As international commerce grows, there is an amazing development which is expanding at ever-increasing rate--business on the Internet. One of the most arresting auction business is called eBay. Down at the local auction house in the city, you would normally find excited bidders raising their hands or nodding agreement as the auctioneer rattles off the prices for a set of bookshelves, heater or second-hand television set.
Now the same cut and thrust of auction selling is drawing not the hundreds who cram into a crowded auction room, but millions of Internet surfers who visit eBay, the biggest online auction site, and others of similar style.
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For example, in one month that I looked at the colorful eBay site, these were numbers of items for sale in some of the major categories:
Collectibles 684,473
Sports Memorabilia 269,051
Books, Movies, Music 267,324
Toys 242,155
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According to the eBay promotion, users can find the unique and the interesting on eBay--everything from chintz china to desks, teddy bears to trains, and furniture to figurines.
So why do people come to eBay? As the leading person-to-person trading site, buyers trade on eBay because of the large number of items available. If you want it, somebody's probably selling it on eBay. Similarly, sellers are attracted to eBay to conduct business because eBay has the most buyers. There are over a million auctions happening on eBay every day.
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People tell us that they come for all the cool stuff they can get, but they stay, even after they finish their collection, for the fun people they meet at eBay. "Take your time, and get to know the eBay world" is their advice.
So how do you make a bid and buy something at this auction?
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First I had to register my name, email address and password with eBay. So they can track the sales and make sure everybody is fair dealing.
Remembering that bidding online is the same as buying or entering into a contract with the seller, I searched under guitars in the Musical Instruments section with my mouse clicking on the various pages. I had a good look at the seller's feedback record. If the person selling goods on eBay has tried to cheat, or back out of a deal, email users of eBay can write their own feedback comments, praising or criticizing the eBay seller, or bidder. Everyone can see what is going on. The eBay company can ban anyone who has not acted by the rules.
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The auction details were set out and the day the auction was to end (in one week's time). There was a nice picture of the guitar. I reviewed my bid of ＄ 20 to ensure that all the information was right and clicked on the button "Place Bid"
Unfortunately I was notified that my bid was not the highest--someone else had bid more money, so I missed out.
However, If I had put in the highest bid, the eBay website would have notified me that I was the highest bidder for the time being. When the auction ends, the highest bidder buys the goods.

A. Among the special items for sale are an illustration of the winners from 84 Years of the USA Open Golf tournament, signed by the famous golfers, and framed. There is a Beatles Original Coin, especially minted for the first US tour in 1964 of the famous Liverpool pep music group. Furniture, new kitchen knives, guitar study programs, computers--you name it, eBay auction site has it, as people worldwide take advantage of the chance to sell their goods to the biggest market in the world--the cyberspace community of Internet watchers.
B. This is a business that allows customers to buy and sell goods by offering them for sale, or bidding for items listed at the eBay website, as if they were at an auction. Currently, eBay has listed at its website 2.14 million items for sale in 1,627 categories. Each month the eBay site has 1.5 billion visitors who view the eBay pages, looking for bargains or working out how much to charge for that bed or unwanted radio they want to list for auction.
C. I was looking for a guitar and this is what I did.
D. There are not many stores in the world where they praise you as a good shopper or give you minus points in public if you are a bad payer. But this is the world of the Internet where the rules are being constructed as the system develops.
E. According to an eBay spokesperson, eBay is more than just a place to trade. It's also a place to meet that one other person in the world who shares your passion for your own particular interest, whether it's stamps, war memorabilia, sporting goods, furniture or computer programs, for example.
F. Then I was ready to bid. It does not cost any money to bid on items at eBay. Of course, if you win the auction, you must pay the seller directly, but you will not be charged anything by eBay.