What is an ebay auction. How does an eBay auction work?

We continue our series of FAQs dedicated to the largest and most popular eBay auction in the world. Today we will give answers to common questions that most often arise from novice eBay users. How to get started on eBay? How to register? How to leave a review? What to pay attention to? All these questions are asked daily by thousands of users on various websites, blogs, specialized forums. Sometimes they receive prompt and clear answers, but often the question remains without proper attention.

We analyzed the situation, collected the most popular and interesting questions, made a detailed selection, and gave clear answers. We are sure that this FAQ will help you understand the basic aspects of working with eBay. And if there are still some questions, then you can always ask them in the comments under this article.

What's happenedeBay? How can it be useful to me?

We are sure that many of you have heard about the eBay auction, someone even read some articles and watched videos. Of course, it's worldwide famous company, which has billions of turnovers. In essence, eBay is a large online auction that combines the functions trading platform. Anyone can buy here any goods without leaving their homes. You can also work on eBay as a seller, putting up for auction anything you want.

The eBay auction has existed since 1996, and currently has several dozen branches around the world, serving millions of buyers daily.

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How the auction workseBay?

The principle of operation of eBay is not intricate and as clear as possible. All users are divided into two types: sellers and buyers. One account allows you to both buy goods and sell. No separate registration is required.

There are also two types of sales - auction (bidding), and fixed sales. If we are talking about an auction, then the seller puts up his goods, indicating the starting price, and the buyer already offers his amount, which he is ready to pay. Bidding goes on until the time of the auction ends, or someone offers a “blitz” price.

When it comes to sales fixed price, then the seller puts a specific amount for the goods, and the buyer either agrees with it or not. Next comes the payment for the goods, and delivery. As a rule, payment is made through the PayPal payment system. Many sellers offer free shipping via their country's domestic mail. You can pay for shipping, then the package will be delivered faster.

Can I buy oneBayif I live in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, the Baltics, or other CIS countries?

Many people think that if they live in the CIS countries, then shopping in foreign online stores is not available to them. This is an erroneous opinion that is formed due to insufficient knowledge and understanding of the shopping process. The modern world no longer has borders, and if you live in the outback of Russia, but have access to the Internet, keep a working payment card in your hands, then shopping on eBay will not be a problem. Any goods, from any category, will be delivered to you.

The only limitation is the possibility of delivery. Some sellers provide a list of countries they do not ship to. BUT, in this case, there is a way out - you can place an order through intermediary companies who receive the goods at their warehouse, and then send them to you.

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I do not speak English. How do I buy oneBay?

Just a few months ago, the answer to this question would have fit in one line - "go to ebay.ru" The company went to meet hundreds of thousands of buyers from Russia, and made the interface in a language we understand. But quite recently, for reasons unknown to us, eBay.ru stopped working, and before you try to enter the site, you will be redirected to the main site of the branch in the United States.

So the whole interface will be on English language. Description of goods and correspondence with sellers will also be conducted in English. What to do if you skipped English lessons at school, and do not understand anything at all. There are several options:

• enjoy online translators. They will help at a basic level to understand what and how, deal with the description of the site, write to the seller what you want.
• You can use google translator. It will automatically translate the entire site, and all the pages you visit. Thus, you do not need to constantly copy and paste text fragments from the description of the product you are interested in.
• Contact intermediary firms, indicating the lot of the goods you want to buy. These companies will make a translation for you, place an order, and correspond with the seller. You just have to pay for their services and wait for the goods to arrive.

What are the commissions foreBayand what do I have to pay for?

It is clear that eBay is not charitable foundation, and to maintain the work of such a giant requires a lot of money. Therefore, certain commission fees are set for users, which they are required to pay.

It is worth noting that registration and membership on eBay are absolutely free. If someone requires you to transfer money for registration, or for changing your password or similar actions, then you should know that these are scammers who are not related to the eBay administration.

If you work on eBay as a buyer, then all auction services are free for you. You must pay for the purchased item and shipping (if specified in the terms of purchase).

If you decide to sell the product, you will have to pay a certain percentage. In an auction, funds are collected from the Sellers (the so-called Seller Fees) for putting the lot up for auction (Insertion Fee), and even in the case of successful sale(Final Value Fee). You can find more details about the gradation of "duties" on the official website of eBay. In this article, we will not indicate specific figures, so as not to mislead you, because at the time of reading the situation at the auction may change.

How do I register foreBay?

The registration process is quite simple and intuitive. The system will ask you to enter your username, password, specify email and personal data. You can also immediately enter the details of the payment card, and if you are not ready to do this at the time of registration, you can always postpone this procedure until later. But without details and card confirmation, you will not be able to bid and buy goods.

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How to enter the correct delivery address?

Many users are faced with the problem of correctly specifying the address. And this question is very serious, because if you make mistakes, you may not receive your product, or it will come to another happy owner.

Remember that during the registration process, it is advisable to indicate all data in English, or using Cyrillic. Why is that? The vast majority of sellers on eBay are from the US and Europe. They do not understand Cyrillic, and there may be a problem with writing the address. In order not to take risks, and to protect yourself from possible embarrassment, indicate all addresses using the Latin alphabet.

Which card should I use to make purchases oneBay?

There is no fundamental difference here. The main thing is that your bank does not set limits for paying for goods on the Internet through this card, and also that there are funds on it.

It is advisable to have a card in a currency (dollars, euros), and make purchases from it. This will allow you not to lose extra money on conversion, and save the purchase as much as possible.

eBaydoes not want to accept my card. What to do?

Often, newbies are faced with the fact that eBay does not want to accept their payment card. Or the card is accepted, but payments through it are not made. This is very inconvenient, especially if there are a few minutes left before the end of the auction and you cannot place a bid. Here you need to quickly figure out what the problem is, and there may be several of them:

• The card may not be activated. Often, when paying for goods on the Internet, people get a separate card. This allows you to control costs, and bring certain conveniences. But all new cards must be activated. To do this, you need to make some kind of operation (sometimes checking the balance at an ATM is enough). Large and serious banks activate cards when issuing them so that their customers do not face such troubles.
• Check that the information about the card is filled in correctly - number, date of validity, CCV2 code.
• Each bank has so-called stop lists. These are accounts, companies, individuals who were suspected of fraudulent transactions. You can't do any transactions with them. Perhaps the seller to whom you want to send money is in such a stop list.
• A banal, but very common problem is that there are not enough media on the account. If the currency of your card differs from the currency of payment, then check the conversion rate. Perhaps he has grown, and now you lack some tens of rubles.
• If you unsuccessfully try to authorize a card, or make a payment on the Internet, and you no longer know what the problem is, call the bank. Operators will tell you what to look for and why transactions are blocked.
• Ask bank managers to turn off the CVV2 code request for your card (if possible).
• Check online billing limits. Many banks, in order to protect their customers from possible fraudsters, stop zero limits on paying for goods through the network. You can change these limits in Internet banking, or in a bank branch, by setting the right amount, or without limiting the possibility of payment at all.

What is My eBay?

This is your "members area" - a personal area on the eBay auction. You can get into it by registering at the auction and then logging in. In the "My eBay" area, you can: enter and change personal information, configure various settings, view your purchase and sales history, keep track of the items you have bid on, etc.

Can I see information about the user who bid on the lot I'm interested in?

Unfortunately no. This type of information is limited on eBay, and only the seller who put the item up for auction sees the full details of everyone who has bid. The data of potential competitors is not available to buyers.

There are numbers next to the eBay ID (identifier) ​​of the bidder, what do they mean?

This is an extremely important parameter - the rating of the participant. It is equal to the number of positive - negative feedback. Immediately, upon completion of registration, your rating zero. After making a purchase or sale, your opponent leaves you feedback (feedback) - positive, neutral or negative. Accordingly, one negative review reduces your rating by one, a positive one increases it, and a neutral one leaves it unchanged. You will get a positive rating if the partner is satisfied with you, i.e. if you paid for the purchase on time or sent the sold goods on time, having previously packed it with high quality. Rating - this is the most important parameter in the eBay auction - based on it, your potential partners will decide whether to do business with you. Therefore, many people advise, having registered an account, to make a couple of small purchases (glasses, perfumes, CDs, DVDs, accessories for cell phones), to create, albeit not a big, but a positive image.

I bought (sold) a product. When can I leave a review, and do I need to leave a review?

All bidders on eBay have the opportunity to leave feedback on cooperation with each other. If you are a buyer, then, as a rule, you should leave feedback after the transaction. Indicate what you liked, what you didn’t like, rate it, give advice and wishes to future buyers. There are two rating systems: simple - where you write a review and put a positive, negative or neutral rating, and complex - where you evaluate several cooperation criteria on a 5-point scale.

The seller is more limited in terms of estimates to the buyer. He can leave either positive feedback or none at all.

To write or not to write a comment, while leaving a rating is yours personal decision. There is no such mandatory rule.

I received negative feedback - what should I do?

Negative reviews on eBay have a very significant impact on the rating and influx of potential customers. Many experienced sellers try to work in such a way that even the most picky customer leaves them either a neutral review or nothing at all. The last thing you want to get negative, especially if you are a novice seller. But no one is immune from biased assessments. The only thing you can do is leave your comment under the review, explaining why this situation occurred. There are several other options, but they are not in the scope of this article.

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What is Unpaid Item Strike?

Both buyers and sellers are protected on eBay. The buyer can always file a complaint against the scammer, and, having proved his case, return the money paid. The seller is also not left without protection options. If a person has won a lot, but at the same time refuses to pay the bill, then you can open a dispute “For unpaid goods”. The rules of the auction state that if you win a lot, you must buy it, otherwise sanctions from the eBay administration will follow.

If the issue of payment remains open, then the buyer receives a warning - “Unpaid Item Strike”, which is to some extent similar to a negative review. If there are several such warnings, then the account is blocked.

How many warnings (negative reviews) should there be before an account is blocked?

No one will tell you exactly the numbers, because the algorithm of the eBay system is not known. But experienced users have noticed that if you get 3-4 negative reviews of your activities in a short time, whether you are a seller or a buyer, then your account will be blocked.

I accidentally deleted an item from My eBay. Is it possible to cancel this operation?

Under the "Buy" (Purchase) and "Sell" (Sales) sections in My eBay there is a "Deleted" folder, where all the lots you delete fall. Just select the desired lot and click "Undelete" (Restore). If you have removed an item from your Watchlist, you cannot restore it, but you can find the item again using an eBay search.

I am not receiving notifications fromeBay.Emails are not coming. How to fix?

There may be several options for solving the problem. First you need to figure out what prevents eBay from sending you an email. Perhaps the letters reach you, but are placed in the spam folder, which you clean without reading, or the system regularly cleans it itself.

There is also a possibility that you simply did not set up automatic alerts on eBay. Then you need to go to your settings. personal page and provide the relevant information.

And the last option - your email hosting blocks emails from eBay, considering them unreliable, and such that they carry only spam information. Contact the administration of the postal service and ask to remove this restriction.

Asked 14 questions to buyers, but 15 I can't. What is the problem?

This is a banal anti-spam system. If you are new, then eBay will limit your ability to ask questions. You can write no more than 14 per day. Over time, when the level of your reliability increases, this restriction will disappear.

I have multiple accountseBay. Will they not be blocked?

The auction administration allows the option of owning multiple accounts. But there are certain restrictions, beyond which you will get a ban. If you have two or more accounts, then in no case should you:

• Leave positive feedback and ratings for yourself
• Use accounts to write negative reviews to other users.
• Use Accounts for Fraud or Fraud

If you have a main account and do not use the rest, you can apply to delete them. You can also merge all accounts into one, while comments and entries will merge.

Who are the intermediarieseBay? Is it worth it to use their services?

Intermediaries are companies that act as a link between you and the sellers at the auction. Very often, their services are quite profitable, and sometimes even irreplaceable. You can contact intermediaries in such cases:

• There is no possibility of delivery of goods directly from the seller to your country. Then the intermediary orders the goods to their warehouse, and sends them to you from there.
• There is no way to pay for the goods in the way the seller needs. In this case, you send money to intermediaries, and they already transfer it to the seller.
• There is no desire to deal with orders, to correspond, to enter into disputes. Intermediaries will do everything for you. You only need to indicate the number of the lot you are interested in, and replenish the company's account. Then enjoy life and wait for your order.

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How to protect yourself from scammerseBay?

This is one of the very first and main questions that novice eBay users ask themselves. It is clear that sending money to another country, to an unknown person, and receiving the goods only after a few weeks is a little dangerous. Therefore, the feeling of fear in such cases is quite justified. But if you know certain rules, then you can send large amounts with peace of mind and calmly fall asleep every night, without fear that the goods will never arrive.

How to do it? Earlier, we have already devoted an entire article to choosing a seller on eBay, where we revealed all the secrets and aspects of this not an easy matter. For more information, read How to Choose an eBay Seller: Tips and Tricks.

Why do we need sniper programs oneBay?

Microsoft partner... Has tremendous traffic. Here you can buy or sell anything you want. Registration is completely free (including for Russian-speaking users). And simply eBay is the world's largest giant flea market with a traffic of several million people a day. global.ebay.com/ - International shopping center eBay for the Russian Federation.

Bidding principle

Sales

Anyone who wants to sell something goes through the registration procedure and becomes a Seller (for more details, see Rules). Users who only buy go through an easier registration.
The seller can put up for auction an unlimited number of lots, each lot usually contains one unit of goods, less often - several identical items that fit the same description. The lot looks like a separate web page, has its own number ( item#) and consists of the name of the lot, description of the item being sold and its image. This web page is entirely provided by the Seller. The name of the lot contains a short (no more than 145 characters) description of the product, a more complete description (it is allowed to use HTML language) is below and completes the page of the image of the item being sold.
The auction allows the Seller to upload only one image for free, which is enough. The lot can be put up for 3,5,7 and 10 days. All this time, buyers have round-the-clock access to the lot and can place their bids (bids).

Purchases

The auction has a very powerful search engine (search), which allows buyers to find a particular product by the name of the lot (the match of the words specified for the search with the words in the names of the lots is used). Also, all lots are divided into categories and subcategories (for example, you will find the "Change" camera in the category Photo, Electronics -> Photo accessories -> Cameras -> 35mm), which is also convenient, since buyers do not always know in advance what specific product they need. Getting into the right category, they choose the best for themselves from similar products. At the end of the lot period, the auction sends emails to the seller and the buyer who has indicated the highest price with notification of the end of the auction for each lot. Each user of the auction has his own status page (My eBay), where he can also see all the information about the bids made and/or open and closed lots. An auction user can be a seller of some lots and a buyer of others at the same time. Further, after the end of the auction, the Seller contacts the buyer of each lot via email (you can find a sample here), informing the details of the transaction, namely, to whom and how the buyer must pay for the lot. It is usually offered to pay by credit card, personal bank check or money order. As a rule, the seller sends the goods by mail only after receiving payment.

Rates

The site engine raises the bids for the installed nag depending on the value of the lot.
For example: the step is $1, someone placed $10 per lot, you bet $20 - in this case, the price of the lot will be $11. If a little later another bidder makes a $15 bid, you will still be in the lead and the lot price will rise to $16. If someone gives 30 dollars, then the cost of the lot will be 21 dollars, and the one who gave 30 dollars will already be in the lead. The auction will send you an email stating that someone outbid your bid. Some lots have the option Buy It Now- this means that the lot will be closed ahead of schedule if any of the buyers agrees to pay the amount specified in this option for the lot. In the description of each lot there is a date and time of the end of the auction. We recommend that you make bids 5-10 minutes before the closing of the lot, in order not to draw too much attention to the lot and not create unnecessary excitement for you.
Sometimes there is a note next to the current price per lot reserve not yet met- this means that the value of the lot has not reached the amount for which the seller is ready to sell the exhibited goods.

End of sales

At the end of the auction for each lot that you won, eBay (tm) sends you an email with the lot number ( item number), seller login ( User ID), the email address of the seller and the price for which the product was sold. As a rule, the seller also sends you an email with the cost of the lot, the price for shipping (usually the price for shipping within America is indicated) and a list of payment methods.

Reliability

The auction has a rating system. After a successfully completed transaction, the seller and the buyer leave each other positive feedback (feedback). Accordingly, if the transaction is not successful, it will immediately be reflected in the rating.
The number of positive (or negative) reviews is indicated in brackets next to the username. Usually, before placing a bid, the buyer carefully examines the rating of the seller. Those sellers who have more than 98% positive feedback are awarded the title of "Honorary Seller". And of course, study and do everything yourself without intermediaries. For example, we have a westernbid intermediary who takes care of all the hassle for a small percentage. But they have already thrown so many. In most cases, it's just sluggishness. An auction is a place where you constantly make a decision to upvote or give away an item. The intermediary does not care, not his own money. Successful purchases fell through due to sluggishness.

Here I would like to elaborate on Auction(auction) and its difference from Buy now(buy it now).
Both options have their pros and cons.
Auction- you can get more favorable price, but you will have to wait until the end of the auction and monitor the rates (or a special program will do this for you).
Buy now- a fixed price at which the seller is ready to sell the goods - in this case, you do not need to wait for anything, just put it in the basket and paid, but most likely more expensive than you could win at the auction.

* If you have not yet registered on eBay.com, you can do so by clicking on:

So about the auction - you can sort - which items are auctioned and which are fixed price.

IMPORTANT :
* You are required to pay for each item you win in the auction.
Therefore, do not bid or bid if you are not sure you want to buy this item.
For refusal to pay for the won goods, the buyer may receive a warning Unpaid Item Strike, several of these warnings lead to account blocking.

Reasons why you might cancel a bid/not make a purchase :
1) The bet amount was entered incorrectly due to a typo.
For example, you entered $100 instead of $10. In this case, you must immediately place a bet on the correct amount.
2) Item description has changed since last bid. For example, the seller updated information about the features or condition of the item after the bids were placed.
3) Unable to contact the seller by phone or email.
Auction cancellation link http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?RetractBidShow

* You cannot bid or bid on the items you sell - either on your own or through nominees.

From the moment the first bet was made ( Bid) it is forbidden to change the description of the goods and the conditions of sale.
Since the beginning of 2010, eBay has banned changes to packaging/shipping costs after the end of the auction.

Be sure to check how much it costs to ship the item to you before you bid.
In some cases, shipping may be more expensive than the item itself. If not specified Free Shipping(free shipping), then the description indicates Handling(package cost) and Shipping(cost of delivery).

The auction can last from 1 to 10 days.
Place Bid- place a bet.
time left is the time left until the end of the auction.

Trades are conducted on the basis of the so-called "minimum steps" ( Bid increments).
This is the minimum amount you can bet to outbid your competitor.

When you place a bet Place Bid), the system will prompt you to specify maximum bid, in which case the system continues to trade for you if you are currently unable to do so yourself.
Your maximum bid is the maximum price you are willing to pay for a product.

This means that if someone overrides the one you set Bid, then the system will raise the bid by one "step" for you each time, until it reaches the maximum price that you are willing to pay for the item, i.e. - maximum bid or until the end of the auction, and the maximum price indicated by another bidder is lower than yours.
In this case, you will buy an item at a price lower than indicated in maximum bid.

If your competitor's bid is higher than your maximum bid, you will receive an email notification that your maximum bid has been outbid and decide for yourself whether to continue trading or not.

The rest of the bidders do not see your maximum bid or your nickname.

The seller installs Starting Bid(initial price of the item).
But in addition to the initial price, the seller can set Reserve Price(reserve price or hidden minimum price), that is, the price below which bids will not be accepted.
This price is not seen by bidders, they only see if this price has been reached. If not, it will be written - Reserve price not meet yet.
Sometimes a minimum price is put on a product to attract buyers, but this does not always mean that you will be able to buy for such low price because it can be installed Reserve Price.

If the title says "NR" ( No reserve), which means that there is no reserve price set for this product.

If you have already participated in the auction for a specific item, then at the end of the auction you have the opportunity to make 1-click bid- raise the bet by one "step" with a single click.

Clicking on 1-click bid you get a window (see left), where the amount has already been set.
In this case, an additional window does not appear asking you to confirm the set price, so this option is convenient a couple of minutes before the end of the auction ( in the example on the left, it's almost 13 minutes, but that's too long for 1-click bid ).

It is best to bid towards the end of the auction.
Add your favorite item to watch list, when there is a little left before the end of the auction, you will receive an email notification about this.


During the auction, you will receive notifications by email.

If the title says:
ENDING Product Name- a warning that the auction for this item ends soon.
Outbid notice: Bid again on Product Name- a warning that someone outbid your bid and an offer to make a new one.
Enjoy your Product Name- it means you won the auction, the letter will say Congratulations, it's all yours!(Congratulations, it's all yours now!) and an offer to pay for the goods by clicking on the button pay now.
GOT AWAY Product Name- means you lost the auction. The email will list the item, your maximum bid, and the price the item was sold for.

Sniper programs :
If you participate in auctions a lot and often, then maybe you should use a sniper program ( auction sniper).
The program in the last seconds of trading can beat the competitor's bid, while it makes the lowest possible bids, within the maximum set by you. You only indicate to the program the item (lot) number and the maximum price that you are willing to pay for this item.

If figuratively - the sniper quietly sits in the bushes until the last seconds of the auction, does not create a stir and does not wind up the price. He just "shoots", that is, makes a bid a few seconds before the end of the auction. The price at which you will get the lot will be equal to the maximum bid of the competitor plus the "step".

Such programs are usually paid, use free "snipers" should be careful, because you give your eBay login password.
Although well-known "snipers" have free versions, such versions have limitations, for example, no more than one bet per day, etc.

If you are just starting to play on the auction, then make your first bid manually, as eBay may request additional data about you for verification. The sniper will not be able to do this and then the bet will not be accepted.

I have no personal experience with such services.

Most big internet auction in the world. Here you can place bets without leaving your home. In this article, we will explore all the features of eBay and give tips for making purchases.

How to shop on eBay?

1. registration
A fundamental operation that opens access to the purchase of goods and auction lots. To fully register an account, it is enough to fill in a few fields and accept the user agreement. The entered data, of course, should be remembered and used when entering the site. A registered profile is equivalent in all eBay affiliates, without restrictions.

Important: in the settings located in "My eBay", you must specify the address of residence and delivery in advance!

2. Product search
It is impossible to overlook the field for entering queries of interest - you can find any products, categories and lots through the search, the main thing is to remember the name or formulate the information correctly. It is useful to use the sorting of drop-down results: price, date added, popularity, choose the most useful.

3. Seller rating
If the product you are looking for is found, inspected and selected as a suitable product for purchase, then two important steps must be taken. The first is to study the delivery method, limits, commissions and fees included in the price. Sometimes the product is much cheaper than shipping! The second is to check the integrity of the seller: comments, reviews and guarantees.

4. Buying a product
In addition to direct sales on eBay, there is an auction system where the lot is raffled off and transferred to the buyer. In any case, the purchase must be paid for and delivered. You can use three ways - direct purchase with a postal address. If for some reason the seller has limited the list of countries that can receive the goods, then a direct purchase will help, but using the postal address of the company renting the warehouse space for separate cost in the seller's country. In the future, the goods are picked up by a separate postal organization. The third option is the help of an intermediary: an agreement with a specialist will simplify the purchase, payment and delivery of goods, but the price for such services is sometimes prohibitive.

5. Payment and delivery
The eBay marketplace accepts PayPal and Skrill, credit and debit cards, some bank transfers, commercial checks, and cash on delivery. Yes, registering a PayPal account is useful - increased security financial transactions and impeccable reliability: guaranteed. As a rule, delivery to Russia, Ukraine and Belarus takes several weeks, it all depends on the seller and the selected postal service. If the goods are incredibly valuable, you can use property insurance - the operation is carried out directly on the site and is paid separately.

6. Receiving a parcel
With the notification in the mailbox, immediately go to the delivery address - enter the information and receive the purchased goods! IN post office checking the package is useful, but not necessary, if the dispute on eBay has been closed for a long time, then it will not work to shake the rights anyway.

Types of eBay sales

Registration on the site is completed, initial knowledge is mastered, and the desire to purchase several products for testing has only increased? Here new information Reflection – Types of Selling on eBay:

1. Buy now(Fixed Price) – immediate purchase category. It is enough to select and add the goods to the basket, and then you can pay and receive.

2. Auction(Auction) - the goods are played for a certain time between the buyer. The most generous participant wins. Important: you will have to pay for the purchase won at the auction in any case. Cancellation is not possible.

3. Buy it Now + Auction- sellers often combine two categories: you can save money by waiting for the results of the auction, you can get the goods immediately, but, as a rule, more expensive.

4. Auction + Reserve Price- The reserved price feature helps sellers set a minimum bar for the cost of goods. If for some reason the amount is below the specified threshold, then the transaction will not be completed.

5. Best Offer(Best Offer) – Trade dispute lovers will be delighted to be able to personally bid on certain items. The seller is not obliged to agree, but the opportunity is useful!

How an eBay auction works

The eBay marketplace adheres to the public sale of goods innovation system automatic rates - a special mechanism that simplifies trading several times. The operation of the system is easier to consider in a specific situation:

1. A lot has been put up, the initial price is $10. Each bidder evaluates the item and sets a suitable price up to which they wish to bid. All bids are hidden from both competitors and the seller, only the actual price of the lot is shown.

2. The main struggle unfolded between buyers "A" and "B". "A" is ready to buy a lot for $15, from which the initial price of the lot has changed to $10.50 (initial price + auction step equal to 0.50).

3. But the offer of buyer "B" is higher - the bidder is ready to buy a lot for $20. The price changed again and became equal to $15.50 (buyer A's offer + auction step depending on the current price of the lot).

4. From now on, buyer "B" is the main contender to win the auction, while he will pay not the 20 offered dollars, but only $ 15.50 due to the convenient pricing system on eBay. Of course, the bid of buyer "B", while the auction is going on, can be outbid by other participants, including buyer "A", who received an e-mail notification of a change in leader. If new buyers bid $25, the lot price will change again to $20.50 (buyer B's bid + auction step). And so on until the end of the auction. It is important to remember about the auction step, which changes depending on the current price of the lot.

The system helps save time by placing a bid only a few times during the entire time of the auction.

Winning auctions are obligatory paid by the buyer - placing a bid, forgetting and refusing without consequences will not work. The system will punish with a warning and ruin the reputation of the created account. If there are three warnings, then eBay will close the account and bury the opportunity to bid. To receive a new account, you will have to change your first and last name, residential address, card and PayPal. However, you can bury your account with one warning - sellers also look into the profile of buyers with potential deceivers financial activity do not lead.

How to win trades

First of all, evaluate the product - look at the offers of competitors on the Internet or on eBay, find out the cost of shipping and commission fees and form a maximum bid and subtract half. This is enough to test the determination of other applicants - the cost of the goods will change several times, and calm down.

A few minutes before the end of the auction, you should enter into the last fierce battle for the exposed lot - it is ideal to put money in the last 60 seconds: the chances increase several times. But be careful: a poor-quality Internet connection and an unverified payment system can enter at the wrong moment and spoil the moment of the bet!

Time can also interfere with the victory at the auction - auctions, as a rule, take place during the day in the USA, when it is already dead of night in Russia and neighboring countries. How to defeat opponents? With the help of snipers for auctions! Such programs place a custom bid literally five seconds before the end of the auction. But here it is important to calculate the cost and plan everything, the program will do the rest automatically.

Rapidcatch will help you win - a sniper in Russian!

Shopping - what's the deal?

Buying cars at an auction is unprofitable - the reason for this is exorbitant customs payments, difficult delivery. As a rule, sellers are not involved in sending a car - you will also have to hire an intermediary, and these are additional costs. And finally, it is not safe to make transactions using photographs - what secrets does the iron beast actually keep in reality? Do not consider buying a computer and components and expensive mobile devices- the risk is real.

There is a high demand for collectibles and antiques, watches and clothes - the choice is beyond, and it will not be difficult to choose the desired delivery conditions. The most popular lots, of course, are from the “Trifle” category: screen films, protective cases, headphones and chargers, stickers and mice. Prices vary depending on the seller and delivery.

As you know, the eBay platform differs from many other marketplaces in that goods can be sold on it not only at a fixed price, but also at auctions. Bidders can offer a certain amount for the goods, which must not be less than the current price set by the owner of the lot and previous participants. This is the rate - the user "bets" this amount to purchase the lot, and he undertakes to purchase the goods at this cost if the rate wins ("works").

Why is my bid immediately interrupted, or the system of automatic bids proxy bid

It often happens that the service displays a message stating that the bet made was outbid, although it was made a second ago.

One might think that these are competing bidders, not closing their eyes, watching the auction, but in fact everything is explained more simply. The eBay system provides a mechanism for automatically raising rates - "proxy bidding" (proxy bidding). Instead of placing each bid in the minimum increment, users can simply enter the maximum amount they are willing to spend, and the site will automatically place bids, freeing them from having to watch the auction all the time.

For example, if the current bid is $20 and you bet a maximum of $100, then the service will automatically bid $21 and if someone else "enters" the auction, they will continue to trade for you until they reach the specified threshold. Other participants will only see that their bet is outbid by yours.

Maximum bet, how to find it

Unfortunately, there is no one hundred percent effective way to find out someone's maximum bid - otherwise auctions would lose their meaning, especially for sellers. Unlike "", you cannot write to the user and find out his maximum bid, since all bidders are hidden from both the seller and other bidders.

The maximum bet can only be "groped" by constantly increasing your bet until it becomes the highest. In our example, in a similar practical way, we found out that the highest bid of the previous bidder was $51, which was automatically outbid by the service when we bet a maximum of $56. Of course, there is little benefit from such knowledge, but this is the only way to find out someone's upper limit of the bet.

ebay automatic bidding software

An alternative way to proxy bidding is to use automated timed bidding programs. Such programs are called "snipers" and are usually installed in the final minutes (and even seconds) of the auction to avoid unnecessary price gouging in a fit of "auction fever". The use of these programs is not prohibited by the rules of eBay, but they are all third-party services, in contrast to the proxy bidding built into the platform.

More detailed analysis and a comparison of these methods of participating in auctions can be found in the article "".