eBay Easy Home What is eBay? How to Buy How to Sell PayPal Made Easy Tips and Pitfalls

This is a quick overview of buying on eBay. - View Movie

To buy items on eBay follow these 5 steps:

1. Register
2. Browse and Review
3. Bid
4. Track Bid
5. Pay

Step 1: Register on eBay.

What do I need?

1. Just an email address

To buy or sell on eBay.co.uk you must be a registered user. Follow the 'Register' link that is clearly visible at the top of the page. This takes you to a simple registration form.

The most important thing you need for registering is an Email Address - preferably this should be a work email or one related to your ISP such as tiscali, BTBroadband, wannadoo etc. If you would like to use an anonymous email address, such as one from Hotmail or Yahoo, you will be asked to verify your identity using a credit or debit card - this is just for identification purposes and you will not be charged.

You will need to enter details such as your name, address, telephone and date of birth. At this stage you will also be asked to confirm you to agree to eBay.co.uk's User Agreement and Privacy Policy.

Once this process is complete you will be sent an email to the address you entered. Follow the instructions in the email. You now in a position to start bidding.

Tip - The most popular way of paying for goods on eBay is with PayPal. As such you may want to set up a PayPal account before you go any further. It can take 3-5 days to set up a PayPal account so if you see an item you want to bid on you need to think about setting up PayPal to ensure you can pay for the item if you win the auction. See Step 5 - How to Pay.

Step 2 : Browse and Review

How can I find what I want?

Simply search or browse categories.

Use the search facility to enter keywords or simply browse the categories. When you find an item you are interesting in bidding on, important things to consider are:

1. Starting bid and current bid;
2. Buy It Now Price if available;
3. The Item Description and Picture;
4. Item location and Postage costs;
5. The Sellers Payment Options;
6. The Sellers Feedback Rating;
7. Do you have any queries you would like to put to the Seller - if so you can contact them by email;

Step 3 : Place a Bid or Buy Instantly

Click on the item you want to bid on and click the 'Place Bid' button. Enter your maximum bid in the box at the bottom of the page. When you enter the bid you may find that someone is willing to pay more. You can choose to increase you bid if you still want the item. If your bid is the highest bid then eBay will now bid automatically on your behalf. You will get an email confirming your bid and status as highest bidder.

Alternatively if the option is available you could select the 'Buy it Now' icon and immediately buy the item at the stated price in which case jump to Step 5 - How to Pay.

Step 4: Tracking a Bid

There are two ways for you to monitor your bidding activity.

1. My eBay: - Your own personalised area of eBay where you can monitor all of your eBay activity and manage your account. To review your bidding activity, click on the 'All Buying' Tab. If you have been outbid you can place a higher bid from here by clicking on the 'Bid Now' button.
2. Email- If you are outbid, eBay will send an email notification telling you that you have now been outbid. If you want to place a new bid, you can do so by clicking on the 'Bid Again' button.

Step 5: How to Pay

How do I pay?

There are various methods of payment as follows.

The most popular payment methods are:

1. PayPal - Over 80% of transactions on eBay use PayPal. You will need a PayPal account to pay with this method. See the PayPal section for information on setting up a PayPal account.
2. Personal Cheque - You may be asked by the seller to send a cheque in the post. You will probably receive the goods after payment has been received and the cheque cleared.
3. Postal Order or Bankers Draft - No online set up required. Traceable to mail address.
4. Credit Card - Traceable.

How to Sell