EBay for Dummies (29 page)

Know the speed of your Internet connection.

Remember, this is a game, and sometimes it’s a game of chance, so don’t lose heart if you lose the auction.

Although sellers love sniping because it drives up prices and bidders love it because it’s fun, a sniper can ruin a week’s careful work on an auction strategy. The most skillful snipers sneak in a bid so close to the end of the auction that you have no chance to counterbid, which means you lose. Losing too often, especially to the same sniper, can be a drag.

If your Internet connection is slower than most, and you want to do some sniping, make your final bid
2 minutes before the auction ends
— and adjust the amount of the bid as high as you feel comfortable with so you can beat out the competition.

If you can make the highest bid with less than 20 seconds left, you most likely will win. With so many bids coming in the final seconds, your bid might be the last one that eBay records.

This stuff is supposed to be fun, so don’t lose perspective. If you can’t afford an item, don’t get caught up in a bidding war. Otherwise, the only person who wins is the seller. If you’re losing sleep, barking at your cat, or biting your nails over an item, it’s time to rethink what you’re doing. Shopping on eBay is like being in a long line in a busy department store. If it’s taking too much of your life or an item costs too much, be willing to walk away — or log off — and live to bid (or shop) another day.

Chapter 8

After You Win the Item

In This Chapter

Getting yourself organized

Straight talk with the seller

Ironing out the details and sending your payment

Dealing with an item that arrives “not as expected”

Finishing the transaction with feedback

The thrill of the chase is over, and you’ve won your first eBay item. Congratulations — now what do you do? You have to follow up on your victory and keep a sharp eye on what you’re doing. The post-sale process can be loaded with pitfalls and potential headaches if you don’t watch out. Remember, sometimes money, like a full moon, does strange things to people.

In this chapter, you can get a handle on what’s in store for you after you win your item. I clue you in on what the seller is supposed to do to make the transaction go smoothly and show you how to grab hold of your responsibilities as a buyer. I give you info here about following proper post-auction etiquette, including the best way to get organized, communicate with the seller professionally, and send your payment without hazards. I also brief you on how to handle an imperfect transaction.

eBay Calling: You’re a Winner

The All Buying section of your My eBay page highlights the titles of auctions you’ve won and indicates the amount of your winning bid. If you think you may have won the auction and don’t want to wait around for eBay to contact you, check out the All Buying section for yourself and find out whether you’re a winner.

Throughout the bidding process, dollar amounts of items that you’re winning appear in green on your My eBay Active page. If you’ve been outbid, they appear in red. After the auction ends, there’s no marching band, no visit from Ed McMahon and his camera crew, no armful of roses, and no oversized check to duck behind. In fact, you’re more likely to find out that you’ve won the auction from either the seller or the Won section of your My eBay page than you are to hear it right away from eBay. eBay tries to get its End of Sale e-mails out pronto, but sometimes there’s a bit of lag time. For a look at all the contact information in the winner’s e-mail, see Figure 8-1.

If you can receive text messages on your cellphone, eBay will send EOA notices to your mobile. (See Chapter 6 for more information on the types of eBay alerts available.) Go to your My eBay: My Account: Preferences page and click the Show link. (The link appears next to Notification Delivery.) You can indicate just how you want to receive the various notifications from eBay here.

Getting Your Paperwork Together

Yeah, I know that PCs were supposed to create a paperless society, but cars were supposed to fly by the year 2000, too. Maybe it’s just as well that some predictions don’t come true (think of the way some people drive or steer shopping carts). Paper still has its uses; printing copies of your purchase records can help you keep your transactions straight.

The item page shows the amount of your winning bid, the item’s description, and other relevant information. The second you find out you’ve won the item, click the Print link below the Gallery photo in the listing and print a copy of the item page for your files.

eBay displays listings for only 30 days in the Bidder search, so don’t put off printing out that final item page for your records. If you save your End of Sale e-mails that you get from eBay, you can access the listing for up to 90 days if you use the link in the e-mail.

Many sellers have multiple listings going at the same time, so the more organized you are, the more likely you will receive the correct item (and quick feedback) from the seller. Here’s a list of the items you should keep in your item purchases file:

A copy of your e-mail from eBay.
Don’t
delete the e-mail — at least not until you print a copy and keep it for your records. You may need to refer to the e-mail later, and there’s no way to get another copy.

Printed copies of any e-mail correspondence between you and the seller that details specific information about the item or special payment and shipping arrangements.

A printed copy of the final auction page.

Sellers can edit and update their auctions even while they’re in progress, so keep your eyes peeled for changes in the listing as you monitor it. If the seller makes major changes, you are within your rights to withdraw your bid. (Check out Chapter 6 for more on the bidding process.)

Getting Contact Information

The eBay rules and regulations say that buyers and sellers must contact each other within three business days of the listing’s end. So, if an item closes on a Saturday, you need to make contact by Wednesday.

If you’ve won an item and intend to pay through PayPal, it’s de rigueur for you to go to the item as soon as possible after you’ve won and use the Pay Now link on the item page as soon as possible.

So, What’s Your Number?

If something comes up between buying and receiving an item you’ve won and an e-mail you’re sending gets no response, you need to get more contact information. Remember back when you registered and eBay asked for a phone number? eBay keeps this information for times like this.

To get an eBay member’s phone number, click the Advanced Search link next to the Search box and then click the Members: Find Contact Information link on the left side of the screen. You need to enter the seller’s user ID and the number of the item that you’re trading with the other member; then click the Submit button.

eBay automatically generates an e-mail to both you and the other user.

eBay’s e-mail includes the seller’s user ID, name, e-mail address, company, city, state, and country of residence, as well as the seller’s phone number and date of initial registration. eBay sends this same information about you to the user you want to get in touch with.

Often, sellers jump to attention when they receive this e-mail from eBay and get the ball rolling to complete the transaction.

eBay doesn’t tolerate any abuses of its contact system. Make sure that you use this resource only to communicate with another user about a specific transaction. To use contact information to complete a deal outside eBay is an infringement of the rules. If you abuse the contact system, eBay can investigate you and kick you off the site.

If the seller doesn’t contact you within three business days, you may have to do some nudging to complete the transaction. (See “Keeping in Touch: Dealing with an AWOL Seller,” later in this chapter, and take a look at Chapter 13.)