Product Description

eBay is the world's largest marketplace, and a worldwide phenomenon! Since the first edition of "The eBay Book" in June 2004, both the number of people using eBay, and the number of amazing stories of their experiences, have continued to grow at an amazing rate. In the last year alone, over 1 million new users signed up to eBay.co.uk, and the total number of users hit the 10 million mark in February 2005. In fact, people in the UK spend more time on eBay than on any other website, making it the most popular brand name on the Internet. It has over 3 million items for sale in its auctions at any one time, and among these are every type of collectable and consumer goods imaginable. eBay provides a simple and amazingly effective way for anybody to auction items that they want to sell - whether they are antiques, books, computers, sports equipment, vinyl records, DVDs, clothing, jewellery, celebrity memorabilia or in fact almost anything - and allows potential buyers to browse and bid on this vast catalogue from the comfort of their own homes. In this fully revised and updated edition of "The eBay Book", David Belbin, a long time eBayer, explains how eBay.co.uk works, and how to get the most out of it, whether you are a buyer or a seller. He takes you through the key features of the site, step-by-step, advising on the tactics you can employ when bidding and selling, and explains how to minimise the fees you pay and just why your feedback rating is so important. He also explores the best ways to pay for goods and what to do if your transactions go wrong. This hugely readable book also contains a wealth of case studies, which draw on the knowledge and experience of a wide variety of eBayers, each with their own view of the eBay phenomenon. For newcomers, this is an indispensable guide, which will show you the tools of the trade and give you the confidence to join the vast eBay community. For those who already know the basics, it is a short-cut to the advanced features of eBay, with the author's tips and tricks always close to hand.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #35280 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 198 pages

From the Inside Flap
Beckham's BMW, Pope Benedict XVI's Volkswagen Golf, Robbie Williams' popcorn maker, Johnny Depp's gold teeth, Jeremy Vine's tie - if you've got something to sell, there's only one place to do it - eBay!

Celebrity memorabilia is only a small part of the eBay story. The 10 million people in the UK who regularly use the site buy and sell a huge variety of goods. They do it for fun, for the challenge and for the profit. Some do so well that it becomes their main source of income!

This book is an 'eBayer's manual'. Focusing specifically on eBay's UK site, it explains the 'tricks of the trade', the short cuts, safety tips, and how to get the end result you want.

Facts:

- 10 million people are registered with eBay.co.uk
- There are more than 3 million items for sale on the site at any one time
- The most expensive itm sold so far is a Gulfstream jet for £2.8 million
- 39% of active UK internet users visited eBay in March 2005

About the Author
David Belbin is the author of more than thirty novels for Young Adults, including Festival, The Last Virgin, Denial and The Beat series. His work has been translated into twenty languages. He has also scripted stories about social issues for UNICEF's mass circulation Children's Rights comics. David works part time as a tutor on the MA in Creative Writing at Nottingham Trent University, one of the UK's longest established postgraduate writing courses. An eBay user since 1999, David buys and sells in roughly equal proportions and has, at the time of writing, a 100 percent positive feedback record. An inveterate music collector, he spends much of his spare time going to gigs and movies. This is his first non-fiction book.

Customer Reviews

The best book on using eBay
This is by far the best book on eBay I've come across. I've been using eBay for some time and thought I knew everything, but this book is a mine of useful tips. The "Frauds, scams, deadbest bidders and vigilantes" chapter is especially good.

The book is not at all dry or academic. The author obviously has been using eBay for years and is not afraid to explain all the mistakes he's made in the past. Every mistake he made is examined in the book with an analysis of what he did wrong. I liked this approach, as it brought the whole thing alive.

I am recommending this book to all my friends.

A well-written and entertaining user's manual for UK eBayers
I bought this book because among all the eBay titles it's the only one which is written by a UK author and which uses home-grown case studies. He covers the basics of eBay exceptionally well, with plenty of real-life examples, and personally I found it a lot easier learning the tricks of the trade from a book than randomly jumping around eBay's help pages.

In terms of who the book is aimed at - I'd say it is useful either for beginners, or for those who so far have only used eBay occasionally as a hobby and who want to take it to the next level. What you realise, as you work through Belban's examples, is that there is more to successful buying and selling than just biddng and listing. If you understand better how eBay works, you will get more out of it, and that's what this book has done for me.

All in all, I was very satisfied that I'd got useful information and advice at a bargain price.

The most informative book I have seen in a long time
As an eBay seller I bought this book (from eBay, sorry Amazon!) for a silver surfer relative who wanted to understand how to use eBay. As a seller I have managed pretty well so far but I have to say I haven't been able to put the book down - and this is coming from some-one who doesn't normally read! The book is written in a clear, concise and logical way and I have already found out things I never knew. Yes, as another reviewer pointed out, a lot of the information can be found on the eBay help pages but why trawl around for ages to find the answer to a question that can be found in this book almost instantly.
I was extremely impressed at how up-to-date the information is, in particular that relating to PayPal surcharging which a great deal of sellers either don't, or choose not to, know!