subject: Discovering How Ebay Works [print this page] When eBay was created it connected buyers and sellers in a way that had never been seen previously. It was founded in 1995, right after the internet boom.
It started out with one employee and one president and several buyers. However, today it boasts of over 15,000 employees and revenues well into the billions.
This site deals in the sales and purchase of every item you can think of including collectibles, decor, appliances, computers, furnishings, equipment, vehicles, books, music, baby items, and so forth. Anything you may need to purchase can generally be found on this site for a better price that you can purchase the item at the store.
Some of these items are used and others are brand new. Everything that is not illegal or considered to violate the eBay Prohibited and Restricted Items policy can be sold on this site.
Services and other intangible products and services can be sold on this site as well. Companies often use this site to sell their products as well as the typical retail stores.
As eBay serves people internationally, the company has tried to resolve the issue of which currency to use through creating separate eBay US, eBay UK, and so forth sites. Generally you can find the item you need in the currency with which you generally pay.
Due to the variety of items that can be sold on eBay, some items have naturally been rather controversial. For example, one man tried to sell one of his kidneys.
In addition, some pranks have been played on the site as well. For example, other people and entire towns have been put up for auction.
These things are generally removed from the site quickly as they violate the terms of service. Some of the newest categories of items that have been added to eBay include video games and health and beauty.
In addition, these categories require the buyers to pay seller through the PayPal system. This rule was extended to the categories of computing software, consumer electronics, MP3 players, wholesale & job lots-mobile and home phones, and business office and industrial-industrial supply/MRO.
Due to the fraud problems that were encountered, eBay also instituted a rule that new sellers who have less than 100 buyer ratings or feedback comments must use PayPal as the form of payment rather than a merchant account. PayPal helps keep track of the transactions of money, so things can be reversed if the seller does not deliver the item.
In addition, all sellers declared to be from the United Kingdom or Australia are required to offer PayPal as an acceptable form of payment. The rules that eBay has in place are intended to protect the buyers from fraud.
EBay also features several specialty sites, such as eBay Pulse. The Pulse site allows customers to review the most popular fashion trends, items, and search terms.
EBay also offers several different types of auctions. Each seller can choose the kind of auction that they would prefer to sell through.
The first kind of auction is one that lets the seller put an item up for a sale for a certain period of time. The seller then defines a reserve price.
The second kind of auction is called the fixed price format. The fixed price format allows the seller to post several items for sale at a set price that if the buyer accepts, allows them to automatically win the auction.
The third kind of auction is called fixed price format with best offer. Under this category, the seller generally accepts the best offer, but can decide whether or not to accept the prices offered by buyers.
The seller can also submit a counter offer to the potential buyer. This kind of auction is not available in every type of category of items.
There are several other requirements that the seller must meet as well. One of the key elements of eBay is the ability of buyers to post a feedback and rating on the sellers that they work with.
This allows the future buyers to be aware of sellers that are potential fraudsters and which sellers are most likely trustworthy and safe to buy from. The ratings are given in terms of stars.
Sellers with five stars are the most trustworthy while sellers with zero or one star are either fraudsters or brand new. As a buyer, you must be careful to review these ratings before you make a purchase in order to avoid falling to a fraudster and losing you money.
