Buying (and maybe selling) on:

Lenawee PC Users Group met Monday,  March 16th, in the Lenawee County Library meeting room,  starting at 6:00 P.M. and ending at 7:45 P.M.  There were 21 members present.

This month we had our local Ebay expert, Ray Lennard, present a program on buying on Ebay.  Ray is the curator of the Thompson Museum in Hudson, MI. and he can be contacted by email at that address.

Ray gave us a whole series of tips on how to buy on Ebay and also some information on selling.  He told us that the first thing we should do is to sign up, following the simple directions on the site.  He suggested that we sign in each time we visit Ebay.  He noted that with the world-wide slow economy, that it is a very slow time for Ebay, and difficult to make a sale.  However, as a buyer, there are bargains out there.

The preferred method of payment on Ebay is using a PayPal account which is easily opened.  Money can be transferred from your bank account, or you can leave some money in a PayPal money market account which pays a reasonably good interest rate.  PayPal will mediate problems that may arise between buyer and seller.  Before you make a purchase, be sure to check the seller's feedback record, how long the seller has been selling on Ebay, and know the product you are buying.  Look at the seller's other things that he has listed to see if he specializes in a given line of products, or if this is just an odd sale.  Also, be sure to visit the Past Auctions section to see what similar products have sold for.

It is a good idea to carefully read the terms of the sale and the shipping arrangements.  Some sellers offer items for a "low ball" price and then make up for it in shipping costs.  Learn how the proxy bidding works.  Basically, you put in your best bid, and the Ebay computer will bid for you at lower increments until your best bid price has been reached.  Ebay will notify you by email to let you know that your bid needs to be increased if you want to stay in the auction.  Most people bid at the beginning or end of the auction.  If you wait to the very end and try to put in a higher bid at the last second, this is called "Sniping".  There is a site, Auctionstealer.com that will handle sniping for you.

Sometimes an item has been classified with a misspelling, so that it does not show up on a normal search.  Obviously a bargain might be had, if you were the only person who found the item.  A site called Fatfingers.com will do this job for you, finding mistakes and typos in the listings, thereby causing them to be misclassified.  

Two final thoughts, buying is free on Ebay.  Ebay makes it's money by charging the seller.  You have to sell something for at least $4.50 to make a dollar on Ebay.  Ray's last bit of advice is the most important "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!".  Don't let emotion take the place of common sense. 

The LPCUG meets monthly on the third Monday at 6:00 P.M. in the Lenawee County Library meeting room and everyone from the computer novice to the expert is welcomed. The club website can be easily be found simply by Googling the “Lenawee PC”.  Anyone with an interest in learning more about computers is invited to attend the meetings.    We usually have a question and answer session and a main program.  Come join the fun!