Buying & Selling Music, Instruments, & Collectibles on eBay

376 Pages·2004·15.49 MB·english

by  Mark Abdelnour

Buying &
Selling Music,
Instruments, and
Music Collectibles
on EBay
®
Mark Abdelnour
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© 2004 by Thomson Course Technology PTR. All rights reserved. SVP, Thomson Course
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ISBN: 1-59200-500-4
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This book is dedicated to my loving wife, Heather Archibald,
the miracle that is our newborn daughter, Katie Bronwyn,
and my incredible family. Thanks to all of you for always
being there to support me.
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Acknowledgments
This book would not have been possible without the support of the
following people.
Heather Archibald, thanks for your love and patience. Nothing I do
would be possible without you.
Heidi and George, my parents, for being the perfect role models and
the best parents anyone could possibly have. You are an inspiration to
your family.
Katie Bronwyn, my daughter, for making Heather and I the happiest
and luckiest people on earth.
Eric Grebler, my technical editor and friend, for your graciousness
and support over the years. You are a good friend.
Jenny Davidson, for your hard work, dedication, and attention to detail.
Jordy Nicholas and Mark Swift, for their massive contributions to this book.
Phat Matt Hately and Solace for their mind-blowing rock’n’roll.
Visit the rock band Solace at http://www.solacerocks.com/
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About the Author
MARK ABDELNOURhas been involved in the music scene since the age of 10—
from piano and guitar lessons to creating his own musical scores using com-
puters. In 2000 Abdelnour began using eBay and instantly fell in love with it.
He has been searching for, buying, and selling items—many of which are music
related—for several years.
Abdelnour has developed extensive amounts of curriculum and learning tools
across a wide range of technical and non-technical topics. He has recently worked
on several books with topics covering operating systems, music editors, image-
editing software, and hardware. Abdelnour currently resides in Ottawa, Ontario.
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Contents
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii
PART 1 Introducing eBay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chapter 1 Music on eBay? Like What?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Concert/Musicals/Opera Tickets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Concert Memorabilia (Ticket Stubs, Concert Shirts, Pins, and So On). . 6
Music Collectibles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Music CDs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Music 8-Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Music Cassettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Albums/Vinyl. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
DVD/VHS Videos/Concerts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Musicals on TV and Film. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Music Figures/Toys
(KISS Figures, Alice Cooper Figures, Metallica Figures, and So On) . . 16
Musical Instruments
(Trumpets, Guitars, Pianos, Xylophones, and So On) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Music/Audio Accessories
(Headphones, Stands, Straps, Humidifiers, Tools, and So On). . . . . . . 20
Audio Electronics
(DJ Equipment, Stereos, MP3 Players, Amps, Speakers, and So On) . . 20
Autographs from Music Celebrities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Music Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Music-related Books/Magazines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Posters/Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Sheet Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Instructional Music Videos/CD/DVDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Chapter 2 Flattening the Learning Curve. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Introducing the eBay Crew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
What Is eBay?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
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Contents
Exploring the Front Page. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Communities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Chapter 3 Getting Started. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Registering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
PayPal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Understanding Feedback. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Chapter 4 Seek and You Shall Find. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Introducing—The Music CD Junkie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
What Are You Looking For? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Searching Using Find Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Search Items by Seller. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Search Items by Bidder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Search Items in Stores. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Search Modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Just Browsing, Thanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
eBay Search Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
My Favorite Searches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Chapter 5 Found It! Now What?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Exploring the Search Results Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
PART 2 Buying the Sounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Chapter 6 Understanding the Item Page View . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Exploring the Item Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Item Details. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Describing the Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Shipping and Payment Details. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Accepted Payment Methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Ready to Bid? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
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Contents
Chapter 7 Before You Bid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Introducing—The Rock Star . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Know Thy Item. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Ask Seller a Question. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Check and Read Feedback. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Visit the Backstage Lounge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Giving Works—Charity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
MissionFish. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Chapter 8 Bid to Win . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Are You Ready to Bid?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Vanilla Bidding Explained . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Nudge Bidding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Sniping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Odd Man in Technique. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
The Last-Minute Shopper—AKA Vulture Techniques. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
A Bitter Shill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Chapter 9 After the Bid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Checking Your Activity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Notifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Using the eBay Toolbar to Monitor Your Activity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Stick to Your Guns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Did You Lose the Auction? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Did You Win the Auction?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Chapter 10 My eBay Explained . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Accessing My eBay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
All Buying. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
All Selling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
All Favorites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
My Account. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Feedback. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Seller Account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
PayPal Account. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
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Contents
Chapter 11 The Half Zone on eBay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Buying on the Half Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Selling on the Half Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Introducing Half.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Chapter 12 Avoid the Scam—Music Tips from the Experts. . 229
Who Came Before You?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Serial Numbers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Check Out Discussion Rooms (Outside of eBay, Too) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Find an Expert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Check Repair Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Quiz the Seller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Refund/Warranty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
BBB: Better Business Bureau . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Are You Ready for Your Close-Up?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Completed Items Strikes Again . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Go to Trial. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
It’s All About Me. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Google It. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
How Will You Be Paying for That? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Is Feedback Alone Good Enough? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
PART 3 Selling the Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Chapter 13 Before You Sell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Introducing the Music Collector. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Be Organized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
Surfs Are Up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
Feed the Feedback Meter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
About Who? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
Talk to Your Neighbor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Talk to Experts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Google—Again?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
Collectibles, Tradeshows, and Conferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
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