eBay® for Dummies®, 6th Edition

Introduction

Welcome to eBay For Dummies, 6th Edition! Thanks for opening up this book. This is the newly updated version of the original best-selling eBay how-to guide, first published in 1999. Heed my words and you may soon be joining the millions of people interested in learning the no-nonsense facts about eBay from an active user. I'm a longtime eBay shopper and PowerSeller. My original career was in retail marketing and for over 10 years I've been making money on the site. (I even put my daughter through college on my profits!) I work from home and apply my background successfully to all facets of the site.

I can't begin to tell you how excited I am that my enthusiasm and excitement for shopping and selling on eBay has spread to so many corners of the world. eBay users (like you and I) total close to 200 million — that's quite a community. It's a community of buyers who don't feel the need to scour the streets for items to buy and of sellers who forage wholesale items to sell online and make a few dollars (or a full-time living). This makes eBay the new international marketplace, and the best part is that eBay is available to anyone who wants to take the time to figure out how it works.

My books are written sequentially, and this is the one to start with if you're a beginner. eBay For Dummies will give you the solid foundation you need to go on to my other, more advanced books on eBay selling.

eBay is a constantly evolving Web site. It isn't too hard to master, but just as with ...