INTRODUCTION

Here are some very basic pointers that mostly cover buying on eBay, but may also give sellers some guidance on what information to provide or emphasize in their listings. This information should hopefully simplify your transactions, and help you avoid some of the misunderstandings that make it appear that the seller is being difficult or obstructive.

My intent is to help both parties go into each transaction with mutual understanding of what the other expects from that particular deal. More specifically, the buyer should receive some guidance as to what to look out for, and have the tools to decide if they find the seller's expectations to be acceptable.

We've all been new to eBay at some point, and these words come from my experience as a buyer and seller - first as a hobbyist, then as part of a team whose emphasis on customer service has taught me so much about the seemingly obvious importance of the buyer.

I also recommend this guide to those with more experience than I, in the hopes that you will perhaps drop me a line to make some addition to the knowledge base of this piece.

A. THE FINE PRINT

ALWAYS read through the ENTIRE listing before you bid on or buy it. Seems like an obvious point, but try to ensure that after reading the listing you have answers to the following questions - at the least.

1. Does the seller ship to your location, how much does it cost to ship to your location, and what shipping methods are available to that location? Does the seller charge a handling fee? If you know there's a handling fee involved, you may be less upset to see a $1.73 ship price on your package when you paid $3.20 for shipping.
   Note that if you see an item that interests you but find that your location is not included in the SHIP TO list, you could still write the seller to ask if they would consider shipping to you.
   
   
2. Will or can the package be insured? Insurance costs may be added to the stated shipping cost, or optional, or the seller may not even offer insurance. As a buyer, I use the option of insurance when the item is important to me, regardless of the actual monetary value involved. Some only use insurance for high-priced items. Just note that you can write to a seller that doesn't offer insurance to ask if you can pay the extra fee to have your package insured.
   
   
3. What is the seller's return policy? Would you be able to get a refund? Will the refund include shipping fees? Look for this information in the listing, at least so that the seller's return/refund policy doesn't come as a shock if something unfortunate where to happen to your package.
   
   
4. What payment methods are available, and which of them will YOU in particular be allowed to use? The options often vary by location. For instance, our team accepts only PayPal from international buyers.
   
   
5. What is the payment deadline, and can you pay within that specified time period? If you know you will be late with your payment, then contact the seller BEFORE bidding or buying to ask if they would be okay with a delay of X number of days. Doing this avoids potential minefields. Remember that some sellers do this as MORE than a hobby: it is their livelihood. They need to be able to predict their cashflow, pay bills, etc. After all, we don't walk out of Walmart with our item of choice and a promise to pay when we feel like it.
   
   Delays in payment are a major headache for buyers and sellers. Some sellers may hound you continually. Even the best of sellers dislikes spending more time and effort than an item may actually be worth to get their money from a buyer. IF you communicate beforehand, they are no longer working in a vacuum of information, and may give you even more time than you requested.
   If there is no payment deadline in the listing, please do ask the seller to clarify this point BEFORE you bid or buy.
   
   
6. What is the exact condition and description of the item? For instance, most books are unsealed. This means a paperback novel listed as NEW may yet have some SHELF-wear. If a buyer simply stops at the word NEW in the listing title without reading the ENTIRE listing, he may be unpleasantly surprised when he gets the book and it has some form of shelf-wear. And yet many sellers - my team included - will mention if the NEW book has any wear in the item description.
   
   Of course, some new titles with excessive wear should be listed as USED, and then the seller can state in the description that the item is actually new, but suffered some packing or other wear.
   In either case, the buyer can lose out by not reading the full description. Another instance is where an item like a DVD is actually new but opened. eBay guidelines state the item is to be listed as USED, so sellers use the description to let buyers know it is in new condition.
   Finally, if an item is being sold AS IS, you as a buyer should know that you may have no recourse if it turns out to be a dud.
   
   
7. An optional point: Does the seller provide a shipping price discount when you buy more than one item at the same time or within a specified duration? This is known as COMBINED SHIPPING.
   I recommend that you go through a seller's other listings  - or store -to see if there are any other items that catch your eye. With combined shipping, you save some of the money you would have had to spend to get the items from several different sellers.
   
   Here's an example of how it works:
   You buy an item for $45 and pay a full shipping fee of $3.20 for it, then the seller charges only $1 to ship a second item that costs $50 - which you bought a day after the first one.
   Of course, you should do a random sampling of the prices offered by other sellers for the same product. You can then calculate which will be the less costly transaction, and decide who to buy from.
   For example, if another seller offers the second product for $15 and ships it for $3.50, then you should buy from him and pay $18.50, instead of paying $50 to the first seller.
   Reading over the above sounds a bit convoluted to me. If you find it confusing, please do read it a couple of times.
   
   Finally, note that combined shipping is NOT a requirement for selling on eBay. So don't be upset if a seller refuses to offer it. If they don't say whether or not they do in the listing, contact them BEFORE you bid or buy to clarify their policy. Some sellers will also only combine shipping if you request it BEFORE buying or paying. They will then send you what is called a COMBINED INVOICE, giving the total you should pay and any reflecting any discounts available. They may not give you a discount if the payment has already been made.

B.  CLARIFY BEFORE YOU BUY!!

IF you are unable to find answers to any of the above questions in the listing, use the CONTACT SELLER feature at the top right corner of the listing to ask the seller for clarification. Note that it is usually better to use the eBay communication tools so that eBay can better review your communication if any problems arise between you and the seller. This is easier and quicker than having to authenticate emails sent and received via your personal email account.

C.  FEEDBACK IS NOT NECESSARILY BLACK OR WHITE!

EVEN after gathering all this information, you must go through the seller's feedback to get some idea of the person or business you are about to entrust your satisfaction to - not to mention your money.

Feedback consists of those received from buyers AND sellers, so be sure to click on FROM BUYERS to see what customers like you have to say. After all, the fact that someone can buy items doesn't mean they have a clue about selling, customer service, etc. We can all go to restaurants, but that doesn't mean we all have the know how to run even a deli.

You don't necessarily have to run away from a seller with negative feedback:
Check to see if what I call the Depth of Bitterness carries more weight than the outpouring of satisfied customers. That is, are the satisfied customers more in number, and do they appear more enthusiastic, than those with negative comments?
Also check the feedback of some of the dissatisfied customers to see if THEIR feedback is respectable or somewhat dubious, and the kind of feedback they left for other sellers. This could be of some help in deciding how much weight you should attach to their complaints.

It is also helpful to note how often the seller gets negative ratings, and when they got their last one. Some may get negatives early on and then get better over time as they grow and learn. Sadly, the reverse is also true: some sellers may be unable to maintain their quality of service as their business expands.

A final note: I always check FEEDBACK LEFT FOR OTHERS to see how the seller (or buyer) responds to negative feedback AKA criticism. They may be rude or remorseful, indifferent or vindictive, etc.
I do this to try and get a feel for how much they value customers, and whether they tend to go the extra mile or are way too aggressively negative and disagreeable for my comfort.

Of course, the degree of research you put into this is probably related to the value and availability of the item and your need for it.

D. THE GRASS MAY BE GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE

DON'T get so invested in bidding for an item to the exclusion of all else. As the bidding goes up, run searches for the same item to see if there are any with lower bids or buy it now prices.
Place your bid, indicating the maximum you are willing to spend  - given the shipping cost - and then walk away!
Avoid upping your bid every time you are outbid - at least not without searching for lower-priced listings, Consider moving on if the bid goes higher than the amount you chose as your maximum.

E.  HISTORY OFTEN REPEATS ITSELF!

AS I said above, decide on a maximum bid BEFORE you bid. One way to pick that magic number is to see how much people have paid for the same item in recent times.

You can get that information by first running a search for an item. Look at the SEARCH OPTIONS in the left menu of the results page. Check COMPLETED LISTINGS, and click on SHOW ITEMS. This gives you closing prices for previous sales of the item, and an idea of how much an item is currently worth - its market value.
You can also use this completed list to see which sellers may have sold the item at lower prices - some at fixed prices. Then you can view their active listings or contact them to see if they have any more of the item listed.

F.  BE PREPARED

CONFIRM your address with PayPal (if you use it). Use the PayPal HELP feature to find out how, or email them for assistance. If you call on the phone, note that you may have to wait for up to 45 minutes or more for customer service.
Why do all this? Because some sellers only sell to those with confirmed PayPal accounts. Don't think they are trying to be difficult, many of them have learned the hard way to TRUST BUT VERIFY.

Yes, you could always move on to another seller who has less stringent requirements, but what happens when it's a one-of-a-kind item, available only from that seller?
Like I said...BE PREPARED!

G.  BE FAIR

IF there is a problem with your transaction, don't rush to judge the seller. Note how the seller handles the situation, and his/her attitude, and use THAT to determine what feedback to leave.
We all make mistakes...the true test is in our response to those mistakes.

Personally, I prefer to leave no feedback than even a neutral one. But sometimes I deal with a seller that goes the extra mile to fix the error, and is polite and contrite in communication. I sense that my satisfaction is of great importance to this seller, and I also see that the unfortunate occurrence was by no means deliberate, nor was it a regular practice. Based on all this, I would be extremely comfortable buying from this seller again, knowing that my needs would be taken care of, however the actual transaction turns out.

I give such sellers positive rating for their customer service - which is often as important as the product itself.
It's only fair. Sometimes, such sellers spend more on fixing the problem than they got from selling the item to you!

H.  HELP IS ON THE WAY!

NOTE that eBay has a 24/7 chat feature that provides real-time help from actual people!
To use it, go to eBay's homepage, and click on LIVE HELP in the top right corner. I run there quite often myself!

Of course, not every solution or answer will be to your liking - remember NO is an answer too! But you will find it a useful information and instructional tool. Whether it's 2AM or 5PM!

I.  BURIED TREASURE IN STORE(S)

LEARN to use eBay Stores.

When you do a search for an item, don't just look at the auctions and buy it now items listed at the top: The lower half of the search results page has the same item listed at fixed prices in what are known as STORES. Note that the owners of these stores may also have items listed as auctions.

Here are just a few of the advantages of shopping in stores:

1. You can buy the item immediately at a fixed price without waiting for an auction to end
2. Some sellers make their store listings cheaper than their auctions
3. Sellers may run special price discount promotions for items in their store
4. Many sellers build relations with their store customers and have loyalty rewards
5. Stores can provide an easier and quicker way of browsing for a type of item when you are not sure which one to buy. For instance, if you want to buy a DVD but are not sure which, you can hardly go through the thousands and thousands in all of eBay. But you CAN go through the DVD section of a store. Also, store owners create their own categories  - eg Pre-1970 Romantic Comedies - that help you narrow down your search even further.
6. You can add the Store Seller to something called a Favorites List, and get an email whenever new items are added to the store.

OK. That's it. It's pretty long, I know...but I hope this has been of service to someone out there.

best regards and good hunting!
PKAY
from the sell-aholic help-desk