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Ebay info

Useful Information and Help for Ebay Users

Useful Information for eBay:

eBay is the largest and most exciting auction service on the internet. With millions of auctions running, and many millions of users, if you want it you probably can find it there. If you want to sell it, you surely can find buyers. Warning: It can quickly become addicting!

 Below you will find official links from eBay, links that offer help to eBay users, and general informational links that will assist you both on and off of eBay.

I have added a second page with articles and advice on using eBay: Useful Information for eBay Page 2

 Links on the eBay site:

Basic Tutorials:

General:

Links for Sellers:

Links for Bidders & Buyers:

eBay Chat Boards:

These are chat and help boards on eBay that can help you with many subjects. From identifying items, getting help with buying or selling, or just a place to chat or talk on many various subjects.

eBay User to User Question & Answer Board

Discussion Boards:

These boards are in a different format than the boards above, you leave a message, and folks respond in a thread. You may not get as fast an answer as you would on the chat boards, but you can come back and review the answers later. 

Answer Center:

A different type of threaded board where users post the questions, and then there is a limited number of posts in answer. You can post your question, and then go back later for the answers and find them easily.

Ebay recently created eBay Groups. They are like clubs within eBay for people of different interests. They have discussion boards, e-mail lists, and etc. Groups have been set up as help groups, topical groups, and some are set up by region. Some groups are public, and open to anyone, some are private where you have to be invited, or ask, to join. There are over 600 eBay groups, so I will not even attempt to list them. Below is a link to the groups area:

eBay Groups

The Chat Boards, eBay Groups, Discussion Boards, and Answer Center are all part of the community area of eBay. An important resource for eBay users:

eBay Specialty Sites:

eBay Global Sites:

Contacting eBay:

Just Click on the link to contact eBay:

Non-eBay Links:

Not necessarily part of eBay, but provide helpful information useful to eBay users.

General Links:

Both Buyers and Sellers

International Trading:

Seller's Links:

Bidder's Links:

Safety In Trading:

Tips for handling trading problem, what to do if you think fraud has been committed, additional tips under the eBay Links above. 

A Word About eBay & Paypal Spoofs:

Scammers are sending fake e-mails that look like eBay or Paypal e-mails to steal private information. They are also creating fake websites that imitate the real eBay and Paypal websites. Other websites have been copied as well. These scams are called spoofing, or phishing. eBay has created the following webpage to help identify and report eBay related spoofs: Spoof Email Protection Tutorial

What to do if an item was not received, was received damaged, or was misdescribed :

The first step is to communicate with the seller, do so cordially, because 90% of the time it will be just a simple mistake and the seller will make things right. Either e-mail the seller or request his contact information from eBay and give him a call. The item may have been insured if damaged or lost, or seller may be willing for you to return it, and he will issue a refund. 

Another avenue to explore if the seller and you cannot reach an agreement is using a mediation service such as Squaretrade. They may be able to help you reach an agreement with the seller. Cost is $20 if a mediator becomes involved. 

If you are not able to contact the seller, seller is not helpful, or you cannot reach an agreement, you have several avenues for help. First is the eBay Fraud Protection Program, which will cover you up to $200, with a $25 deductible. You can file the fraud report even if the item was under $25. You also may have other ways  to recover your money depending on how you paid. If you paid with a credit card, contact your credit card company,  if you paid through Paypal or Billpoint both have a fraud protection programs. You have to file the eBay fraud report within 60 days of the end of the auction and you must file the Paypal fraud form within 30 days of making payment. If you paid with a check or money order, you may be able to trace and see if they were cashed. If you were defrauded, you should also consider filing a mail fraud report, a report with the FBI, and possibly a complaint with the FTC. You might also contact local law enforcement and have them contact law enforcement in the seller's location.

 See the Safety In Trading table above for more tips and information on how to handle these problems. 

Shipping & Shipping Supplies

Below are some links to shippers and to some shipping supply dealers on eBay. If you sell shipping supplies on eBay and would like me to include a link to your me page, please contact me. 

Books On Selling on the Internet, and Internet Auctions:

Image Hosts:

Places on the net to store pictures for eBay, some free, some you have to pay for. While free sites may work fine, some of the pay sites may offer better reliability or additional services.

FTP Programs:

To put images on the internet, you may need an FTP (File transfer protocol) program to actually post the files on the internet. Below are some programs that are fairly easy to use. Most are shareware, if you try them, and like them, a nominal fee will need to be paid to the program author.

Image Editors and Etc.:

Auction Counters:

To install free counters to see how many folks view your auction.

Auction Management Software & Services:

Makes managing or listing your auctions much easier for sellers.

*Notice: eBay often makes changes that will affect third party software providers. make sure that any program or service you select keeps up to date. 

Bidder's Auction Software:

Will help you keep track of your bidding, and some even bids for you.

*Notice: eBay often makes changes that will affect third party software providers. make sure that any program or service you select keeps up to date. 

Auction Payment Services:

The following services will help you pay for auction purchases, or if you are a seller, may be something you would like to look into for accepting payment. Many will allow the use of a credit card for payment. Please check these out before using, some do offer some extra trading safety. Many also will work for websites and other uses. Some are USA only, some USA and International.  

Help With Computers & Antivirus Software

Some of the links below will help you deal with computer problems you may experience, and the others will help you with antivirus and security issues. 

E-mailing many different people like you have to do on eBay, it is crucial that you have good antivirus software on your computer. Sooner or later you will get sent a computer virus. Most of the folks who send it to you will not know they are infected. I use, and recommend Norton's Antivirus. The sites below will help, including a free antivirus scanning tool. 

How To:

Images & Graphics:

I moved some of my advice articles and other things to a second page, the advice had just outgrown the ability to show everything on one page. On the following page you will find advice on writing auction descriptions, listing items, and much more. As time goes on I will be adding to that page. 

Workshops:

Below are links to two workshops .

eBay Expert Member Workshop: Creating Customer Friendly Listings

eBay Expert Member Workshop: Handling Problems in the eBay setting

Feedback Tool:

A very useful tool to see someone's feedback, or feedback left.

Courtesy of Willy, wcdc on eBay.

Willy offers many helpful HTML hints Click the following link:

wcdc

Still having problems?

Visit the User to User Question & Answer board on eBay. Nice, friendly, and very knowledgeable users available there at all hours to help. The folks there are volunteers, and do this for fun, and out of the spirit of community that has kept eBay the #1 auction service. There is a very wide range of experience with shipping, HTML, selling, buying and identification of items. Few other places you can go and get such comprehensive advice. I can often be found there in the evenings, and would be happy to chat with you to discuss problems you are having and help any way I can,  To visit, click on the link below:

eBay User to User Q & A Board

Antiques & Collectibles Resources On This Site

I hope you have found the above information helpful.  Feel free to share this link with anyone, and feel free to link to this page. If you have any links to suggest, please e-mail me using the e-mail address below. Please help me by reporting any dead links. I hope you will bookmark this page, and that you will find it helpful in the future.

I am not an eBay employee, I just use their service to sell and buy items. cpswi ,.  If you have any questions, or if I can help in any way, feel free to e-mail me using the link below:

[email protected]

Alternate e-mail address if the above should be out of service:

Alternate e-mail

My userid on eBay is: bahmed1

For a preview of my auctions on eBay, and a link to them, click on the link below:

cpswi

Click Here for my page on eBay, more
information about me, and my eBay sales.

Useful Information for eBay