on ebay, if you see something you want, you don't bid. you bookmark the url, you note the time the auction ends, then you sign off and think about what the most you'd want to pay. obout 5 minutes before the auction is scheduled to end you get on. if it is still below your max, then you watch it, refreshing the page until it is below one minute till it ends. then you put in your predetermined max bid and enter. if you are overbid, then you know you were not driven up by emotion. you bid your max. if you get it then no one else has time to make a last minute bid to get it away from you. believe me that is how it is done. if you are going to do a lot of bidding, there are even software out there to put on your computer that will store the bookmark, store your max bid, time auction ends. it will dialup your isp, sign on and enter to ebay your bid with as little as 10 seconds left. you set the time. if you wish to sell on ebay there is software to help you build your auction ad. puts in photos if you got them gives you background color even music. i hate the music ads myself because it takes so much time to load down a wav(sound) file. i have studied ebay a good bit as you can tell. i may open a coin shop online when i retire. ebay can be a pain, but, if you don't find it there, you probably can't find it. -----Original Message----- From: Magenta Raine [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2002 4:40 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Striving For Independence Anthony, I'm very excited about the mall, because there are many stores there that I've been buying from for years, like domestications, coldwater creek, etc... I've only had one negative experience in buying online in all the years I've been buying online. That was 2 christmases ago, I ordered a vase from crate and barrell, and it did not arrive until january. Otherwise, I feel pretty good about online stores. I am however wary of auction places, I find the process confusing, so maybe you can teach me how to buy stuiff from ebay... I do have some stuff I want to find and buy. Not antiques, exactly, but out of print bookss and CD's. Mag who really wants to break free of ssi and all its limitations.