eBay in a nutshell. In 1995 computer programmer, Pierre Omidyar created an auction web site called AuctionWeb. Today it is known as ebay and includes PayPal, Skype and Shopping.com. Profitable from almost the beginning ebay has an almost magical attraction. Starting out in San Jose, California it is now a world wide company. eBay has around 276 million registered users in 39 markets world-wide and approximately 1.3 million sellers. Although it started out as an auction site users are able to buy and sell in fixed-price as well as auction formats and this they do continually, trading more than $2039.00 worth of goods, from collectibles to computers and virtually everything in between, every second of the day. The net result of ebay's growth has been the listing of everything from junk to business's overstocked items. Incredible deals can be found if one has the patience and time to search and learn the ins and outs of buying though auctions. How easy is it to use? The following quote sadly is a common opinion of ebay's ease of use. "It is unfortunate that eBay has gotten more and more complicated than when I had first joined in 1999. I have to say, eBay.com was faster, more efficient, and was much easier to use back then. I've spent a lot of time on eBay and you would think that it would get easier and easier to use. However, because they keep adding features, it is actually getting more difficult to use. What a shame." It appears sellers have the strongest opinion on ebay's difficulty of use. This in itself makes sense. Since it is the seller that will eventually benefit financially from the transaction. The difficulty of use is not all ebays fault. A lot of the complexity arises from the fact ebay is continually trying to add new features. Yet as with everything else you can reach a point when to many good features jumbles up the product. All in all from the buyers standpoint the system is pretty easy to use. The most difficult part being trying to pick what you want from the millions of choices. The first step is to register and ebay walks you through the process. One major stumbling block for the new buyer is the possibility of being ripped off. As with any transaction care must be taken before sending off your hard earned money. Summary Sure from the the buyers stand point ebay is pretty easy to use. From the sellers view point maybe not so easy. Yet the ability to put your product or service in front on millions of buyers for very little expense, makes it all worth it in the long run. Knowing the rules as in any game, makes it easier to play and a lot more fun. Have fun, enjoy the excitement of a live auction, just be careful not to get carried away. You want to purchase what you want, not be taken to the cleaners.
Please Rate this Article 5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5
Not yet Rated
