Introduction

eBay is a true phenomenon.

In 2005, eBay transactions defined a new economy worth more than $44 billion. Read that number again; it's not a misprint. Forty-four billion dollars. That's $44 billion in sales that didn't exist before eBay. Forty-four billion dollars of transactions that appeared seemingly out of thin air. Forty-four billion dollars in merchandise that wouldn't have been sold otherwise.

Where did that $44 billion come from? It came from you and from me and from 180 million other people around the world who log on to the eBay site to buy and to sell all manner of merchandise. Before eBay, there was no global marketplace for the 180 million of us; there was no way to buy and to sell that $44 billion of merchandise, except for small local garage sales and flea markets.

eBay made that $44 billion happen. eBay brought 180 million of us together.

In doing so, eBay became one of the firstand maybe the onlyof the online businesses to make a profit from day one of its existence. eBay kept its costs low by not actually handling any of the merchandise traded on its site, and generated revenue by charging listing fees and sales commissions on every transaction.

Smart people, with a smart concept.

And here's somebody else who's smart about eBay:

You.

You're smart because you bought this book to help you learn how to buy and sell merchandise on the eBay site. You know that you need to learn how eBay works before you can start buying and selling, and you also know that a little extra knowledge can give you the edge you need to be a real auction winner.

Absolute Beginner's Guide to eBay, 4th Edition, will help you get started with eBay auctionseven if you've never bought anything online in your life. Read this book and you'll learn how to bid and how to sell, and what to do when the auction ends.

More important, you'll learn how to maximize your chances of winning important eBay auctionswithout paying through the nose. And if you're a seller, you'll learn how to stand out from the crowd and generate more bidsand higher selling prices.

You'll also learn that buying and selling on eBay isn't that hard, and that it can be a lot of fun. You'll even discover that you can actually make a living from your eBay activities, if you don't mind a little hard work.

Really!

How This Book Is Organized

This book is organized into five main parts:

• Part I, "Welcome to eBay," shows you how the eBay marketplace works, as well as how to sign up for eBay membership and find your way around the eBay site.

• Part II, "Using eBay's Essential Tools," is all about the features and tools necessary to get the most out of buying and selling on eBay. You'll discover how to track your auctions in My eBay, create a personal About Me page, read and create product reviews and guides, and utilize eBay's post-auction feedback.

• Part III, "Buying Merchandise on eBay," tells you everything you need to know about bidding for items in eBay auctions, as well as buying fixed-price items in the eBay marketplace. You'll learn how to search for items to buy, how to bid in online auctions, how to find and purchase fixed-priced items from eBay Stores and Half.com, how to pay for your purchases, how to place last-second "snipes" to win eBay auctions, and how to avoid getting ripped off by unscrupulous sellers.

• Part IV, "Selling Merchandise on eBay," is the flip side of the coin. This section tells you everything you need to know about selling on eBay; you'll learn how to create auction listings, sell items for a fixed price, determine what payment methods to accept, pack and ship your merchandise, and best manage all your selling activity.

• Part V, "Becoming a Power Seller," is for the really ambitious eBay user. You'll learn how to manage your auctions with third-party software and services, sell and ship internationally, open a Trading Assistant Business, and how to turn your hobby into a full-time professionand make a real living from your eBay auctions.

Taken together, the 30 chapters in this book will help you get the most from your eBay experience. By the time you get to the end of the final chapter, you'll be buying and selling online just like a pro!

Conventions Used in This Book

I hope that this book is easy enough to figure out on its own, without requiring its own instruction manual. As you read through the pages, however, it helps to know precisely how I've presented specific types of information.

Web Page Addresses

There are a lot of Web page addresses in this bookincluding addresses for specific pages on the eBay site. They're noted as such:

www.molehillgroup.com

Technically, a Web page address is supposed to start with http:// (as in http://www.molehillgroup.com). Because Internet Explorer and other Web browsers automatically insert this piece of the address, however, you don't have to type itand I haven't included it in any of the addresses in this book.

Special Elements

This book also includes a few special elements that provide additional information not included in the basic text. These elements are designed to supplement the text to make your learning faster, easier, and more efficient.

Finally, in various parts of this book you'll find big checklists. Use these checklists to prepare for the upcoming taskjust check off the items on the list, and you'll be ready to go.

Note

A note is designed to provide information that is generally useful but not specifically necessary for what you're doing at the moment. Some notes are like extended tipsinteresting, but not essential.

Caution

A caution will tell you to beware of a potentially dangerous act or situation. In some cases, ignoring a caution could cause you significant problemsso pay attention to them!

"Mike Sez"

This element is my personal opinion or recommendation regarding the topic at hand. RememberI might not always be right, but I'll always have an opinion!

Tip

A tip is a piece of advicea little trick, actuallythat helps you use your computer more effectively or maneuver around problems or limitations.

Further Reading

I'd be somewhat remiss if I didn't point you to further reading on the subject of eBayin particular, books you can read after this one to help you be even more successful with your eBay auctions. To this end, I draw your attention to several other books I've written that you might find useful:

• Easy eBay (Que, 2005), a four-color, step-by-step guide for easily intimidated eBay newbies

• eBay Auction Templates Starter Kit (Que, 2006), a book-and-CD combo that shows you how to create eye-popping auction listings, by using either ready-to-use auction templates or by creating your own templates with HTML.

• Tricks of the eBay Masters, 2nd Edition (Que, 2006), which assembles 600 tricks and tips from almost two hundred successful eBay buyers and sellersgreat advice that any eBayer can use.

• Making a Living from Your eBay Business (Que, 2005), which shows you how to turn your eBay hobby into a profitable business. (This one's more of a business book than an eBay bookjust what you need to turn pro!)

Let Me Know What You Think

I always love to hear from readers. If you want to contact me, feel free to e-mail me at [e-mail]. I can't promise that I'll answer every message, but I will promise that I'll read each one!

If you want to learn more about me and any new books I have cooking, check out my Molehill Group website at www.molehillgroup.com. Who knowsyou might find some other books there that you'd like to read.