EBay: The Missing Manual

eBay: The Missing Manual

Introduction
   - A Little eBay History
   - About This Book
   - The Very Basics

Part I: Buying on eBay

Chapter 1. Ready, Set, Shop!
  Section 1.1. Get Registered and Get Going
  Section 1.2. How to Find What You're Looking For
  Section 1.3. Deciphering Auction Pages
  Section 1.4. Auction Types
  Section 1.5. My eBayYour Shopping HQ

Chapter 2. Bidding, Paying, and Following Up
  Section 2.1. Is This Seller Trustworthy? How to Read Feedback
  Section 2.2. Bidding on eBay
  Section 2.3. After the Auction
  Section 2.4. Buyers' Woes and What to Do About Them

Chapter 3. Findingand GettingBargains
  Section 3.1. Tips and Tricks for Serious Searchers
  Section 3.2. What's It Worth?
  Section 3.3. Bid to Win
  Section 3.4. More Ways to Get a Good Deal

Chapter 4. Power Buying Strategies
  Section 4.1. Tools for Power Buyers
  Section 4.2. Hey, Big Spender
  Section 4.3. Avoid Scams

Part II: Selling on eBay

Chapter 5. Sell Stuff, Make Money
  Section 5.1. Get the Lay of the Land
  Section 5.2. What Should You Sell?
  Section 5.3. How Much Is It Going to Cost You?
  Section 5.4. Listing an item
  Section 5.5. During the Auction
  Section 5.6. After the Auction
  Section 5.7. Common Problems

Chapter 6. Honing Your Competitive Edge
  Section 6.1. It's All About You
  Section 6.2. Build a Better Auction
  Section 6.3. Auction Tips and Tricks
  Section 6.4. Big-Time Marketing Strategies
  Section 6.5. Just Say No
  Section 6.6. Protecting Your Auctions
  Section 6.7. Scams to Watch Out For

Chapter 7. Going from Hobby to Business
  Section 7.1. What Should I Sell?
  Section 7.2. Doing the Paperwork
  Section 7.3. Setting Up Shop with an eBay Store
  Section 7.4. Selling Internationally
  Section 7.5. Sell for Others
  Section 7.6. Become a PowerSeller

Chapter 8. Specialty Selling
  Section 8.1. Half.com: Mass Media Mania
  Section 8.2. Selling on eBay Motors
  Section 8.3. Selling Real Estate Online
  Section 8.4. Live Auctions
  Section 8.5. eBay Giving Works
  Section 8.6. eBay B2B
  Section 8.7. Sell Your Services on Elance

Chapter 9. Cool Tools for Sellers
  Section 9.1. eBay Tools
  Section 9.2. Third-Party Software

Part III: Finding Other eBayers and Getting Help

Chapter 10. Connecting with Other eBayers
  Section 10.1. Connect with the Community
  Section 10.2. eBay Affiliates
  Section 10.3. Other Places to Talk About eBay
  Section 10.4. eBay Live!

Chapter 11. Finding Help
  Section 11.1. Learning Center
  Section 11.2. Help Page
  Section 11.3. Help via Email
  Section 11.4. Live Help
  Section 11.5. Site Map
  Section 11.6. eBay Services
  Section 11.7. Help from Other eBayers

Part IV: Appendixes

Chapter A. Where to Learn More
  Section A.1. eBay Updates
  Section A.2. Start Spreading the News(letters)
  Section A.3. eBay on the Air
  Section A.4. The Unofficial Scoop
  Section A.5. Further Education

Chapter B. HTML for eBayers
  Section B.1. Getting Started
  Section B.2. Adding Colors and Backgrounds
  Section B.3. Adding Pictures
  Section B.4. Adding Links
  Section B.5. Creating Lists and Tables

Chapter C. Other Auction Sites
  Section C.1. Amazon Auctions and Marketplace
  Section C.2. AuctionAddict.com
  Section C.3. Bid4Assets
  Section C.4. Bidera
  Section C.5. BidMonkey
  Section C.6. Bidville
  Section C.7. Bidz
  Section C.8. Blujay
  Section C.9. iOffer
  Section C.10. Overstock Auctions
  Section C.11. The Auction Man
  Section C.12. uBid
  Section C.13. Yahoo! Auctions

About This Book If you'd like to get started with eBay but you don't know an FVF (Section 5.3) from a UPI (Section 5.7.2.1), this book will help you get to the site, get registered, and get going. Soon you'll be using eBay like an old pro. If, on the other hand, you've been trading Pez dispensers since eBay was Auction Works, this book can help you ramp up your eBay experiencefind more bargains, build better auctions, and close more sales. It's loaded with advice and info like this:

• Most new eBayers assume that a 90 percent positive-feedback rating is a good thing, but those with experience on the site rarely trade with someone whose positive-feedback score ranks below 98 percent (Section 2.1.1).
• You can find bargains using sellers' spelling mistakes (Section 3.1.8), even if your own spelling is lousy.
• Despite its philosophy that people are basically good, eBay's popularity has made it prime hunting ground for scammers. Don't be a victimrecognize and avoid common scams directed at buyers (Section 4.3) and at sellers (Section 6.6.3).
• More than half of eBay auctions finish with just one bid or no bids at all. Get your listings noticed with the marketing strategies in Chapter 7.
• Tools for buyers (Section 4.1) and sellers (Chapter 9) can save you tons of time by automating searching, bidding, listing, market analysis, email, and feedback.
• Despite many requests, eBay has been reluctant to allow a feedback search that returns only the negative and neutral comments. But just because you can't do it on eBay doesn't mean you can't do it. There are a couple of ways to check out another eBayer's dirty laundry (Section 4.1.3).
• Some of eBay's most explosive growth has been in its specialty auctions. Chapter 8 tells you how to get in on the action.