Buying and Selling on eBay Trivia Quiz

Answer: We believe everyone deserves to be paid for their contributions

The other official Community Values are: "We believe that an honest, open environment can bring out the best in people" and "We encourage you to treat others the way you want to be treated."

Can any large company live up to these?

Answer: False

EBay has sites in 27 countries, including ebay.co.uk (Britain), ebay.au (Australia), ebay.fr (France) and ebay.ph (Philippines). Sellers in any country serviced by eBay can sell to buyers in any country on eBay. I live in the U.S. and have successfully bought several things from England and Ireland.

Answer: All of these

EBay has a few rules on what can be sold (no live animals, no guns, no items with swastikas ...) but otherwise all sorts of different things are available. If you have something in your closet that you know you will never use, you can try selling it on eBay.

Answer: Anyone can sell on eBay

Reading through the numerous pages in the Help section and taking any available tutorials will definitely help you as a seller, but they aren't required. Ebay allows both individuals and businesses to sell on their site. Prior experience as a buyer on eBay may make the selling process more understandable, but it is not required.

Answer: Anyone can buy on eBay

If you buy items with a credit card and then get into a dispute with the seller, your credit card company may help you reverse the charge. As with selling, reading as much as possible in the Help section and the tutorials about how eBay works will make the buying process easier, but they aren't required.

Answer: All of these

Ebay allows a seller to include the option of Best Offer when listing a fixed price item. The buyer can submit an offer below the listed price and the seller then decides whether or not to accept that amount. The Best Offer option cannot be added to an auction because a buyer 's highest bid is the buyer 's best offer. Ebay used to have Multiple Item Auctions, also known as Dutch auctions, where the highest bidder overall won, but paid the amount set by the lowest winning bidder.

These caused lots of confusion and were eventually discontinued.

Answer: Hope that someone outbids you

A bid for an item on eBay is a contract. If you win the item you must pay. It's a good idea to know what the going price for something is so that you don't end up bidding too much. Don't ever bid more than you are willing to pay!

Answer: Either the buyer or the seller may leave feedback first

Leaving feedback is voluntary. Some sellers leave feedback as soon as they receive payment. Others wait until they know that the buyer is satisfied with the item. Some buyers leave feedback when they receive their item. Some don't want to leave feedback until after the seller does. Some buyers and sellers never leave feedback. All of these options are OK because leaving feedback is voluntary.
Some buyers who are unhappy with the item leave negative feedback before trying to work out the problem with the seller. This is not a good idea. Always try contacting the seller first. Once you leave a feedback comment it cannot be removed, so think carefully about what you want to say.

In 2008 eBay modified the feedback system. Buyers may still leave positive, negative or neutral feedback, or none at all. Sellers may now only leave positive feedback or none at all. EBay thinks this will encourage buyers to be more honest about their experience since they won't be afraid of sellers retaliating with negative feedback. Many sellers think the change will encourage buyers to leave negative feedback for issues beyond the seller's control.

Answer: Contact the seller to ask about filing an insurance claim

EBay has a disputes process which can be used if the seller won't cooperate, but many sellers are good people who think that customer service is important. Whenever you have a problem, it's best to contact the seller before filing reports. If the seller refuses to cooperate, the next step is to file a SNAD report.

When they receive a report, eBay will look into the situation. If eBay decides that the buyer was right, the seller will have to refund the money. Feedback should always be the last thing that you do. Feedback can be left any time within 60 days of the auction.

Answer: File an UPI (unpaid item) report through eBay

UPI stands for Unpaid Item. The policy is that eBay will send a reminder to the buyer that he or she committed to pay when placing a bid. If too many UPI reports are filed about a buyer, eBay may decide to not allow that person to participate. Someone who has been kicked off by eBay is noted as Not A Registered User (NARU).

Answer: No, this is illegal and is grounds for being kicked off eBay

While eBay rules do not allow fake or counterfeit items to be sold, they do not have enough staff to screen every listing and depend on members to point out problem listings. If you are looking for a designer handbag and see a listing with a price that is too good to be true, it is probably a fake.

One specific exception is made for replica stamps, as long as they are clearly marked and also have this information in the title and description. Thank you to FT player Beormund for pointing out this exception.

Answer: No

Shipping costs are more than simply postage. It is shipping and handling, and may include packaging material, pens or markers for addressing the items, gas for driving to the post office, etc.
Buyers should look at the shipping amount listed before bidding. If an amount seems too high, then the buyer shouldn't bid on that item.

Answer: A Reserve price is the lowest amount that the seller will accept but is higher than the starting bid

This is a special option that sellers may choose. If no one bids as high as the Reserve, then the item does not sell. When a bid equals or exceeds the Reserve, the listing shows "Reserve Met."
Sellers are not obligated to say how much the Reserve is, but it avoids confusion and frustration on the part of the buyers if the amount of the Reserve is included in the text of the auction. (This is based on advice in the Answer Center on eBay.com in the U.S. Other countries may be different in regards to sellers revealing their Reserve.)

Answer: EBay does not have a warehouse

Some buyers have received emails inviting them to buy items which are stored in the eBay warehouse. This is a scam. EBay is a place for sellers to advertise and provides the infrastructure to make the transactions but eBay does not own or store the items listed on its site.

San Jose is where eBay's national headquarters is located. I used Nigeria as one of the choices because there seem to be a lot of internet scams originating there.

Answer: By charging fees to the sellers

EBay charges all sellers an insertion fee, based on the amount that the seller lists as the starting bid, and charges the sellers a percentage of the final selling price. They also charge for listing "extras" such as gallery pictures, borders, and featured listing.

Thank you to all the regular volunteer responders in the eBay Answer Center who repeat the information that I put in questions #7 thru #14 to new eBay members every day.