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From
TNPC issue #3.20...
eBay Turns Five
by T.J. Lee
September 28, 2000
That's right, the eBay online auction powerhouse has been around
for five years as of this month. What started out as a
collector's site for Pez candy dispensers has grown into the
major online auction site on the Internet.
Lee Hudspeth and I are columnists for eBay Magazine, the print
publication of the online auction company put out by Krause
Publications. Lee and I have been writing for eBay Magazine on
technical and computer related topics since the first issue. When
the eBay folks mentioned that their five-year anniversary was
this September I planned an article on the event and asked
TNPCers to let me know about their online auction problems (TNPC
#3.18). I thought that a report on auction fraud would make
interesting reading.
I got plenty of response but to my surprise they were all about
the positive experiences people have had as both buyers and
sellers on eBay. The very few "problem" stories I did receive
were about issues on Ubid where you place bids on products
offered by businesses who are closing out inventory or selling
refurbished items and the like.
Not a single complaint about eBay.
That's not to say that there have not been problems with eBay or
any other online auction site. Bogus articles offered for sale,
usually falling into the hoax category (lost art treasures and
human body parts), have been in the news since online auctions
started. But it appears that fraud is at a minimum, at least on
eBay. The eBay folks say their fraud rate is only 1 in 40,000
transactions. This seems to be too good to be true but in light
of the positive comments I've received from TNPCers it looks
like eBay is doing a fair job of policing its auctions. Shills
(those who bid on auctions solely to drive up the price) are
suspended and eBay generally tries to settle any disputes
between buyers and sellers.
Keep in mind that auction fraud is different than having an
auction snipped out from under you by a last-second bid. While
that's annoying it's fair practice under eBay's current rules.
If you've never spent any time on the eBay site it's worth a
look. The depth and breath of items available is tremendous.
Where else could you go to find items like... fake million dollar
bills, genuine reproduction Spud guns made from the finest
plastic, a rattlesnake ashtray (made from a real rattlesnake;
although that may be just the thing to help you stop smoking).
High ticket items like houses, tracts of land, or an articulated
25 ton dump truck can be found at electronic auction as well as
everything in between.
The ins and outs of eBay are fairly simple. To buy or sell on
eBay you have to first register on the eBay site. To register you
have to be at least 18 years old. You tell eBay the country you
live in as different countries have differing requirements. For
the United States, eBay asks for your valid email address, full
name, address, and phone number. There are some optional
questions about your age, interests, and such but they're
entirely optional. Lastly, you have to acknowledge that you've
read the eBay User Agreement and agree that you'll not do bad and
fraudulent things when using the eBay service.
The hardest thing about registering with eBay is finding the link
on their main page that takes you to the register page. When you
get to the main page scroll all the way down to the bottom and
click the small text link that says "Register" to start the
process. Here's a direct link to eBay's register page.
http://www.thenakedpc.com/t/320/tr.cgi?ebay
Once registered you can post items for sale or make bids on items
offered for auction. The eBay help offers a number of FAQs that
answer questions about how auctions work, how to place bids, what
to do if you win an auction, everything you could want to know.
What's more, since we're affiliated with eBay, for every TNPCer
who registers as a potential bidder or seller (remember, there
is *no* obligation to be either), eBay will slip a few extra
samolians into our pay envelope. You can enjoy eBay and help out
TNPC at the same time.
Happy Birthday eBay! Here's to another five years!
You can reach T.J. Lee at:
mailto:tj_lee@TheNakedPC.com
Copyright © 2000, PRIME Consulting Group, Inc. and Dan Butler.
All Rights Reserved.
The Naked PC is a trademark of PRIME Consulting Group, Inc.
ISSN: 1522-4422
You may reprint an article from TNPC as long as you show the
entire article and include the authors byline, excerpt and
subscription information as shown:
eBay Turns Five
by T.J. Lee
(This article originally appeared in The Naked PC
newsletter #3.20, subscribe at http://www.TheNakedPC.com)
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