How to use eBay – Part 2

eBay 101: Sample Transactions

Part 2: A Sample Transaction at eBay
This scenario is simplified for learning purposes.

Scenario: Seller Shiela is a registered eBay member who has been buying and selling for eleven months. Because Shiela has successfully bought and sold 14 times, she has earned an eBay positive feedback rating of 14. Shielas name will appear onscreen as follows:

ShielaFromSausalito (14)

She is very motivated to continue earning positive feedback and the customer trust that goes with it. Shiela hopes to one day achieve a positive feedback rating of 1000.

STEP 1: The Listing Stage:

Shiela decides she wants to sell her used Swiss Army Watch at eBay.
Originally a $750 item, the watch is 7 years old and in good condition. She hopes to get $500 USD for it, but will settle for $400.

She takes some digital photos of the watch and she takes an hour to carefully author a web page ad that describes the watch to potential buyers. She then lists the web page advertisement and photos on eBay at 3:04pm on a Saturday afternoon. She pays a small initial listing fee of a couple dollars.

Shielas starting bid for the watch is $100 USD, and the auction is slated to run for 7 days. Shiela has also added a Buy It Now option set at $450, to motivate buyers to end the auction early, and she promises to charge $15 shipping and handling for any USA customers.

STEP 2: The Selling (Auction Bidding) Stage:

By the fifth day of the auction, Shiela has two bids on the Swiss Army watch: Buyer Cyrus (feedback rating of 42) has bid $100, and Buyer Ben (feedback rating of 29) has bid $101.

On the sixth day of the auction, three new eBay buyers, Billy (rating of 3), Bjorn (rating of 4), and Bernice (rating of 1), also discover the watch, and they make nickel-and-dime bids of $120, $121, and $122 respectively. Although Shiela would like to see higher bids, she is pleased to see a small bidding frenzy happening on her watch. The Swiss Army watch high bid is now $122.

Day 7 of the auction comes, and a small bidding frenzy ensues over the Swiss Army watch. Bernice, the novice buyer, ambitiously bids an ambitious $175 five hours before the auction end. Bernices $175 is called her secret bid ceiling. Bjorn, also wanting the watch, counterbids $150 and $160, but is automatically outbid by Bernices $175 secret bid ceiling. The auction high bid is now $161. Billy jumps in at 11:15am and bids $325. Billy does beat Bernices bid ceiling, so he is now the high bidder at $176, with a new secret bid ceiling of $325.

Buyer Cyrus, who is carefully watching this auction, decides to make another bid of his at own at 12:30pm on Saturday: $395. Cyrus immediately becomes the high bidder, and the auction is now set at $326, with Cyruss new secret bid ceiling of $395.

Billy tries counterbidding with $350, which raises the auction to $351, but is insufficient to beat Cyruss $395 bid ceiling. Cyrus wins the Swiss Army watch for $351, 44 dollars less than his secret bid ceiling.

STEP 3: The Payment and Feedback Stage:

Shiela doesnt get the $500 price she hoped for, but she is happy to have a successful sale. She sends an email to Cyrus with payment and shipping expectations. Cyrus replies, and he promises to send Shiela her $351 + $15 S & H. They agree to use the most popular form of eBay payment: Paypal.com.

Cyrus logs into his Paypal.com account that night, transfers $366 USD from his Visa card to Shielas email. Shiela transfers the $366 to her bank account via encrypted Internet connection, minus a small fee to Paypal. Shiela then owes 1.5% of the Swiss Army Watch selling price to eBay.com, who will bill her $5.27 next month for her sellers fee. Shiela nets about $357 out of $366, after all her fees to eBay and Paypal.

Shiela files positive feedback for Cyrus, documenting that he promptly paid her within 24 hours. She then ships the watch to Cyrus with careful packaging and a short thank you note. Shiela pays for the shipping out of the $15 S& H charge she billed Cyrus for.

Cyrus, now with an increased 43 positive feedback rating, receives the Swiss Army Watch by post office mail 11 calendar days later. The watch is exactly what Shiela described it to be, so Cyrus is pleased. Cyrus logs onto eBay, and files positive feedback for Shiela, raising Shielas positive feedback rating to 15.

Shielas onscreen now appears as

ShielaFromSausalito (15)

Which indicates Shiela has transacted at least 15 honest and positive sales on eBay.

Next Part: How to use eBay