Technology in Action: Ebay

Our country is a marketing economy. People have been trading since the beginning of time. With each passing day, more and more technological advances have made it easier for us to trade. These days, shopping has never been more convenient; it has even spread to the World Wide Web. EBay is the world's largest online marketplace - a place where buyers and sellers can come together and trade almost anything! I decided to research eBay because I never used it before, I always wondered how it worked and if it was worth it. The fact that you can buy anything from just sitting at home fascinates me. At the same time, all the scams I hear about are disturbing. I want to be able to have my own opinion. I have many preconceptions diving into this project so I familiarized myself with eBay first. As I continue my ethnographic research by signing myself up on eBay and attempting to utilize its features, I will be asking and answering several questions.

Before I start at all, I had to familiarize myself with eBay. I logged on to the internet and launched eBay. I looked at the Help section on eBay that is dedicated to new users and read about its most important features. Basically, I learned that a seller adds a listing which describes the item they want to sell. The item can be anything from a car to a book to an antique. Potential Buyers then place bids on the item, however the bidding starts from a price specified by the buyer. Sellers can also sell the item at a fixed price. The auction lasts anywhere from 1-7 days, giving other buyers a chance to outbid the previous one. Once the auction is over, the highest bidder wins the auction and then the transaction occurs. In the end of the transaction, it's recommended that they both leave each other feedback. Feedback is a useful tool where buyers and sellers can build their reputations, allowing more users to trust them. Also, the more feedback you receive, the more eBay trusts you, making other features gradually available to you. Another useful tool is Paypal. It's mainly the middle man between the buyer and seller. It takes money from one bank/Paypal account and puts it in the other. It is the fastest way to send money to the seller. I browsed through some auctions and familiarized my self with the lingo. NR means No Reserve, meaning the seller didn't specify a reserved price that the item must sell for at the least. GU means gently used, LTD means limited edition; MNT means Mint (in perfect condition), NIB means new in box, and etcetera. Those acronyms are the ones I came across but there are many more. I'm sure I'll be seeing more as time goes on.

After browsing through some auctions for a good hour, I am skeptical about eBay. Some of the auctions just seem too good to be true. How can a pair of $200 jeans possibly sell for more than 70% off? I also saw some misrepresented items. The title described the item to be 100% authentic, but then the description described the replicated item to look 100% authentic. I just wonder if people know that they are getting ripped off. Once someone finds out, won't the bad feedback give the seller a bad name? In my opinion, I think eBay is useful but also unsafe and I just have to guess that a lot of people are getting