eBay

Curiosity finally got the best of me and I made the decision to give eBay a try. Having heard stories about the virtual cornucopia of inexpensive goodies available through this international storefront it seemed as if I was the only one to have never made a purchase this way. As a person with relatively few material needs, I really don't do a lot of shopping and generally find the trip to the mall/grocery store is adequate to supply what needs exist. Yet, if the entire planet (or so it seems) is shopping on eBay, then it would be prudent to be able to relate to the experience.

Like most new adventures, the beginning is filled with confusion and missteps. The eBay adventure was no exception. Security features to protect buyer and sellers are in place, but required several days to fully implement. It was admittedly a bit unnerving to give out my bank account information in order to set up a payment account through PayPal, but friends have assured me it is safe and offers a level of protection for buyers.

Although it took several days of searching to find something I might 'need', a CD by the Annie Moses Band caught my eye. Because the seller was looking for a minimum bid of $.99 (I was willing to pay much more), I entered the process by placing my opening bid above that amount. Then I waited and watched for several days until the auction for the item was closed. To my surprise, no one else bid on the item. So, for the ridiculous price of 99-cents plus $2.75 shipping, the CD I'd avoided purchasing for a couple of years was soon to be within my grasp. Like most things though, there is a process. So, on day 1, I won the bid; day 2, I received by $3.74 invoice, day 3, I paid the invoice through PayPal, and on day 4 the wait began.

The seller's advertising said the item would be in my hand between 6 and 9 days after my payment was received. After 6 days passed and hoping for the best, I checked the mailbox - nothing. 7, 8, then 9 days elapsed and still nothing. It seemed the appropriate time to send a note to the seller and try to find out if there was a CD actually in my future or if I had been scammed out of my $3.74. Seller assured me all orders that were paid on the day of my payment had been place in the mail just 3 days later. Okay, I'll wait. 10, 11, now 12 days -- still nothing, but another note to the seller & he assured me that he has more than one copy and a new one is coming my way today.

Perhaps the CD is in the hands of the postal service and on the way to my mailbox, perhaps not. It really doesn't matter because the most important thing is that now I've 'eBay'ed and can speak to the experience first hand. As a shopping experience, the process came up woefully short in terms of satisfaction and I'm struggling to see the attraction of the process. Locating a product, except for the most diehard shopper, is difficult and time consuming. Trying to navigate the jargon of keywords and searching through page after page of items only remotely associated with the sought item is boring and tedious. The anticipation of winning the bid, at least from my perspective, was novel, but the annoyance associated with trying to obtain the merchandise looms like a dark cloud on the whole experience.

Experience is never wasted though and as education costs go, $3.74 is a very inexpensive lesson. But, before absorbing it I may take another chance to extend my experience and test the 'guarantee' offered by PayPal.