Ebay and the plethora of online auctions sites that can be found on the www these days have revolutionized the world of commerce. With a virtual marketplace numbering in the tens to hundreds of millions worldwide, the possibilities and opportunities seem limitless.

For the sake of brevity, we will focus on eBay as an example of a well designed, and very successful online auction venue.

EBay has a category for just about everything, from beanie babies to VW bugs, antique chamber pots to buffalo hides.

Based soley upon pictures and ad copy, along with various safe-guards to prevent fraud and scams, people buy and sell items daily in a "virtual marketplace" consisting of about 80-85 million online "visits".

For the novice, let's establish some ground rules and realities about this unique form of commerce:

1) Items by category run, at times, hot or cold. What was hot one month may be old, cold, news another.

2) Listing an item does not guarantee it will sell.

3) Sentimental value for an item means nothing when it comes to setting a realistic opening bid, or reserve price.

4) Catalog or "book value" is also not a good indicator of what an item may sell for online.

5) Once an item has a winning bid, it is sold. There isn't room for second thoughts or "sellers blues". If you don't want an item to sell below a certain amount, then a reserve is set at that amount.

6) If you, the client, absolutely has to get top dollar for an item, eBay may or may not be the correct venue for you. Some items sell for more than the set reserve, while others may get no where close to the desired selling price.

7) There are dedicated sites for buying and selling particular categories such as, but not limited to, dolls, antique tools, vintage cars or depression glass. Researching these other sites may prove valuable, and you may decide to try auctioning your goods there, as opposed to eBay.

8) Not everything can be sold online, and sites such as eBay have their own list of proscribed or prohibited items. It is suggested that you spend some time online getting the "feel" of what's allowed and what's not. Accessible from their home page, the eBay sitemap shows you where everything is, including their rather long list of "what's allowed" and "what isn't".

9) Certain items are just not considered good eBay items. This can be based partly on value: what's considered low cost "garage sale" items my benefit you better by being donated to your local non-profit. Other items, such as anything of an "Adult Nature", may not be allowed or may attract the type of clientel you'd rather not have.

10) Not every transaction will be successful, and there will always be those that will try to take advantage of people, under the guise of anonimity. Never provide personal or financial information over email or online. Some people may feel nervous or unsure of trying to sell an item by themselves, and for these folks, there are The Trading Assistants, those people that make it their business to sell goods online for other people, on a commission or consignment basis. They can be found by browsing the eBay site map under Trading Assistants.