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Excerpts

How to Use This Book

Welcome to The Official eBay™ Guide to Buying, Selling, and Collecting Just About Anything. This book's mission is to help you be a successful eBay user. On a point-and-click basis, eBay isn't hard to master. But there's much more to eBay than words and images on a screen. The world's largest person-to-person, auction-format online trading site has spawned, for many people, a new way of life. Getting the most out of eBay means -- among other things -- mastering new technical skills, searching for amazing stuff (both online and beyond), understanding the economics of the collectibles market, becoming a savvy buyer, perhaps running your own small business, and interacting with other traders (and friends) who make up the eBay community all over the world.

In this book, we attempt not only to demystify the technological intricacies and philosophical underpinnings of eBay, but also to help people get the most satisfaction out of building their collections, no matter what they collect. The book is organized into five sections:

• Part I: The Thrill of the Hunt gets you started on eBay with information on registering, finding great stuff, and bidding strategies.

• Part II: Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow helps you sell your items on eBay, from writing good descriptions, posting images, and using HTML to thinking through the details of being in business on eBay.

• Part III: Making Contact covers what happens when the flush of bidding is over -- getting items shipped and dealing with problems. And just in case, you can find the help and support you need from eBay staff and your peers.

• Part IV: You Are What You Collect delves into the heart of collecting, including becoming an expert, sources of antiques and collectibles, and making buys in the field.

• Part V: Putting It All Together is about the care and feeding of your collection, from keeping track of your eBay activities to documenting your "babies" for their own good.

The book follows a logical progression of its own, but each chapter is also designed to stand alone. This book contains the collected wisdom of many eBaysians, but if you can't find what you're looking for, let us know so that we may include it in a future edition. Success on eBay comes from sharing. Send your feedback and tips for eBay success to: ebayguide@ebay.com.

Copyright © 1999 by eBay Inc.