So I found a network device I want on eBay, with a nice “buy it now” price.
I have no clue about eBay, so please clue me in. There are loads of books on this and a Google search provides tons of stuff, but I’m just looking for a very short checklist from experienced hands to get me going safely.
Username - is it appropriate to use my real name (e.g. first.lastname)? Should I use minor7flat5? Should I use some other short handle that is not associated with my other online activities?
Other personal details - How much is required? Are there best practices for setting up an account?
Paypal - it’s part of eBay now, no? Do I create this account separately or is it one in the same as my eBay account? I understand that I should hook it up to a credit card and not a bank account. Is this advice still correct?
Email - should I have a special “eBay” mail account, or is my basic “junk mail” account good for this?
Any other stuff I should know in order to purchase my network gadget safely?
Any stuff I should do now that I will some day wish I had done, whenever I start selling stuff or participating in auctions?
Username - Anything you want. I personally do not use my last name.
PayPal - created separately. The only thing is you should be using the same email address for both. Different passwords. eBay will let you link them together.
use whatever email address you like/check often.
When I sell to someone their user name, while occasionally interesting, makes no difference whatsoever. And I never look at their profile. Really the only thing I care about is that they pay on time and then leave good feedback.
Paypal has a few steps to it and can take up to a week to get setup and verified. So start the process now
Can I use PP without an account for this? I have bought software from sites that used PP as a middleman, but I didn’t need a PP account, just my CC.
How 'bout that feeback… what is the newbie protocol for that? I don’t want to commit some faux-pas. Do I need to actively leave feedback, or can I just ignore that step?
Do I have to write something, or do I check whatever the highest rating is and move on (as long as I got the goods)?
As a seller I leave feedback to buyers after they’ve paid and I think that’s how it should be. As a buyer you should leave feedback when you get your item and everything looks ok with it.
I find that around half my buyers don’t leave feedback and that kinda annoys me. I’d prefer a rating of all 5s and as for comments you can literally just leave a “good seller” and all is fine
Given that it is possible to search for purchases and sales by username, I specifically have a username which looks like a random jumble of letters and numbers, and is in no way identifiable with me (or any of my other online activities).
Don’t buy from a seller with a very low feedback count - they don’t have a track record, and could be relying on shill buyers. Don’t buy from a seller with a less than 97% positive feedback or so. But always read the feedback details to see if you can live with the negatives; they might all be from one insane buyer and not be indicative of a bad seller.
I wouldn’t use a username that I’ve used on other sites just for privacy’s sake; who wants people from this site (or others) being able to look up your selling or buying history?
Leave feedback, but if you have a less-than-happy experience, try to let the seller resolve it first. Leaving anything less than the top 5-stars in each category is considered a dig. The threat of negative feedback is very powerful and sellers will usually step up. Sellers have actually offered me money to remove a negative feedback.
If you should decide you would like to sell items on eBay, set up a DIFFERENT user account. You don’t want possible negative feedback given to you by a crappy seller to affect your feedback as a seller. Most sellers are fine, but there are rare nutty ones.
Actually, I’m going to correct something of yours needscoffee. For better or for worse, eBay changed its policies a few years ago and it is now impossible for buyers to be left negative feedback. As a seller I have the option of leaving positive feedback or none at all. Nothing else.
So there’s no need for two accounts.