I was a rather late convert to eBay whose early aficionados always struck me as rather nerdish.
Although the original concept was along the lines of a high-tech car boot sale, eBay now has a lot of serious full-time traders offering high-quality goods at very competitive prices.
Unlike a traditional auction, the standard eBay listing lasts for a fixed period (1,3,5,7 or 10 days) and the item is won by the highest bidder at the close—The seller can also offer a buy-it-now price which, if accepted, will terminate the auction early.
There are various additional selling options beyond the scope of this article.
Because reputation is everything on eBay and their system of feedback gives a direct indication of customer satisfaction, I generally find that speed of delivery and after-sales service beats that of most big-name retailers.
After every transaction, both buyer and seller have the opportunity to provide feedback (positive, negative or neutral) which contributes to a ‘feedback score’ (positives minus negatives).
This figure, the percentage of positives and recent comments are available for public view and can be used to assess the ‘quality’ of any eBay member.
For entrepreneurial types, it is quite easy to launch a business on eBay which provides access to a market of 100 million members at minimal cost.
There are, of course, various security ‘hoops’ to be gone though—for example, 1-day listings and buy-it-now prices require a minimum feedback score.
To offer valuable Paypal buyer protection requires a minimum feedback score of 50, at least 98% positive—sounds quite impressive but experience makes me inclined to look at the detailed feedback comments if the rating dropped below 99%.
Paypal, by the way, is now owned by eBay and is the favoured method of paying for eBay purchases.
The new seller can, of course, build-up positive feedback through buying though the source of the feedback is quite clear in the public listing—note that multiple transactions with a single eBay member only count once.
Comments