Prospector

Issue date: 12/3/03 Section: News

When Christmas comes around every year, there's one thing that many people dread most-shopping. Anytime I think about shopping during the Christmas season I can almost hear that ominous tune that forecasts chaos and misery. And I always face the dilemma of having enough time to go- (dum dum dum) shopping. So putting all those research skills I've learned in college to use, last year I ventured into the realm of online shopping. I was skeptical at first, of course, but ended up pleasantly surprised. There's an array of websites that provide a safe, secure, shopping atmosphere with a wide variety of goods that allow the online consumer to find just the right gift.

My biggest issue with Christmas shopping, other than time, has always been money (lack thereof, rather). A good way to solve this issue is by checking places like Ebay.com . Ebay provides a wide open market for a number of items. You can find things from coupons to cars; it's a great place to look for rare or collector's items. An advantage of Ebay is that it lets individual people or small businesses auction their goods for lower prices for a low fee. I've won auctions for as low as one cent. I've bought video games, DVDs, CDs, and various collectibles on Ebay.

Because Ebay is open to anyone, the online consumer may be faced with a great deal of hesitation before purchasing something through an Ebay seller. A great tool that Ebay provides is a rating system. This allows consumers to leave feedback comments on the people they have bought items from. Next to the seller's name a number and a colored star appears in parenthesis; this is the seller's rating. By clicking on the number, you'll be allowed to view feedback posted by past customers of seller. This can give you a general idea of how well the seller handles their business.

There's a lot of great items that you can buy for cheap prices; however, the thing you have to watch out for is the Shipping and Handling charges. You might win and item for 99 cents, but the S&H charge could be five or more dollars. This isn't always the case, but the S&H charges are sometimes on the high side. Because this is an easily accessible marketplace, people are often finding themselves caught in a feverish frenzy of trying to win and auction. I've noticed that items that are especially battled for on Ebay are CDs, DVDs, and video games. Sometimes you can get awesome deals, but if you don't have a fast internet connection it's more likely you can lose out on getting the things you want.

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