Chapter 23. Buying and Selling in eBay Auctions

In This Chapter

• How Does an eBay Auction Work?

• eBay Bidding, Step-by-Step

• Buy It Quick with Buy It Now

• Protecting Yourself Against Fraudulent Sellers

• eBay Selling, Step-by-Step

Some of the best bargains on the Web come from other consumers, just like you, selling items via online auction. An online auction is, quite simply, a web-based version of a traditional auction. You find an item you would like to own and then place a bid on the item. Other users also place bids, and at the end of the auctiontypically a seven-day periodthe highest bidder wins.

Far and away the largest online auction site is eBay (www.ebay.com). On any given day, there are more than 28 million items listed for auction on eBay; do a search from eBay's main page, and you can find everything from rare collectibles and vintage sports memorabilia to the latest electronics equipment.