First time bidding on ebay : eBay Guides

First of all I'd like to Welcome you to the ebay community!    Here are some helpful hints to making the ebay experience ALOT easier, less stressful and fun, enjoy!! 

I've been a member for awhile now and learned through trial and error.  What I've learned I'd like to share with you so you don't have to go through what I did to learn.  First when you sign in you'll be on the home page, from there you can choose whatever field you'd like to explore or buy in.  If not there, you can look in the left corner next to the colorful 'ebay' name.  You'll see 3 blue underlined catagories that you can click on, these are 'home, pay and site map'.  If your not sure what catagory your item is in you can use the site map and read through the catagories; that's how I figured out what was in and considered this or that.  The large catagories are listed in bold blue letters, the sub-catagories listed in a blue color with black writing, and what's in each catagory are small blue underlined letters.

You can also use the black lettered boxes that have 5 catagories in blue underlined names.  You can click on...'buy, sell, my ebay, community and help' at any time. 

The 1st box at the top is the 'buy' box.  This takes you to where you can type in exactly what you're looking for in the left hand box and whatever catagory you want. (if not sure leave in 'all catagories').  Or you can browse the catagories below and just click on what you want.

The 2nd box at the top is the 'sell' box. This takes you to a page where there are 2 ways to sell you item(s).  The first is in blue in the upper left hand side, 'start selling with the new version of the Sell your Item Form'.  By clicking on this is, it will take you to a really easy page too follow.  The 'guide' and the 'sell your item>'.  It takes you to a page where you can choose the selling format that's right for you. You can choose 'sell item at online auction'...'sell at fixed price'...or 'create an add format listing' then click 'continue>'.  But by choosing either way of selling it is so easy and before you know your item is listed and sold.  A new way to add excitement to your selling is to choose the 'what's new' box in the right hand side of the page, you'll get all the newest tools to help you sell anything you have laying around collecting dust.   

The 3rd box at the top of the page main page is my favorite; 'my ebay'.  Here you can do all sorts of fun stuff.  On the left hand side is a list of catagories to use, any of these are simple and easy to research and use on a daily basis.  You can even customize your ebay site.  Just click on the button that says this on the upper right hand side of the page; choose what and what you don't want shown, and what order to be seen, ect.  I like to also use my ebay for just watching items that I just what to see what they sold for, (how to do:  find the object you like after clicking into it, then click on 'watch this item' button in the right hand corner of the page).  Now you can watch for the next one and bid, (this allows me to watch my budget).  If it's a one of a kind, or there is not another one available then I don't watch it I just bid on it, (if you don't and really wanted it, you'll be sorry and say 'I wish I'd put a bid on that).  Once you bid ebay will notify you about your confirmed bid, if you have been out bid, or if you win/didn't win by email, from the email you can just click on the 'bid on the item' button and it will take you to ebay, just sign in and have fun; it's that simple.  If you're bidding on an item and watching it live, don't forget to refresh the page so the 'time ending' is correct and in real time. 

When bidding you put in you maximum amount you'd like to pay for the item, if watching your budget remember that there is shipping and sometimes insurance costs that are added to the original cost you've bid for.

The 4th box at the top of the page is the 'community' box.  This is a fun site, where you can join discussions about your favorite subjects.  You can learn about almost anything, or if you don't see the topic add it and you'll be amazed how fast you'll can make instant friends from around the world.  For example, I was talking to a women in Austrailia about horses a few weeks ago, how fun!!

The 5th box at the top of the page is the most important, the 'help' box.  If you EVER have ANY questions or concerns you can always use this button.  If this doesn't help you can also go back to 'my ebay' and contact ebay directly.

If you really like the items that a certain sell has, what I've done is to put them in my 'favorite' catagory.  Anytime the seller posts new items, ebay will notify you by email, then you can just click on the 'bid on it' button from your email, sign in and bid.   

You can also go directly into any persons page by clicking on their user name. Next to their name is information also like, how many items they have sold, are they a power seller, and their feedback.  This is where I look BEFORE I bid on any item, because if they are not in the best standing, things can go wrong. the better the percentage, i.e. 100% is the max, the better chances of the sale going more smoothly.  If there is ANY problems with payment, if selling, and receiving the item, if buying, (within 30 days) you don't hear from the person report it to ebay and they will help you resolve ANY issues. 

EBAY IS ALOT EASIER, LESS STRESS AND EXPENSIVE THEN DEPARTMENT STORES!! 

Hope this helps the first time ebay'r;

A.M.