When you place a bid, you make a commitment to buy the item if you win. There isn't really a "get out of jail free" card.

Some people make the mistake of thinking that they can put a bid on a number of the same item and only buy the cheapest one at the end of all the auctions.

Wrong!!

If you put a bid on 5 different Nokia 2600s, and you win all 5 auctions, you're buying 5 phones.

This is the biggest mistake many people make when learning to use ebay.

Here it is. The dreaded negative feedback. This is what it looks like and I hope you never have to deal with one.



Always check the sellers feedback on ebay. If they have 100%, great! If they have 99.9%, check the one negative feedback comment.

I have encountered two kinds of negative feedback:

1. The buyer makes an outrageous/stupid comment like "THIS IS A FAKE!!! DON'T TRUST THIS EBAYER!!"

...when the item description clearly stated "REPLICA FOR SALE"

It's ridiculous to complain about anything that is listed correctly in the item description. It's not right to give negative feedback when you didn't read the listing carefully enough.

Most likely, the response from the seller will be "CLEARLY STATED IN ITEM DESCRIPTION. LEARN TO READ." or words to that effect.

In this case, I would still consider buying from this seller, as the negative feedback was clearly unfair.

However,

2. If the seller has more than one negative and a number of buyers are saying the same thing - Beware!!

Examples:
Item never arrived.
Very rude seller.
Item arrived broken. Will not answer emails.

In this case, I would not consider buying from this seller. Why create problems for yourself? Buy from someone with better feedback - you will save yourself time and worry.

Many sellers with feedback such as this will hide behind their sales numbers eg. "OVER 1000 CUSTOMERS SERVED" - this is no defence.

If a lot of these items disappeared, were faulty, sub-standard, or had excessive postage added, then stay away. You could be next!

It's not so much the number of negatives but a matter of detecting a pattern. The way to pick which sellers to buy from comes down to instinct.

Use the force, Luke.

I have received quite a few fake ebay emails in the past, but I was waiting for one to use as an example. Nothing would please me more than to ruin a spammer's day!! So here it is in all it's glory. (Click to enlarge)



Here are the ways to spot the newer, more sophisticated fake ebay emails:

These ones are clever - it looks like it was sent from an ebay member. In fact, the body of the email is almost duplicated exactly from a real ebay email.

Firstly, don't look at the body of the email - check who it came from.
1. Was it sent to your email address that you originally registered with ebay?
My answer to this question was NO. The email was sent to one of my other email addresses so it could not possibly have come from a real ebay member.

2. Do you recognise the name? Is it someone you are dealing with?
My answer to this question was NO. The person asking the question was from the UK, and claimed to have sent money to me.

3. Does their question make sense?
My answer again is NO. Why would someone send me money when I am not an ebay seller and I do not have a Dell Laptop to sell!!

4. Safety check
Whenever you answer emails from ebay members, log straight into ebay and check "My Messages". This is the best way to check if the message is authentic. If it's not in "My Messages" then chances are you got a fake. There are exceptions to this rule, but you will learn to know which are the real ones.

5. Real ebay messages don't ask you for logins or credit card details
The one predictable feature of spam is that they often ask for your login and password or say they have "lost" your credit card information and would you please update them? Use common sense. If a stranger called you up pretending to be from the bank and asked for all your account details, you would be suspicious. And you would probably call your bank or visit them to check the authenticity of the call. It is no different online. It's just easier to forget that even though it's the internet, it's still real.


It's a feeding frenzy for the sharks. Make sure you're not on the menu.

If you are joining ebay for the first time, you need to do the following:

1. Sign up
2. Resist the temptation to start bidding/selling/buying etc.
3. Go straight to the "COMMUNITY" section (see picture)



4. Research this section until you get sick of it. Really. If everybody did this first step, it would reduce complications in the future.



5. When you are ready to start bidding on ebay, do the following - check the seller's feedback (click to enlarge)



If you are satisfied with their feedback score and comments, start bidding!!

It is a good idea to start small with your first purchase (I should take my own advice!!) just to see how it all works.

Happy Shopping!!

I discovered a great blog for all those who love Hello Kitty (and there are many!).
It's called "I *heart* Hello Kitty".

http://i-heart-hellokitty.blogspot.com

Here is the official Hello Kitty website for all things Hello Kitty...
http://www.sanrio.com/main/mbna/card.html

And the shop:
http://shop.sanrio.com


I found some great Hello Kitty stuff on ebay:
(No listing links here - check the seller's feedback before bidding, check for signs of authenticity and ask questions if unsure)

1. Hello Kitty Webcam


2. Hello Kitty Phone


3. Hello Kitty Lamp



Happy Shopping!!

P.s. I have now added a babelfish "translate this site" button for languages other than English.

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