I am doomed. Utterly doomed.

[gerisullivan]

I just became a registered eBay user. It's my first time. Yes, of course I did so to bid on something. It's a very low-cost item. Yeah, right.

I am doomed.

I am not, however, going to increase my bid. Either I'll get it or I won't.

It's not even what I went looking for.

Of course it isn't.

Doomed. Doomed. Doomed.

I am suspiciously cheerful and confident for someone who has successfully avoided this fate for the last decade and more.

Film at 11. In the meantime, advice for an eBay neo would be very welcome. What mistakes should I endeavor to avoid? Well, beside the mistake of registering in the first place?

Comments

[replyhazy.livejournal.com]

What everybody else said, but I will add:

-- Be sure the vendor takes your preferred method of payment before you bid.

-- If it's something you wouldn't normally buy without trying it on or touching it in some way, eBay is probably not the right venue to buy it in.

-- Don't FORGET what you've been bidding on. Make a note on the calendar about an auction being done on that day. And don't forget to leave feedback.

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

I was very surprised when Jack WINOLJ started buying carnival glass on eBay exactly because that's the sort of thing I would want to see for myself, touch, and hold. He made a few newbie mistakes along the way, but most of those were as a new collector rather than as a new eBay user. During the years since -- over a decade now -- he's had hundreds of good experiences and only a few bad ones.

Fingers crossed that I'm as fortunate...and that I don't get so far into it that I have hundreds of auctions under my belt by the time another decade rolls by!