eBay – A Slightly Cynical View - By James Hunaban

It goes without saying; we all love a great deal! The question is, are you going to find one, on an auction site such as eBay? Well, in my experience, yes and no. As with any auction, online or offline, people bidding against each other can often run the price up to more than the item is worth. In which case, why bother with an auction at all, just go down the shops or wherever.

Ok, before I put you off the idea of auction sites altogether, I have to say, they can still be quite useful. My personal feedback score on eBay is 120+ which indicates that I have profited from using the service. I have found it very handy for getting rid of household items that are no longer needed. On the flip side, some people use it to collect stuff that they probably want but don’t really need.

Of course you also have the part time trader types who scour garage sales, boot sales, flea markets etc looking for bargains, and then selling on eBay for a profit. Hey, I’m not knocking it, good luck to them, I’m sure there are quite a few people who do rather well out of it. It’s not for me, though, too much hassle, and then there are the dreaded fees.

Talking of fees, with eBay, when selling, you have to pay a listing fee, and also a percentage of the final sale price. Fair enough, I suppose, they have a business to run. Although I can’t help thinking, the people doing the best out of eBay are eBay. Ok, I’m an old cynic, but I think it pays to be cynical these days. Having said all that, they did not become the market leader in auction sites by chance, and a lot of work and some good business decisions must have gone into it.

You have to make sure you safeguard yourself against the numerous scam artists trying to operate in the online auction world. You can make a start by studying the information and guidelines in the eBay site. Also, whoever it is you’re dealing with, do make sure you have a look at their feedback, and try to get a feel of the sort of person they are.

At the end of the day, wheeling and dealing on eBay can be good fun, and you can make a bit of cash as well. It does help if you’re an old cynic like me, or maybe that’s a hindrance. You decide.

James Hunaban is the owner of ebay-marketing.jims-info.com a site full of eBay information.