What is eBay Online Marketplace?

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 offers an online platform where millions of items are traded each day.

Here's how eBay works:

A seller lists an item on eBay, most anything from antiques to cars, books to sporting goods.

The seller chooses to accept only bids for the item (an auction-type listing) or to offer the Buy It Now option, which allows buyers to purchase the item right away at a fixed price.

In an online auction, the bidding opens at a price the seller specifies and remains on eBay for a certain number of days. Buyers then place bids on the item. When the listing ends, the buyer with the highest bid wins.

In a Buy It Now listing, the first buyer willing to pay the seller's price gets the item.
Trading on eBay is easy and it's fun! Best of all, you'll never know what you can find!

New to eBay – Getting Started

Welcome to eBay. eBay is the world's largest online community of buyers and sellers! It's your place to buy what you want, sell what you have, and make a few friends while you're at it.

If you're new to eBay, you’ll find it helpful to learn about the following:

Step 1: Register on eBay
The first step for buying and selling on eBay is to register as an eBay member. Registering on eBay is easy and free.

Step 2: Review information for new users
After you’ve registered as a new user, it’s helpful to review some information about eBay.

Step 3: Learn how to find and buy Items
Once you’ve registered and reviewed some key information about eBay, it’s time to learn how to find the items you want to buy and how to buy them.

Step 4: Learn how to sell Items (optional)
Are you ready to start selling? You’ll need to provide some additional information. To review an overview of selling,

Introduction

Welcome to ebay

Your comprehensive ebay resource. Our mission is to give you the facts you need about ebay fast so you can get on the road to taking action right away.

The ebay website provides a ton of information about ebay. In addition, you will find extensive information on leading ebay to help you on your way to success.

Please have a look at our ebay articles, products, resources, and additional information located throughout ebay.

We strive to provide only quality articles, so if there is a specific topic related to ebay that you would like us to cover, please contact us at any time.

And again, thank you to those contributing daily to our ebay website.

eBay University Learning Center

Welcome

Whether you're brand new to eBay or want to take your sales to the next level , this series of free online course live traning and fun Videos will help you to achieve your golds. chose a topic to discover eBay recommended leasions.

How to buy
These courses will cover the basics of searching, buying and paying for your items.

New to buy
These courses will give you a quick overview of how eBay works, how to register and how to buy with confidence.

How to sell
These courses cover how to create a sellers account, sell an item, accept online payments and keep track of all your selling activity on your own My eBay page.

Increase your sales
These lessons will help you take your eBay sales to the next level
- covering marketing, optimization and eBay Stores.
Classroom InstrutioneBay University Classroom Instruction offers 2 courses:
- Selling Basics for the new seller and Beyond the Basics for the more experienced seller.
- Classes are offered in person or on CD-ROM and DVD.

Selling basics
With the Basics of Selling on eBay, you'll learn how to:
- Become an eBay seller
- Do research and create listings
- Improve your listings with better descriptions and photography
- Set pricing
- Open and use a PayPal account
- Monitor your listings
- Complete transactions

Beyorn the basics selling
With Beyond the Basics of Selling, you'll learn how to:
- Start and/or grow an eBay
-based business- Choose the right listing format
- Create compelling listings
- Use eBay listing tools
- Market your business on eBay
- Manage your listings
- Pack and ship inventory
- Use online payments from PayPal

Auction Tips

eBay.com Online Auction Tips
eBay!, the worlds largest online auction site, continues to dominate the online shopping world. With over 27 million active users buying and selling everything from web hosting to small towns. What's next? Planets for sale on eBay? There's no place in the galaxy like eBay! Review these basic tips for eBay.com buyers and sellers before bidding or selling.

Buyers' Tips

• on eBay.com, it is normally to the buyer's advantage to pay with a credit card, whether via PayPal or direct or with an escrow service. Most credit card companies offer their cardholders some type of protection against fraud. Never pay using a check or money
• order, if possible. Online fraud is increasing according to consumer advisor Clark Howard.
  Leave eBay.com feedback only after receiving the product and addressing any issues you may have with the seller via e-mail.
• Use the numerous "My eBay" resources to keep track of your bids and offers and get e-mail notifications on your bids. The eBay.com community forums are the probably the best source for help available on eBay.com. Due to the huge volume of help requests, don’t get your hopes up for a human to respond back to a you and certainly not by phone.
• Watch the eBay.com feedback very closely. This is most important in judging seller credibility. If over 5% of the feedback remarks are negative or neutral, consider purchasing from another seller. Don't buy from eBay.com sellers with under 10 feedback ratings if possible. Be especially careful of anyone with negatives on large ticket items.
• Be mindful of eBay.com sellers who consistently have a high percentage of 0 eBay.com feedback bidders. Some eBay.com sellers may be artificially running up the market for their item, hoping you will be the high bidder.
• Pay promptly. You will receive higher praise from eBay.com sellers.
• Always leave eBay.com feedback. Some eBay.com buyers with over 100 comments stop leaving eBay.com feedback, thinking that with such high numbers, they have achieved sellers nirvana. This could create a problem over time.
• Don’t get emotional with eBay.com bidding. Set the price you are willing to pay ahead of time and stick with it. Be like Mr. Spock and don't give in to emotion over logic.
• Respond to all questions from inquiring eBay.com bidders promptly.

Sellers' Tips

• Always list a photo in your eBay.com auction, even if it’s a stock picture from the Internet.
• List concise specs and details of your eBay.com item in the description. Is the item you're posting on eBay new or just opened and never used or in fair condition? These seemingly small details can often make the difference in a higher bid for your product.
• Mention comments in your follow up e-mail after your eBay.com auction is closed. Example: I sent your item today via Priority mail. I hope you enjoy it. I appreciate any positive ebay feedback you may want to leave and I plan to do the same for you as well.
• Send the merchandise only after you have received payment for your eBay.com auction item, even if it’s from a family member.
• Leave comments only after the eBay.com buyer confirms receipt of the product, either via e-mail or the eBay.com comments form.

Nine Resons to Open an eBay Store

Whether you are a seasoned eBay seller or just getting started, opening an eBay store is a great way to reach customers you may not have captured otherwise. If you have thought about starting your own business, opening an eBay store is a great way to enter the world of entrepreneurship.

1. More exposure.
EBay reports that their store sellers see a average 25 percent increase in sales three months after opening their store. Opening an eBay store exposes your business to hundreds, if not thousands, of potential customers that may have otherwise never found you.

2. Repeat customers.
Store owners are much more likely than regular sellers to get repeat buyers, especially if they provide good customer service.

3. Save time.
Opening an eBay store can save you time with special features, such as automatic relisting of unsold items. You can set your Store Inventory listings to last for longer durations, including 30, 60, 90, 120 days or "Good ‘til Cancelled." These listings automatically renew upon auction close if the item doesn’t sell.

4. Increased credibility.
A professional-looking eBay Store gives you added credibility as an online retailer. Plus, you will have access to the eBay’s Business Resource Center, where you can download templates for professional-looking business cards. As an eBay store seller, you can create up to 20 custom categories within your store to merchandise your listings effectively.

5. Increased security and protection.
When you sell products through your own Web site, you don't always know whether or not a customer is legitimate. EBay attempts to weed out unscrupulous customers through user feedback and ID verification.6. Get your own Web site.When you open an eBay store, you get a unique URL you can drive customers to — whether or not they are eBay members. You can customize your store with your logo and images and colors of your choice.

7. Exclusive promotional features.
EBay’s Cross-Promotion tool lets you control which items are cross-promoted to your buyers. You also get access to the eBay Stores Email Marketing Tool and a store-specific search box.

8. Free monthly sales reports.
All store sellers receive free monthly sales reports that outline their activity by category (e.g., monthly gross sales, conversion rates, number of buyers). Additionally, if you have a Featured or Anchor Store, you will receive overall eBay marketplace data to benchmark your sales against other eBay sellers. And, with Accounting Assistant, you can export data about eBay and PayPal into QuickBooks.

9. Save money.
eBay store sellers get special discounts on eBay fees and receive promotional offers and free subscriptions to some services. You also will save money on administrative costs, as eBay helps you keep track of your sales and print shipping labels and invoices.

In addition, make sure to read these articles:How to Create Color Palettes that Work Wonders for Your eBay Listings (and eBay Sales)Top 10 eBay Selling Mistakes Leaving eBay Feedback with FinesseUsing QuickBooks in Your eBay BusinessSetting Up Your PayPal Account and Profile

Rethink Programs

Fresh Ideas for a Cleaner World
eBay and fellow members of the Rethink Initiative are applying some fresh thinking to the problem of e-waste.

Faster, more advanced computers, cell phones and electronics offer endless possibilities for enrichment, learning and entertainment. But as consumers and businesses keep pace with the introduction of exciting new products, we are faced with a mounting challenge: what to do with the products we’re upgrading from.

It’s no small issue. Hundreds of millions of retired computers, cell phones and electronics sit idle or are discarded by Americans every year. We need to make smart choices about what we do with these products to help ensure a clean environment for future generations.

Rethink: A new approach

The Rethink Initiative brings together industry, government and environmental organizations to offer a fresh perspective and new answers to the challenge of e-waste.