eBay Bargain Shopping

How This Book Is Organized

Each part of this book covers an individual area of eBay. You should be able to find just what you’re looking for in the specific chapters. If any task requires prior knowledge, I will point to the particular chapter where you will find the nuggets you need to know.
Part I: Opening Up the Bargain-Filled World of eBay

In this part, I explain the basic layout of eBay — where to find what and how, and how to blast through the registration and bidding process. I also show you how to use eBay’s online tools to keep your shopping organized.

You can find how to make your way through the site — and when you’re through with this part, you should be comfortable with shopping at eBay.

Part II: Staying Safe While Shopping at eBay

Perhaps the reason you haven’t added eBay to your shopping repertoire is because you’ve thought of eBay as a big scary place. You’ve read enough stories in the media about online transaction problems and you certainly don’t want to become a victim of some notorious scammer. In this part, I show you how to stay safe and tell you what to do if you think you’ve got a problem.

In this part I also show you the safest ways to pay for your eBay purchases and protect your identity online.

Part III: Searching eBay

This section hones in on how eBay organizes the items for sale, and shows you how to cruise eBay’s categories for something you didn’t know you needed.

I’ll teach you some special tricks (previously known only to geeks and eBay pros) to tweak eBay’s search engine so you can locate the exact item you’re looking for.

Part IV: Shopping for Specific Items

By wending your way through the eBay categories, you can do most of your shopping from the privacy of your own home. You won’t believe some of the fun and unusual items that I’ve found at eBay. The chapters in this part reveal what a great place eBay is toshop; I guarantee that you will discover an item or two you never would have expected were for sale at eBay.

Part V: Specialty Shopping

One of the wonderful things about eBay is that it lets you shop your way. First, there are the specialty sites, such as Sothebys.com, which allow you to bid (or simply watch the auction action from the sidelines) in more high-stakes auctions. Also, if you like the products sold by a particular seller, find out whether the seller has his or her own store.

One of the best ways to shop your own way is to stay close to home. Of course, you could always buy that piano from 2,000 miles away (and pay for the shipping), but you might also check the Regional page to find out if there’s a Steinway available in the next town over.

If you like browsing aisle after aisle of closeouts, then the online version of the bricks-and-mortar liquidation stores, provided by eBay, is right up your alley. Have fun, but be sure you read the fine print. I tell you everything you need to know in Chapter 17.

Part VI: Going for the Gold

eBay is far more than a collectibles auction venue these days. High-dollar items make up a large part of the daily transactions at eBay.

Did you know that more cars are sold at eBay than almost any-where else? Think about it. If you’re looking for a special vintage car, or even a good reliable car to take you to work, you’ve got everything from certified pre-owned cars to brand-new cars straight from the dealers’ lots to the cars that were only driven to church on Sundays by the little old lady down the way.

There’s also a tremendous market in real estate — open land in Colorado; homes in North Carolina; timeshares in Florida.

Own your own piece of America from your armchair — right here at eBay. This part gives you tips on what to look for and tells you what questions to ask.

Fine jewelry has become de rigueur at eBay for the cognoscenti. (That means the smart folks are getting the good stuff at eBay for bargain basement prices!) I’ll show you how to join them and know just how to find the deals.

Part VII: The Part of Tens

The Part of Tens is the most-fun part of an already very fun book. I’ve listed my ten favorite reasons that shopping at eBay is fun. And I asked several eBay sellers to advise new eBay bidders on the things they need to know to be savvy bargain hunters at eBay.
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