Placing Ebay Orders

Register at eBay. You will need to be very careful about entering your email address because a confirmation email to which you must respond will be sent to that address.

Once you are registered, you can set up your My eBay page. You can choose the arrangement of each section. The colors, what goes first and so on.

About the actual bidding or Buy It Now ordering process, I have a few suggestions.  If you are looking for specific items 

• Don't bid on the first item you see that you see
• Pay attention to whether there is Free Shipping or a low price but high shipping costs because that is part of the final price.
• Read everything the Seller has to say about the item and read carefully because there are some serious scams on eBay even now.
• Don't be afraid to contact the seller to ask for specifics such as Does it work?  Is it cracked or scratched?  What is included in the box? Is the warranty included? Do these run large? Id it the  real or original item or is it a knockoff?  Whatever. Better to ask first than to have buyers remorse when you find that the item is not what you thought because you didn't ask a question.
• Make use of the watch list to save different auctions of the same or similar item. That gives you a chance to more closely compare you selections for condition, package, total price and so on.
• Remember unless you use a Buy it Now option, a low starting price is not necessarily the starting price. Decide how much you are really willing to pay for the item and use notes to enter that in your narrative section for that auction.
• If you aren't going to set pop up alerts on your phone or computer, remember to check the status of an auction which is important to you.  Don't worry if you set your preferences, eBay will remind you by email but that will be hours before the close of that auction.
• If ordering/bidding on more than one auction from the same seller, remember to check first to see if they will combine items to save you money on shipping - some do - some don't - and some items can't be combined. Then make sure that the final shipping fee is correct. Sometimes that doesn't happen unless you contact the Seller to ask for an updated total.
• You can also use the shopping cart to buy items that you know you want at that price if the Seller offers that option. You can always remove those items later if you get sticker shock or find another item you prefer more.
• I'd suggest joining PayPal as well and backing it with an accepted credit card if possible. Many Sellers only want transactions through PayPal. And there is both Buyer and Seller protection there.
• Get to know the various services of eBay - what can be done, what can't be done.
• Remember to pay for your won auction promptly.  
• If you have a problem with an item received, contact the Seller immediately and be specific about the problem and what you expect. Give them a couple of days to respond before filing a complaint.  Contact through eBay is best because you can have a copy of that communication sent to your email address.
• Remember that in states with sales tax, that may be added for at checkout/payment. 
• Don't believe everything a Seller claims! Certain words are tipoffs but the overall wording is designed to be misleading.
• eBay is often not the place for the best price on new items but sometimes it is.  And for older or oddball items it is often one of the only easy marketplaces.
• Happy Bidding