Online and Loving it!

A simple guide to buying safely and effectively on eBay.Many new buyers take to buying on eBay like a duck to water and never run into trouble. Some don't howeverand thisis often due to a few fundamentalmisconceptions.Ebay advertising tends to paint an idyllic picture of a wonderful community of like minded,wonderfully honestpeople who buy and sell on eBay for the pleasure of it. There are a lot of people who do this and the community spirit is there for many and some find afulfilling new 'life' in their collections, shared interests, trading partners and internet friends.This is not all or even most of the multitude of transactions that occur on the eBay site (venue) however. Understanding this term venue (trading platform)is critically important, as it isa legallyacceptable position, whichexempts eBay from responsibility for the success or otherwise of the transaction. There are new entrants to this venue every day whobelieve they canrely on eBay to monitor and police the authenticity and actualityof the items and the bona fides of the individuals. This is not the case and nor is it ever going to be, although eBay to their credit have increased the level of security and verificationdramatically in the five years I have traded. It is important to operate with a 'buyer beware' attitude because the outcome will certainly be 'buyer wear' and even a resolved dispute or disappointment with all monies refunded is not arewarding experience.There are several key elements that minimise the risks of buying from a complete stranger over the net, butthe most basic AND the most important is to useevery piece of information availableto you. Also measure all buying decisionsagainst the adage "If it looks too good to be true - it probably is!"The vital statistics of the seller. Howlonghave they been sellingnotmerelybuying?(feedbackratingscompriseboth aspects)The track record of delivering satisfaction to buyers can be clearly seen in feedback and comments.A consistent and currentpattern of sales and repeat customersvirtuallyensures the seller has a quality product, product knowledge andsufficient discernment to accurately describe their itemsconsistent withindustry standard expectations.(a largenumber of unhappy transactions are the result of incompetence because there is no requirement for sellers to possess business and customer service skills - this applies equally to buyer's skills.)Recommended procedure relating to payment.Never allow the deal to be completed outside the eBay sales framework as this will leave you totally on your own in the event of a problem.For a buyer there is no possible reason not to use one of the safer methods of payment like Paypal, funded by a credit card (or Visadebit) which have effective funds recoupment abilities.