Do you use your computer often? Do you visit Web sites on a regular basis? If so, I don’t have to worry about you feeling at home online. If you only use your computer for e-mail, you’re missing a
whole world of exciting information.
How fast is Google?
After running a search on one of my book titles, Google comes up with 22,700 referencesthat can be accessed with a click of my mouse. How long did this search take? Only .05 seconds.
Google is so fast and convenient that I hardly ever look at my recipe books anymore.
When I want to know how to make something, I just type in the name of the recipe on Google, and I’m usually presented with a choice of many versions of the same item. I print it out (and save the recipe on my computer) and now I’m making my own recipe books!
Using search sites to find information about auction items
almost any search phrase or a group of keywords. After you enter the words that you would like more information on, a page appears with a long list of relevant Web sites that can answer questions
about collectibles — and anything else you may have a question about.
If you’re looking for price information about new items, check my Web site, www.coolebaytools.com, for links to some street price comparison sites for new items. I also highly recommend John Levine, Carol Baroudi, and Margaret Levine Young’s The Internet For Dummies, 8th Edition (Wiley Publishing, Inc.). I discovered quite a few tricks for successfully using Internet search engines in this well-written, funny, and enlightening book.
Getting set up
* Credit card or bank account: Very important, as many sellers are kind of picky when it comes to getting paid for the items they sell to you.
Internet access: A home Internet connection through a local ISP (Internet service provider) is the best, although many people only log on to the Internet from work. (If your company has policies against such frivolities, beware.)
* Internet browser: On your home computer, you will have an Internet browser. This is the software that enables you to browse the Internet. In this book (and on my home computer), I use Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.
* E-mail software: When you browse eBay and find items that interest you, you may have questions for the seller. The seller will respond via e-mail. To read the responses, along with e-mail messages that eBay and other associated services like PayPal send you, you need e-mail software. Luckily, this also comes with your computer or is supplied by your ISP. I use Microsoft Outlook, which is part of the Office suite, but Outlook Express comes with almost every PC and does a great job for everyday e-mail. (If you use Web-based e-mail, see the sidebar titled, “Using Yahoo! or Hotmail? Grab your credit card,” elsewhere in this chapter.)
* eBay User ID: Your ID is very important ! You’ve got to figure out a name to use for your user identification name at eBay. Think of a clever name that describes you or your hobbies. My User ID is marsha_c. It’s not very creative (but then, I started at eBay in 1996, and it worked fine for me then). I’m afraid to change my ID now because no one would ever find me again! Your eBay User ID has some rules. Your User ID must be at least two characters long, can’t contain any spaces (but you
can use the underscore (_) or the dash (-) within the name), it can’t be obscene or profane, and it can’t be a Web site or e-mail address. You also can’t use “eBay” in your ID unless
you are an employee of eBay. eBay doesn’t allow the use of the symbols @, <, >, and &, and it also doesn’t allow the use of the letter “e” followed by numbers. By the way, eBay User IDs
can’t be traded or sold.
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