Welcome to Computer Tips, your local source for computer help and information.    This is your host, Doug Bocaz-Larson, computer science program manager at the Grants Campus of NMSU.  

 

Today’s computer tip topic is: Buying and Selling on eBay

 

Looking for something usual for your collection?   Wanting to sell something that might be valuable?  Try eBay.com

 

eBay isn’t the only online auction site, but it’s one of the best.   People sell almost anything on eBay… and I mean anything.    I have to share with you some of the more unusual things found on eBay.   First there’s Justin Timberlake’s leftover French toast which sold for over $3,000.  Yes, a radio station actually sold the half eaten French toast from Justin Timberlake along with the fork, plate and syrup he left behind.    If you think that’s weird, how about a couple who auctioned off their baby’s first name.   Yes, the Black family offered to let some corporation give their name to their child.   Imagine a child with the name WalMart or McDonald’s.  People have even tried to sell kidneys for millions of dollars.   The lastest odd auction was the sale of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s DNA (from a half-used cough drop).    But eBay does have some standards.   They put a stop to both the kidney sale and Arnie’s saliva.

 

You can check out more weird auctions at www.whattheheck.com/ebay/

 

Now back to selling on eBay.   Before you sell on eBay, become a buyer.   Learn how online auctions work before you post your products.   Take notes on what made you happy or mad as a buyer.   Buying also helps you to build a reputation and a rating.   Sellers rate you as a buyer, responding to how quickly you paid for the auction.   Buyers rate sellers on how fast they ship the product and if the product is in the condition promised.  Good ratings and positive comments are very important, because the sellers with the best reputations get the highest bids.  

 

When you know what you’d like to sell, search for similar items and make a note of which products catch your attention.  You want to list your items in a way that will get them to look at your auction.   But don’t promise something you can’t deliver.  Be honest about the condition of the item.  Never say something is new if it is used.   And don’t promise something you can’t afford to do such as overnight shipping.  It’s best to give a shipping cost up front and have the buyer pay the shipping.   Be careful about saying you’ll pay the shipping cost.  Sometimes the shipping will cost you more than you’ll make on the auction.  

 

Plus be sure that the costumer is satisfied.  eBay does check into complaints and can take action if a seller has done anything dishonest.   Try to make it as easy as possible for a buyer to pay for the product.  Paypal is a popular way to pay for auctions and has buyer protection as well.  Paypal even provides buyers with a $500 protection plan.

 

Finally, when you first go to eBay.com, they have some educational videos available online.   I recommend watching these to get a good overview of what eBay is all about. 

 

That’s it for today’s computer tip brought to you by the computer science program at the Grants Campus of NMSU.   If you have a question for me about your computer, email me at [email protected] and I might use your question in my next Computer Tips segment.  You can also view this computer tip, along with others, at bocaz.com.  I look forward to talking to you again soon.

 

 

Learn more about this topic at: http://www.techtv.com/callforhelp/answerstips/story/0,24330,3667517,00.html
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