eBay for Dummies

The reason I chose this book is to be able to sell old college books that have been stacking up in my closet.  I've also had some bad experiences with eBay and felt that reading this book would be a good way to save myself from rookie mistakes.  I thought eBay was an unsafe way to do business but after reading the book I feel like I have more confidence.

eBay for Dummies was written as a guide to people who know absolutely nothing about how to use eBay, much like myself. The book covers a very wide variety of topics ranging from simple things such as how to sign up, use menus, and search for items to some complex things such as how to research your asking price, what to do when auctions go bad, setting up eBay stores and so on. The book takes the reader step by step through processes that are potentially daunting for first time users such as the buying process and selling process.

The author of the book is Marsha Collier.  She started using eBay in 1996 to get money for her daughers education.  She was one of the first eBay University instructors and one of the first PowerSellers.  She is the best selling author of eBay books with over a million copies in print.  She is an experienced writer having worked at places like the Miami Herald and Los Angeles Daily News.

The primary value of this book is that when new eBay users are done reading it they know what to expect when they use eBay, and they can start buying and selling without a trial and error approach. It is easy to make mistakes using something like eBay for the first time, and this book is a confidence booster for people like me.

The strongest aspects of this book are the author’s expertise, the completeness of the book, the well placed humor, easy reading, and a part of the book called the “Ten (or So) Golden Rules for eBay Buyers and Sellers.” This part summarizes all of the important lessons and overarching themes throughout the book in about twelve short sections near the end.

I highly recommend this book for people who are new to ebay and new to the internet.  For people who grew up using the internet and computers this book is unnecessary, although there are good lessons in it.  I would recommend this book for people like my mom and dad.