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Technology Stocks : eBay - Superb Internet Business Model -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Cents who wrote (296)	9/24/1998 3:30:00 PM
From: tiquer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7772

I like Ebay for buying and selling Antiques... so this only refers to that market... If you are a serious collector of a certain item, then you know exactly what you what.. what to look for ...and what is rare or desirable... so you go out and find it.. and bid on it..knowing exactly what is a fair price to pay and you can view the sellers feedback.. if it is in the 100s all positive then you can be most assured that there will be no problems with the transaction and the dealer is representing his item well... most sellers will give a full refund if there is a problem with representation.. (which is just like an auction house has to do) If you are not a serious collector and want to start buying a certain item then you best do some research..learn about the market for that item..learn what is desirable..etc... it is no different if some one goes into an antique mall and buys something they think is rare and desirable only to start seeing the same item in every mall... There is no way to know if the dealer you are buying from knows his or her stuff or what a fair price is... I really do not think there is toooo much fraud in the way of false feed back... it is hard to keep track of..and most good sellers do not want to endanger there reputation... Just like anything..the more you educate your self the better you will do... I don't want a middle man..that is what is great about Ebay... IMHO Roger

To: Cents who wrote (296)	9/24/1998 5:20:00 PM
From: Bradley W. Fisher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7772

This is the one thing that I find shines on eBay ... their rating system. Each time a transaction occurs, the buyer and seller are encouraged to leave feedback on how well the deal went. If you are buying something from a seller that has done many (and often the number is in the hundreds) of deals, and all of the feed back was positive, then I think you're fairly safe from being burned by that individual. Nobody wants to have negative feedback in their profile. I have purchased about 20 times in the last 2 months now, most items under $200 and have been VERY happy with the results. And, I've met some really nice people. I know of other friends that have made several purchases in the $500 to $2000 dollar range with equally good results. My best advice on forming an opinion on how the system works, would be to encourage people to just go there and register ... then you have access to all the info. I like it, and truly believe this is the future of a significant number of sales of new and used items. At least until the government sees that there is money to be made and wants a bigger share of it;) This is just my opinion, I own no stock in this company, nor do I plan to in the near future.