Introduction 1 About This Book 3 Foolish Assumptions 3 Icons Used in This Book 4 Beyond the Book 5 Where to Go from Here 5 Part 1: Getting a Feel for eBay 7 Chapter 1: Why Being on eBay is Fun on So Many Levels 9 What is eBay, and How Does It Work? 10 All About Auctions 12 eBay auctions 13 Reserve-price auctions 13 Restricted-access adult auctions 13 Private (shhh-it''s-a-secret) listings 14 "Buy It Now" on eBay 15 eBay Stores 16 Buy It Now and fixed-price sales 16 Want to Make Some Cash? 16 Get a Deal and Get It Fast! 17 Research for Fun and Profit 17 eBay''s Role in the Action 18 Features and Fun Stuff 19 Extra Apps You''re Gonna Want 19 Chapter 2: Let''s Do It! Signing Up on eBay 21 Registering on eBay 21 Registering is Free 22 Filling in required information 24 Do you solemnly swear to? 27 It must be true if you have it in writing 28 Uh-oh, you made a mistake? 29 A Quick Word about Passwords 30 A Not-So-Quick Word about Choosing a User ID 30 Your License to Deal (Almost) 32 Chapter 3: Finding Your Way Around eBay 33 What is the Home Page? 34 Sign In, Please 35 Follow the Links 36 Exploring Your Home Page Search Options 39 Seeking items through the search box 40 Going where the Advanced Search box takes you 41 Home Links, the Next Generation 43 Maneuvering through Categories 44 Bottoming Out 46 Chapter 4: Ground Central, Your Private, My eBay 49 Getting to Your My eBay Pages 50 Keeping Track of Your Personal eBay Business 52 Checking your account information 53 Choosing your communication preferences 53 Your Feedback link 55 Account links 55 Understanding Your Seller Dashboard 56 Using the Resolution Center 57 Organizing Saved Sellers/Searches 58 Searches you follow 59 Sellers you follow 60 Keeping your follows on the "down low" 60 Sleuthing with your Watching list 61 Following the Action on Your Buying 62 Seeing the items you''re buying 62 Keeping track of your purchased items 62 Surveying Your Sales on Your My eBay Selling Overview 62 Your Selling page 63 Your Sold page 63 Keeping Track of Your Transactions 65 Getting and Giving Feedback 66 How to get positive feedback 68 How to get negative feedback 68 The Feedback page 69 Reading your feedback 70 You have the last word -- responding to feedback 71 Leaving feedback with finesse 71 Part 2: Buying Like an Expert 77 Chapter 5: Deal or No Deal? Buying Hacks and Searching Tips 79 Online Tips for Vintage Enthusiasts 80 The experts speak out 80 Following an expert on the hunt 82 Grading vintage items 83 Finding More Research Information 85 Searching sites online 85 Finding other sources of information 87 Looking to Find an Item? Start Your eBay Search 88 Using the Advanced Search page 89 Finding Sold Items 92 An international search 94 Finding a specific seller 95 Finding items by keywords for multiple sellers 97 Shortcuts for a quick eBay search 97 Chapter 6: Get a Deal: The Art of Shopping eBay 99 The Item Listing Page 100 Beating the Devil in the Details 107 Read the item description carefully 107 Get the scoop on the seller 108 Factoring In the Extras 110 Payment methods 110 Using an escrow service 111 Shipping costs 112 Placing Your Bid on an Auction 113 Bidding to the Max: Automatic Bidding 114 Specialized Categories 117 The Agony (?) of Buyer''s Remorse 117 Retracting your bid 118 Avoiding deadbeat (unpaid item) status 120 Chapter 7: Winning eBay Shopping Strategies 123 Make an Offer! 124 Find Out an Item''s Bidding History 125 Get to Know the Other Bidders 127 Strategies to Help You Outsmart the Competition 128 Time is Money: Auction Strategy by the Clock 130 Using a laid-back strategy 131 Using the beat-the-clock strategy 132 Chapter 8: Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner? 137 eBay Calling: You''re a Winner 137 Getting Your Paperwork Together 138 Getting in Contact 140 Sending the Payment Promptly and Securely 140 Checking Out 143 Communicating with the Seller 144 Keeping in Touch: Dealing with an AWOL Seller 145 You Get the Item . Uh-Oh, What''s This? 146 Don''t Forget to Leave Feedback 147 Properly Giving the Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs) 148 Part 3: Making Money the eBay Way 151 Chapter 9: Selling Online for Fun and Profit 153 Why Should You Sell Stuff on eBay? 154 Finding Stuff to Sell 156 Know When to Sell 157 Know Thy Stuff 159 Getting the goods on your goods 159 Spy versus spy: Comparison selling 160 Know What You Can (And Can''t) Sell 162 Prohibited items 163 Infringing items 166 Restricted items: Know the laws 168 Forbidden tactics 168 Reporting a Problem Listing 169 Intellectual Property Violations 170 eBay Fees? What eBay Fees? Oops 171 Final value fees 173 Managed Payments and PayPal fees 173 Keep calculating your profits 174 Uncle Sam Wants You -- to Pay Your Taxes 175 Two wild rumors about federal taxes 176 State sales tax 177 State income taxes 178 Chapter 10: Time to Sell: Making Irresistible Listings 179 Getting Ready to List Your Item 180 Examining the Create Listing Page 181 Filling In the Required Blanks 185 Selecting a category 185 Creating the perfect item title 187 Adding item specifics 190 Writing your description 191 Listing the number of items for sale 193 Setting a starting price -- how low can you go? 194 Buy It Now for auctions 195 Setting your auction time 195 Your secret safety net -- reserve price 196 I want to be alone: The private listing 197 Filling out the item location 198 Setting shipping terms 199 Checking Your Work and Starting the Listing 200 Midcourse Corrections: Fixing Current Listings 201 Making changes before bidding begins 201 Making changes after bidding begins 202 Chapter 11: Find Merchandise to Sell and the eBay Store Decision 203 Knowing the Market 204 Do You Have Talent, Provide a Service? 206 Catching Trends in the Media 207 Trending on the web 207 What''s on television 208 Catch up with youth culture . 208 Check out pop-culture websites 209 Follow the trends on social media 209 The Hunt for eBay Inventory 210 The goods are out there 210 Salvage: Liquidation Items, Unclaimed Freight, and Returns 214 Items by the pallet 215 Job lots 217 Drop-shipping to your customers 218 Tips for the modest investor 218 Making the eBay Store Decision 219 Selling from Your Own Virtual Storefront 220 Paying the landlord 220 Opening your eBay Store 222 Chapter 12: Take the Pain out of Closing the Deal and Shipping 225 Bookkeeping and Staying Organized 226 Talking to Buyers: The ABCs of Good Communication 228 Thank you -- mean it 229 Keep communication open 230 Shipping without Going Postal 231 Shopping for a shipper 232 Getting the right (packing) stuff 242 Buying and Printing Postage Online 248 Preparing postage with Endicia 249 Shipping with Stamps.com 251 Ahoy matey! Print labels free from Pirate Ship 251 Shipping directly from eBay 252 Chapter 13: Saving and Troubleshooting Sales 253 Dealing with a Buyer Who Doesn''t Respond 254 Requesting immediate payment 254 Setting buyer requirements 254 Going into nudge mode 255 Do a little sleuthing 256 Blocking a customer 257 Other Possible Problems 257 Buyer backout? Try Second Chance Offer 257 The item you send is busted -- and so are you 261 You have regrets -- seller''s remorse 262 Going Badly? Cut Your Losses 262 Making changes or canceling bids 263 Editing your Fixed Price listing 264 Ending your listing early 265 Opening an Unpaid Item case 266 Chapter 14: Increase Profits with Photography and Other Strategies 271 Using Images in Your Listings 272 Choosing your camera 273 Choosing a scanner 276 Making Your Picture a Thing of Beauty 277 Get it on camera 277 Yes, I scan 279 Software that adds the artist''s touch 279 Making Your Images Web-Friendly 281 The Image is Perfect -- Now What? 282 Getting Pictures from Your Smartphone to eBay 283 Using Your Website to Store Images 287 Using the Photo Uploader 288 Tell Your Story on Your Profile Page 291 Part 4: Even More of eBay''s Special Features 293 Chapter 15: Security: Protect Yourself Online and on eBay 295 What eBay Knows about You 296 What you tell eBay 296 What cookies gather 297 Your eBay sign-in cookie 299 Web beacons 299 What web server.