eBay: The Missing Manual

uBid

Established in 1997, uBid (www.ubid.com)is a business-to-consumer auction site—which means that, like Bidz (page 426), uBid requires its sellers to prove that they're bona fide licensed businesses. UBid offers a few other advantages for buyers:

• Express Auctions. Every Monday through Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time, bargain hunters can find great deals. Express Auctions always start at $1, and uBid posts new items every 20 minutes.

• Mega-Auctions. A Mega-Auction is like a giant Dutch auction (Section 1.4.7). The seller has a large lot of identical items to sell, and bidders try to buy a quantity (or just one) for the lowest possible price. The trick is not to get knocked out of the bidding (for bidding strategies, see Section 3.3.4).

Tip

If you're a seller, you can pick up some good deals in uBid's Mega-Auctions to resell on eBay.

• Add-On Sales. Some uBid auctions let you purchase accessories for the product up on the block: printer cables, a digital camera case, and so on. If an item is eligible for Add-On products, an order form appears right after you bid. Check any accessories you want; if you win the auction, you've also bought the accessories.

• In-house Payment Processing. When you win an auction, you pay for it with a credit card through uBid. You don't have to worry about scammers disappearing with your cash.

• Overtime Policy. If you hate sniping, you'll love this policy. Auctions don't end until there have been no bids for 10 continuous minutes. If someone makes ...