to almost two dozen countries including China and India. The only places where expansion failed were Taiwan and Japan, where Yahoo! had a head start.

Acquisitions and investments

Controversy and criticisms eBay has its share of controversy, ranging from its Data privacy policy (eBay typically turns over user information to law enforcement without a subpoena) to well-publicized seller fraud. eBay claims that their data shows that less than .01% of all transactions result in a confirmed case of fraud. However, eBay states that their stated fraud statistic both undercounts and overcounts fraud. Chat with Rob Chesnut, Vice President of eBay's Trust & Safety Department

Fraud One mechanism eBay uses to combat fraud is its feedback system. After every transaction both the buyer and seller have the option of rating each other. They can give a "positive", "negative", or "neutral" rating and leave a comment no longer than 80 characters. So if a buyer has problems, he or she can rate the seller "negative" and leave a comment such as "never received product".

Weaknesses of the feedback system include:

eBay acknowledges weaknesses in its feedback system on its own policy pages, noting several of the above points.

When a user feels that a seller or buyer has been dishonest, a dispute can be filed with eBay. An eBay account (whether seller, buyer or both) may be suspended if there are too many complaints against the account holder.

The greatest problem with feedback is a poor understanding of how to use it. Many new members mistakenly use it as a communication forum which results in the loss of their ability to leave actual feedback at the conclusion of a transaction. Other members, especially new members, only glance at the overall percentage rating and assume if it is high, the seller must be trustworthy. This is not accurate if the account has been hi-jacked(taken over by a criminal) using a Spoof website. A hijacker can take over an account with a high positive rating, then post expensive items with no intention to ship anything. Such accounts can be identified more than 90% of the time by a simple check of the seller's feedback history. By looking at the past selling history of a seller, the buyer can easily identify hijacked accounts through inconsistencies with past auctions. The buyer must look for differences in the auction layout when compared to past auctions. If the auction format has substantially changed, for instance old auctions used good grammar and normal punctuation and new auctions use poor grammar and are filled with punctuation errors, that indicates the person posting the new auction is not the account owner but a hijacker.. Simple checks like these can help members avoid many scams.

EBay allows Mystery Box and Mystery Envelope auctions, however these are almost all fraudulent auctions because the seller can manipulate the box contents to make sure it is never a good deal for the buyer. Mystery Envelope auctions offer cash prizes of an undisclosed amount to auction winners. The auction winner usually receives from 10% to 30% of the money they paid for the auction back in 'winnings'. Mystery Envelope auctions are considered by many to be illegal lotteries.

Professional scammers target new members to take advantage of their unfamiliarity with how eBay or PayPal work. New members can be easily tricked into thinking there is a special website they should make payments through(which is in fact a fake site setup by a scammer) or they may be tricked more easily into using a fake escrow company.

Many complaints have been made about eBay's system of dealing with fraud, leading to its being featured on the British consumer rights television program Watchdog (television). It is also regularly featured in The Daily Mirror's Consumer Awareness page. The complaints are generally that eBay sometimes fails to respond when a claim is made. And since eBay makes its money on commissions from listings and sales it may not be in eBay's interest to take action against large sellers.

Frauds that can be committed by sellers include:

Frauds committed by buyers include:

Combatting fraud:

Other controversial practices of users







Intellectual property in auctions Holders of intellectual property rights, have claimed that eBay profits from the infringement of intellectual property rights. eBay has responded by creating the Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) program, which provides to rightsholders expedited auction takedowns and private information on eBay users, but has likewise been criticized.









Customer support A source of frustration for some eBay users is that owing to the company's size, it offers no customer support by phone, instead referring all ordinary members to its online help features. Apart from a library of self-help resources, these features consist mainly of e-mail contact forms and "Live Help," which lets users chat with customer service representatives via instant messaging, however this is not available to users from international sites such as eBay.co.uk. In fact, most visitors to the eBay site will not find any company phone number listed at all.

eBay does, in fact, have a phone support department, but that service is limited to members of the rank "Silver PowerSeller" and above, the company's term for members who sell at least $3,000 worth of goods per month on the site. The phone number for that service is not published, although there have been reports on eBay's own forums and weblogs that customers who manage to obtain the number through legal documents are rudely replied and told to use the online service instead.{{cite web]-->{{cite web|url = http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/01/03/business/service.php|title = Hunting a rare breed: Human online support|date = 2005-01-04 |accessdate = 2007-06-30|author = Hafner, Katie|publisher = The New York Times-->

Other eBay controversies Other notable controversies involving eBay include:



url=http://supremecourtus.gov/opinions/05pdf/05-130.pdf | title=EBAY INC. ET AL. v. MERCEXCHANGE, L. L. C. | publisher=US Supreme Court | accessdate=2006-06-17 | format=PDF-->). This case has been particularly controversial since the patents involved are considered to be business method patents. (See also Software patent debate)



{{Cite web|url = http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/21/technology/21ebay.html?ex=1261371600&en=78adb9cf70bc1f73&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt|title = EBay Fights India Arrest Over Sale of Sex Video|author = Rai, Saritha--> eBay supported Baazee's defense.http://investor.ebay.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=150878&FYear=





{{cite web| url=http://www2.ebay.com/aw/au/200612181757292.html| title=Federal Court decision on Big Day Out tickets | publisher=eBay| accessdate=2007-02-05 --> The case was won due to the big day out organizers not being able to fully enforce an anti-scalping policy printed on the back of the tickets. The presiding judge described the decision as "unfortunate".{{cite web| url=http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2006/s1813870.htm| title=EBay wins Big Day Out battle | publisher=ABC Local Radio| accessdate=2007-02-05 -->

{{cite web| url=http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/accepted-payments-policy.html| title=Accepted Payments Policy | publisher=eBay| accessdate=2006-10-20 --> On the U.S. eBay site, while sellers may accept such payments, they are prohibited from advertising them as a payment option. A similar policy applies to mailing cash as a payment option. Certain non-U.S. branches of eBay allow sellers to advertise wire transfers or mailed cash as payment options, provided such methods are not the only payment options the seller accepts.{{cite web| url= http://pages.ebay.com.sg/help/pay/payment.htm| title=Ebay Singapore payment methods allowed| publisher=eBay| accessdate=2006-10-23 -->{{cite web| url= http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/buy/payment.html| title=Ebay UK payment methods allowed| publisher=eBay| accessdate=2006-10-23 -->



Prohibited or restricted Items eBay in its earliest days was essentially unregulated, but as eBay grew, it found it necessary to restrict or forbid auctions for various items. Note that some of the restrictions relate to eBay.com (the US site), while other restrictions apply to specific European sites (such as Nazi paraphernalia). Regional laws and regulations may apply to the seller or the buyer. Among the hundred or so banned or restricted categories:

Unusual sale items {{cite web|url = http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/blokey-weekend-bids-reach-2450/2006/01/27/1138319426355.html|title = Blokes pull in the bids on eBay|author = Hearn, Louisa|date = 2006-01-17--> {{Cite web|url = http://www.wdr.de/themen/kultur/1/versteigerung_deutsche_sprache/index.jhtml|title = 10 Millionen Euro für die deutsche Sprache --> {{cite web|url = http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/12/07/entertainment/main1103557.shtml|title = Hollywood Sign Sold For $450K-->{{cite web|url = http://money.cnn.com/2005/11/17/news/newsmakers/hollywood_sign/|title = Buy a piece of HOLLYWOOD--> {{Cite web|url = http://hollywood.outsidethebeltway.com/2007/02/britney-spears-shaved-hair-on-sale-on-ebay/ |title = Britney Spears' Shaved Hair on Sale on Ebay!--> {{cite web|url = http://www.topix.net/content/cbs/1113319673096549042127422966730442627778|title = Manny Ramirez's Grill Auction Taken Off eBay--> {{cite web|url = http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/05/national/main685791.shtml | title = Matthew Sells The Middle-->

Charity auctions Using MissionFish as an arbiter, eBay allows sellers to donate a portion of their auction proceeds to a charity of the seller's choice. Some high profile charity auctions have been advertised on the eBay home page, and have raised large amounts of money in a short time. For example, a furniture manufacturer raised over $35,000 for Ronald McDonald House by auctioning off beds that had been signed by celebrities. To date, the highest successful bid for a single item for charity was a letter sent to the owner of Clear Channel by Harry Reid and forty other Democratic senators to have a talk with conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh. The winning bid was $2,100,100, with 100% of the proceeds going to the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, benefiting the education of children of fallen men and women serving in the armed forces.

See also

Notes and references Further reading

External links








eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace
Person to person online auction site where you can buy or sell new and used items.

eBay Search: Find Items
Search eBay anytime, receive item alerts, and protect yourself from fraudulent Web sites - Get the free eBay Toolbar.

Buy and sell all types of vehicles on eBay Motors, including used cars ...
eBay Motors is the UK's largest online automotive marketplace, where you can buy and sell everything from used cars and motorcycles to commercial vehicles, boats, car parts and ...

eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace
Visit eBay UK and register to buy or sell new and used books, cars, computers, digital cameras, DIY, DVD, jewellery and music. Auction or Fixed Price. Buy It. Sell It. Love It ...

Buy items at low prices on eBay.co.uk Shops
Buy items at low prices. Sign up with eBay.co.uk to begin buying and selling items online.

eBay UK Shop - tastyvintage:
Buy items from tastyvintage eBay Shop. We sell items on eBay.co.uk. ... tempting array of vintage clothing: 1940s 1950s 1960s prom swing and rockabilly dresses, cocktail and ...

About eBay
eBay is The World's Online Marketplace®, enabling trade on a local, national and international basis. With a diverse and passionate community of individuals and small businesses ...

eBay Mobile
Take eBay with you on your mobile phone You don’t have to be at your computer every time you want to use eBay. You can bid and win with eBay directly from your mobile phone and ...

Popular Items on eBay.co.uk
Find popular items on eBay.co.uk, the world's online marketplace. ... eBay is The World's Online Marketplace®, enabling trade on a local, national and international basis.

eBay UK
If you are seeing this page, your browser settings prevent you from automatically redirecting to a new URL. Please click here to continue.

 

Ebay



 
Copyright © 2008 Hintcenter.com - All rights reserved.
Home | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
All Trademarks belong to their repective owners. Many aspects of this page are used under
commercial commons license from Yahoo!