I have been involved in selling on eBay since 1999. In that time we have executed over 100,000 auctions. In the process I have seen what makes for a good buyer experience and a bad experience. Following these 7 steps will ensure you have a safe and satisfying experience buying on eBay.

There are two major types of items selling on eBay. Auctions and Fixed Price (Buy it now - BIN) This article is written with auctions in mind, not paying particular attention to Fixed Price listings. Many of the topics still apply; some of the info is not applicable to a Fixed Price listing.

At each of the seven steps you are looking to find out what the sellers conditions are and then decide if those conditions are acceptable to you. If they are not clear, do not bid until they are clear. If the conditions are not acceptable, do not bid. Find another seller!

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1 – Know the item
2 – Know the seller
3 – Know the shipping
4 – Understand seller’s feedback rating
5 – Understand seller’s payment terms
6 – Understand seller’s return policy
7 – Ask Questions
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1) Know the item
Educate yourself on what you are looking to buy.
- What accessories are typically included?
- What accessories are required for normal operation?
- Are there different models with slightly different features?

2) Know the seller
Educate yourself on the seller you are looking to place a bid with.
- Are they full time or part time sellers?
- Do they sell new or used items?
- What are their payment and shipping policies?

3) Know the shipping
Understand shipping costs and shipping times.
- Shipping is possibly the most contentious topic discussed around eBay. The popular believe is that many eBay sellers charge too much. It is up to you to decide how much you are willing to spend including shipping on an item. If it is not clear, ASK. If you bid on an item, you should know what the shipping is, and therefore should not wind up paying too much.
- eBay requires all sellers to use the eBay supplied package cost calculator or use a fixed cost. UPS and USPS charges are calculated by eBay and displayed in the header section of the listing.
- Items that are too complex or too large/heavy for “package shippers” will need to be shipped freight. Be sure to understand from the seller how much this will cost before bidding. Freight is very expensive right now. Freight to a residence is even more expensive.

4) Understand seller’s feedback rating
Feedback can be one of the most helpful tools when deciding who to place a bid with.
- If a sell has less than 50.
If they have less than 50 feedback, they are relatively new. Find out, is it recent, are there any recent negatives/neutrals. Keep in mind that a few negatives may be OK as long as they are not all together and for the same reasons. What sort of feedback do they leave for winning bidders? Are they argumentative, do they seem to work to solve problems? What is there feedback percentage? 100% is hard to do, but 98% means something may not be right and needs further investigating.
- If a seller has more than 50.
A seller that has more than 50 feedback has completed enough transactions to know what they are doing. There should not be any repeat issues and should not have a percentage less that 98%. If so, read the comments and see what got them this score. It could be one bad bidder that took out their vengeance on this seller, could be a bad seller. Look at how they respond to issues, that is the true measure of a seller. All sellers make some mistakes, how do they work to resolve them. If you are looking though page after page of feedback and can’t seem to find the one negative showing up in the summary, stop looking, they are fine.

5) Understand seller’s payment terms
Understand the seller’s payment requirements.
- Some sellers require payment in 3 days, some only take PayPal, and some won’t take PayPal. Different sellers have different requirements. Before you bid, be sure you are willing to make payment as defined by the seller.

6) Understand sellers return policy
Understand the seller’s return policy.
- If you are buying a used item, be sure to understand what you can do if the item is not as you expected. Many sellers sell “As Is” If you are not willing to take a chance, don’t bid. Some sellers offer a return on item that are not as described, but often have a time limit. Some offer full returns and exchanges.

7) Ask Questions
Clarify all of these points before bidding.
- Use the “Ask the seller a question” button on the listing you are looking at.
It is NOT OK to bid then ask.
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In addition to the 7 steps you should follow before placing a bid, please consider the following topics as you contemplate bidding.

- Who are you buying from?
You are NOT buying from eBay, you are buying from an individual or a company other than eBay. eBay is the venue that helps sellers and buyers come together. They do not sell the products. The actual seller may be a part time person working nights or weekends and may only ship once a week. At the opposite end of the spectrum, they may be a full time business with multiple employees and locations that ship every day. The service you can expect will be different from each. Properly calibrate your expectations. Odds are an eBay seller does not have access to the same resources that a major retailer has. Your experience will be different, not necessarily worse or better, just different.

- Your choice to bid
Remember it is your choice to bid. A seller will typically make attempts to manage your expectations. If you are not wiling to accept the sellers requirements, do not bid. The seller should not add requirements after you win the auction, you as a buyer can not add requirements or ask to change the seller’s requirements after you win. You can ask before you bid, not after.

- Communications
eBay restricts certain types of communication between sellers and bidders. The following questions may not get a reply as they can result in sanctions from eBay to the seller.
- Offers to buy items outside of eBay.
- Offers to end auctions early.
- Offers to buy additional items off eBay.

- Item value
Determine what the item is worth to you. Include shipping in the value equation. Bid appropriately.

- Your bid is a contract
Remember your bid is a contract, do not bid on more that one of the same thing thinking you will just have to pay for one. Do not bid and then ask questions on the item or shipping. Do not bid if you can not make payment in the seller’s specified time frame.

- Payments
NEVER send cash or any payment device that resolves in Cash like Western Union or Money Gram. These methods are not allowed on eBay. If the seller is requesting this as a method after you have already won the auction, you should report this to eBay. Follow this link to do so. http://pages.ebay.com/securitycenter/reportproblem.html

- Problem resolution
If you have a problem, make contact with the seller.
If after you have received your item there is a problem. Contact the seller. Most sellers will have a recommended process for doing this. If you can not find this info, go to the listing and use the “contact seller” button to let them know about your problem.
Keep your communication factual. Do not assume they are trying to rip you off, or scam you. Mistakes happen, if you have followed the first 7 steps, they are a good seller and will work to resolve your issue.
Give the seller 24 business hours to reply. Remember, you may be buying from a professional seller that has business hours, there may be time zone issues, or they may be closed for the weekend or holiday. If you do not receive a reply, try again by a different method than the first time. If still no reply, look at the seller’s feedback. Do they have recent feedback? Is it positive? There may just be a communication issue, keep trying. If you do not get a reply for longer than 48 business hours, then file an issue with eBay. Do not leave feedback until you have worked thru this process. Most sellers are looking to do the right thing. Give them time to make it right for you.

- Email scams
Never reply to emails telling you that the actual winning bidder backed out and you can have the item instead. Often these are scammers.
If you receive an email suggesting you make some sort of alternate payment arrangement and/or offering a discount, click the “Ask seller a question” link at the top of the auction you won. Write the seller and let them know about the offer you received. It is probably a scam.
Be alert to phishing schemes. NEVER enter your log in info from a link in an email. You may see emails from people telling you they will report you if you don’t send the item they paid for. In that email is a link to log into your account. This is a fake email and it’s not eBay’s site you will be logging into. You are sending your info to a scammer.
These emails are typically intended to make you mad and get you to act quickly with out thinking. Log in by going to eBay.com directly. Report any spoof emails like this to spoof@ebay.com or spoof@paypal.com as necessary.

The last most important bit of advice it so have fun! Please let me know if these tips help you.