How does buying something on ebay work? ive never done it before.?

Question

so how does the bidding work? do you pay with your credit card? can the person selling the stuff get your credit info, or what if you pay but they keep the $ and dont send you the stuff so then they have your credit info and ur address. how do i go about buying something? thank you in advance.

0 seconds ago - 4 days left to answer.

Answer 1

sign up a paypal (www.paypal.com) account first where you add funds via your bank account or credit card

you then bid and use your paypal credits to pay for the item

  

Answer 2

There are both auctions & fixed price sales on eBay, and some that are auctions which are ended early if a "buy it now" price is met.These are esily identified by the inclusion of a "place bid" or "buy it now" button, or both.

In an auction the amount you bid isn't neccessarily the amount you'll pay, it's the maximum amount you're willing to pay. As an example let's say you see something you'd pay £50 for - the current bid is just £20. You can bid for £50 and ebay will automatically bid £21 for you [just enough to beat the current highest bid] and will keep doing this for you up to your £50 limit. Bear in mind though that the curent highest bidder may also have entered a maximum bid that exceeds yours, if this is the case you will see it as soon as the screen refreshes when you enter your bid.

Your safest bet when paying is to open a PayPal account. PayPal is owned by ebay & quite reputable - they keep the bank and/or card details of the sellers & buyers so if you pay by PayPal, the seller won't see your card details - they will see your address which is a good idea given that they need to know where to mail the item ;)

Paypal also offers limited buyer protection against goods not received or even not as described. The amount varies according to the seller's status, you'll need to check their T&C's for precise details but the protection offered is shown in the seller details pane.

Also, before buying it's a good idea to check not just the feedback score, but to click on it & read detailed info & comments from people who have dealt with the seller.

This may sound like an advert for paypal but trust me, there's no love lost between me & paypal. They're owned by eBay so it's practically mandatory for sellers to offer it as an option. Speaking as a seller, it was PayPal fees [for sellers] that made me quit selling on ebay regularly - it's nigh on impossible for the little guy to offer good value & make a profit when u factor the paypal & ebay costs into the equation. Having said that, I still have to admit it is the easiest & safest way to buy on eBay.

Hope this helps :)