ebay the basics.

It has been around for about 13 years now, since it was founded in 1995 in San Jose, California by a computer programmer, Pierre Omidyar and it has the distinction of being one of the few internet businesses with a single business focus to have consistently made a profit from the start. Originally known as AuctionWeb, eBay now includes well-known internet sites such as PayPal, Skype and Shopping.com.

With approximately $2, 039 generated every second of the day in sales, ebay is truly mind boggling. It boasts over 276 million registered users including 1.3 million sellers. Its original auction format has expanded ton include fixed price formats also.Anything you are looking for you can find on ebay.

The net result of ebay’s growth has been the listing of everything from junk to business’s overstocked items. Incredible deals can be found if one has the patience and time to search and learn the ins and outs of buying though auctions.

So, is it easy to use?

With so many people using eBay one would reasonably assume that the site was easy to negotiate but, surprisingly, many users complain about the difficulty in using it. Here is a direct quote from a user on Webword.com which echoes the feelings of many of his fellow ‘eBayers’: “It is unfortunate that eBay has gotten more and more complicated than when I had first joined in 1999. I have to say, eBay.com was faster, more efficient, and was much easier to use back then. I’ve spent a lot of time on eBay and you would think that it would get easier and easier to use. However, because they keep adding features, it is actually getting more difficult to use. What a shame.”

It appears sellers have the strongest opinion on ebay’s difficulty of use. This in itself makes sense. Since it is the seller that will eventually benefit financially from the transaction. The difficulty of use is not all ebays fault. A lot of the complexity arises from the fact ebay is continually trying to add new features. Yet as with everything else you can reach a point when to many good features jumbles up the product.

All in all from the buyers standpoint the system is pretty easy to use. The most difficult part being trying to pick what you want from the millions of choices. The first step is to register and ebay walks you through the process. One major stumbling block for the new buyer is the possibility of being ripped off. As with any transaction care must be taken before sending off your hard earned money.

Final Words

eBay has been an extremely successful marketing concept which continues to flourish regardless of the fact that many sellers find the process difficult or tedious. If you are looking for a bargain on eBay it is important to remember that it is, in essence, simply a very big, online garage sale.

Have fun, enjoy the excitement of a live auction, just be careful not to get carried away. You want to purchase what you want, not be taken to the cleaners.