Visiting eBay

http://www.ebay.co.uk/ EBay is an American company, it is an online auctioning and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell goods and services worldwide.

The major services provided by eBay are;

• A service for buying and selling goods.
• Which can then be reported on etc...Working on a crediting system, once a user has setup an account and begins to sell products, the buyers of the merchandise can give feedback on the product e.g. if the user has bad feedback then you know not to buy off them, and if the user has good feedback then you know they are trustworthy and provide quality goods and that it is safe to buy off them.
• Providing a relatively safe way of online shopping, because eBay is strictly monitored and accounts need quite alot of setting up, which take alot of personal details so if the customer uses eBay in the wrong way they are easily tracked down and appropriate measures are taken against them.
• Advertising products

eBay does not really have a target audience because so many different products are advertised and sold which are specific to all kinds of audience. Although it can be said that it is only available to be used by people old enough to use a credit card that can be used to buy things online with, it is easy for a minor to find what they want and then nag their parents for long enough until they give in.

The auction process on eBay; The person selling the product will start with a minimum asking price, this can then be lowered, matched, or highered by the customer, then if others are involved the auction will carry on going until people are out bid or the provider of the product accepts someones offer and the product is sold. eBay fulfils the auction process very well because it monitors closely the money being payed for products with programs like pay pal and other various software monitors which will step in when a illegitimate product is being sold or far too much money is being offered for a small product e.g. game/concert tickets. The benefits of this service is it provides a quick easy online store, most of the time provides quality goods, it is monitored closely, and customers and sales people have to meet alot of safety requirements. The limitations of the service range from; dodgy goods being sold, not every deal made can be closely monitored, sometimes the details people provide are false, and professional con-men can use the site to their advantage (phishing etc..).

eBay is so successful as a shopping model because it has become known world wide as a quality, reliable service. That provides quality goods and easy ways of finding if the person you are buying from is genuine or trustworthy. eBay also advises users of dangers of buying online but also reassures people by stating there security measures and sanctions that can be carried out therefore increasing peoples trust in the website but not of the people selling the products.