Ebay Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips & Tools

by David A. Karp

Want to know how best to use eBay? Whether you're a newcomer or longtime user, "eBay Hacks" will teach you to become efficient as both a buyer and seller. You'll find a wide range of topics, from... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0596005644
• ISBN13: 9780596005641
• Release Date: September 2003
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.9" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Interesting tip guide and essential eBay companion

I bought this book to pick up some of the finer points of selling on eBay, but what impressed me the most was what I didn't expect. Sure, this book has tons of selling strategy, but it's intermixed with keen insights into the physchology of buyers and sellers alike. I never expected that from a book like this.Another thing I never anticipated was the rich coverage of auction photographs, including tips like jpeg compression and depth of field for closeup photography. And if you are into programming (as I am), your eyes will be opened to the ebay api and the prospect of replacing hours of tedious work with a few lines of code.Did you know you could spellcheck your auctions or set it up so that you'll be notified whenever someone with zero or negative feedback bids on one of your auctions? It's in there, and more.Overall, Ebay Hacks is well written and a great ebay book with tons of tricks you never knew existed. Nothing else touches it. Highly recommended!

Indispensable if you buy or sell on eBay

O'Reilly's "hacks" series continues to impress. I've been buying and selling on eBay for nearly two years now, and have already learned a lot. In the few days it took me to read this book I learned as much again and more. Although split into 100 separate "hacks", this book is surprisingly enjoyable to read from cover to cover, and gives a real sense that the author knows what he is writing about.The book is 1/3 buying advice and 2/3 selling advice. It's way more than just a user manual. As well as eBay itself, it covers a selection of third party tools and web sites which can help you get the best from your eBay transactions. Learning from the sections on "dealing with disappointment" and "keeping out deadbeats", could mean you can avoid those problems yourself. The tips on how and when to use the eBay "feedback" system are golden. There's even some detailed advice (with perl code) about how to use the "eBay API" from your own software.If you buy or sell more than one or two things on things on eBay in the next year you really should get this book. It will easily pay for itself in saved time, shipping costs, and stress; it will help you win the items you really want, and it can probably get you better prices too. Go out and buy it.

The perfect eBay book

I was admittedly skeptical, given the abysmal selection of eBay books out there, but I was pleasantly surprised at the level of detail and professionalism in eBay Hacks. With topics like sniping and negotiating with sellers, this is not just another eBay-sanctioned user's guide; it's a meaty, thorough, entertaining, and well-written handbook, and a must-have for any buyer or seller on eBay. No eBay user should be without this book!

Why this book is good

A book, like a computer program, does somthing that make s it worth the cost. Everything in this book, like everything done by software, are things that you could do without it... If you had an endless amount of time. This book will save you time, and time is the most precious of all comodities.The information contained in this book will save you time and is faiirly robust though it does not cover everything.One area that is extremely important that is just grazed over is avoiding disreputable bidders. A novice seller might think that it's good to get all bidders but the reality is that there are many bidders that will just make your life worse. Deadbeat bidders , stalkers, check bouncers etc.The best way to avoid these types are by what essentially amounts to a credit check on your bidders. The easiest way I have found to accomplish this is by just doing a scan on them at DeadbeatBuster.ComIt is a real time database of problem bidders on all internet auction sites and can be accessed by going to http://www.firewallx.com or by simply typing DeadbeatBuster.Com into your browsers address bar.You will instantly find out if one of your bidders has a history of not paying or other such information before your auction ends so that you can cancel their bid and sell it to the buyer with the good record.