How can you sign onto your computer and not be able to follow the menu driven eBay sign up and sell stuff on the web site? You really need to look at a book that is showing you the same thing that's on your screen? Believe me all eBay wants to do is get sellers on, so they can sell, so eBay can grab a share of the profit.

This book is really a bunch of dribble about how great eBay is and how it changes your life. No metion of eBay supporting the sellers only; no buyer protection, and eBay's total lack of care about fraud and no buying customer support. Is this snake oil salesman getting a kickback from eBay!?

But this book will change "Griff's" life...cause there is a sucker born every nanosecond. Like the bloated shipping and handling fees on eBay, you'll get nothing for something with this pile of pulp.

I picked up this book to find out Quickly how to sell something on eBay, and what it would cost me. I found out eventually how to sell, but not the cost, and not quickly.

I began by browsing the inspirational stories of people who'd sold all they wanted and more and of people who'd bought an item they'd been searching for for years. Then I went to the beginning to learn about eBay. But the beginning is geared for people who are turning on their computers for the first time: what is email? what is a browser? "Clicking a link will move you forward to that page" etc...

So I skipped to the section on how to sell. Again I found myself swamped with basic info. For example, Griffith devotes several pages to explaining step by step the sort of registration process most people have gone through dozens of times on other sites. Then he goes into digital photography for 36 pages. All useful, no doubt, to someone who has decided to sell. But not to someone who wants some idea of PRICE.

I went to the index to look up "fees". I found three entries, two of which (Final Value Fee and Turbolister) were arcane and of no use to me. The other was "listings". Thinking I'd found what I wanted, I quickly flipped to p.273, where I found, not a schedule of fees nor a percentage of any kind, but rather a tiny reproduction of a web page with tiny numbers representing the fees for a ceramic jug pictured on the previous page.

What is going on here? Is eBay shy about money? Are they ashamed of charging fees and making money? Do they want to imply in their "Official Bible" that their services are free? Did Griffith neglect to put in this information because it was not upbeat enough for his enthusiastic compendium of online auctioneering?

Another annoying feature is the vast amount of white space on each page, with tiny reproductions of web pages marooned in the middle. Is it too much to ask that publishers blow up the web page images so that their text is at least equal in font size to that of the book itself? I've noticed this trend in other computer books. What is this passion for empty white space? If a web page image is so unimportant that it can be shown at one third the size of the regular text, why show it at all?

Griffith goes on to discuss topics such as setting up your own store and dealing with piles of feedback, but this reader had lost heart, and in any case could not find his magnifying glass.

This is a great eBay book for those who are just starting off at eBay, and for loyal fans of eBay. The author explains how to do things at eBay in a very simple manner; and even explains how to do things on your PC in a very simple manner. If you are intimidated at all by the thought of selling or buying on eBay, and intimidated by your computer, this is the perfect book for you!Mr. Griffith also includes some touching first person stories about how eBay has changed the lives of those in desperate need of a new direction; the author himself was "saved" in a way by eBay.Just keep in mind the author is an employee of eBay, is very fond of it, and as I stated, had his life totally transformed by it. This is not an objective type book by any means, and it is not a book for those who want to read about what's wrong with eBay. (No, this man will not be telling you that the only thing eBay and PayPal do about fraud is make money off of it!)It's a sensitive type book, a book for the beginner, a non-threatening easy-to-understand book. I breezed through it and enjoyed it.My only qualm with it is it totally ignored WebTV (aka MSN TV) users, and that's a shame. I'm sure thousands of WebTV users buy and sell at eBay, and to totally ignore them, as the author did, was a big mistake in my opinion.

I started using ebay off and on several years ago but last month when I decided to get serious about making money on eBay, I bought this book. Mr. Griffith created this book as a wonderful resource directory that while flying on airplanes without access to the internet, I was able to get all my questions answered about the endless opportunities that eBay has to offer. Whatever you want to know about eBay, buying, selling and making money, Griff covers it in this book. In my opinion it is probably the only book you will ever need to be successful on eBay!

I have just finished reading The Official Ebay Bible, written by James "Griff" Griffith and all I can say is, "Bravo!!!". Never have I read anything related to Ebay that was this informative, insightful, and humorous. Thank you for the easy to follow instructions, the inspiring true stories, and the attention to detail. Every Ebay user (buyer or seller) should have this book right next to their computer. I loved Ebay before, but now they have a fan for life.