Quick Tips for Buying and Selling on eBay

eBay is still one of the best places beginning sellers can get started making money online. Since it's conception in 1995 in San Jose, California, eBay now sees more than tens of millions of people flocks to it's pages. With millions of dollars in new and used merchandise being sold every day, who wouldn't be attracted to joining the ranks and making money themselves when looking to build an online business. But there are do's and dont's in the online world and in this article we will share with you some quick tips for buying and selling on eBay.

1. When you open your account, spend a few days to a month first buying some items. When you find something you like, contact the seller to ask some questions just to see how their customer service is. If they respond promptly to you and understand your needs, then this is a sign that they will be a good seller to deal with.

2. While eBay does it's best to keep track and stop any false purchases, there are the few that still gothrough so if you are buying or selling electronics, especially ones that are popular take caution and do not ship the item out until you have received payment into your paypal account. Both fraudulant buyers and sellers will ty to get items without paying and then disappear from the ebay scene before you can catch them and get your money back. This was very common a few years back and ebay implemented some strict security protocols so this would not happen much anymore. But it is best to use common sense when dealing with electronic money and people you have never met before.

3. Keep in mind when buying things from eBay that if you are purchasing something from another country then you may need to pay custom and border fees before the product will be released to you. You may want to find out how much it could be before you decide to buy something. I remember buying something from China that was a great price and when I went to sign for it, I was told I owed 3x as much for fees than the item cost me. This can be a problem if you do not have it in your budget. They will take the item back to the post office and you may never get your money back from the seller on ebay since the fees are your responsibility and not eBay's or the sellers.

4. If you are going to buy a product for a special holiday, be sure to buy 4-6 weeks in advance to ensure that you will get it in time. For ordering from places around the world, get into the habit of ordering up to 2 to 3 months ahead to be sure.