Section 170. Get the Most Out of eBay with the eBay Toolbar

170. Get the Most Out of eBay with the eBay Toolbar

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

Just jump right in.

SEE ALSO

166 Manage Your Auctions with Auction Sentry

If you do a lot of buying on eBay, you might like access to all your auctions to be only a click or two away. As you've seen in this chapter, you can use add-in software such as Auction Sentry to track your auctions. But eBay offers a simple, free toolbar that latches onto Internet Explorer to let you track your auctions, search for auctions, and bid on auctions from within your browser. It also lets you track the auctions that you've created. The eBay Toolbar is simple to use and install and doesn't cost a penny. It won't help you do any selling, but for buyers and sellers it's a great, easy tool.

KEY TERM

eBay Toolbar An add-in to Internet Explorer that lets you track your auctions, search for auctions, and bid on auctions from right within Internet Explorer.

1.	Download and Install the Toolbar Go to http://pages.ebay.com/ebay_toolbar/ and click the Download Now button. You come to a page that explains the terms of the toolbar's use. Read the terms, and if you agree with them, click Download Now again. After several minutes, a security warning dialog box might appear. You will be asked whether you want to install the eBay Toolbar. Click Yes . After a little longer, the toolbar installs . You'll notice that a small eBay logo appears in your system tray, telling you that the toolbar is running. 170. Get the Most Out of eBay with the eBay Toolbar
2.	Fill in Your eBay Information You now have two browser windows open . Close the one that reads Please Close This Window . In the other one, enter your eBay user ID and password to sign in to eBay. NOTE If you don't sign in to eBay when you run the eBay Toolbar, you won't be able to track your auctions or bid on them.
3.	Find the Toolbar Your eBay Toolbar runs directly within your browser, as a toolbar underneath your address bar or underneath any other toolbars you might have added.
4.	Watch Your Auctions Perhaps the eBay Toolbar's most useful function is its capability to watch auctions on which you're bidding and report to you on what it finds. To watch auctions on which you're bidding, click the Watch Alert button. This Toolbar feature works with your own eBay watch alert that you set up from My eBay . With the Watch Alert button, you can create your eBay watch alerts without having to visit eBay to set them. It watches the auctions for you and sends you notifications when necessary. The eBay Toolbar can also alert you when an auction on which you are bidding is about to end. Click the Bid Alert button to see a list of all auctions on which you've bid. The Bid Alert feature can alert you 10, 15, 30, 60, or 75 minutes before the auction ends, depending on your preference. NOTE You must be connected to the Internet if you want to use the eBay Toolbar because the Toolbar connects to the eBay site to do its work.
5.	Search eBay No matter where you are on the Web, you can search eBay without actually having to manually visit the site. In the eBay Toolbar's search box, type the item you want to search for and press Enter . You are sent to the eBay site, and the search is performed. You can also customize your search in many waysfor example, searching a particular category or subcategories and searching by seller, item number, and so on. To do that, type your search term and click the small arrow next to the Search eBay button. A menu appears, allowing you to customize your search. Select the option you want and then press Enter .
6.	Change Your Options You can change how the eBay Toolbar worksfor example, by determining how long in advance of the end of an auction you should be sent an alert. To change your options, click the arrow next to the eBay logo in the Toolbar, select eBay Toolbar Preferences , and fill out the form.