In eBay terms, Steve Gehrke is a newby.

The online auction service has been in business for just over 10 years, but Gehrke has used it only since 2001. The former Longview resident is a fast learner, however, and now he's teaching others the ins and outs of what has become "America's online marketplace."

Recently, he offered a free course on eBay buying at the Longview Senior Center. He focused on buying rather than selling, he said, because of the holiday season.

Starting Wednesday, Gehrke will teach a more intensive class at Lower Columbia College through the Community Education Program. That series of classes will include information on selling.

 

A local business owner introduced Gehrke to eBay.

"He said it had things on there that he doesn't have, and that you can sometimes buy cheaper there than he could sell it for," Gehrke said.

His interest was piqued right away, he said. Last year, his brother told him that he had set up an eBay store and had begun to teach others how to sell on eBay. That's when Gehrke enrolled at "eBay U."

"I had a study course to take," he said, adding that the course consisted of written material and online study and he completed it at home.

He aced an online exam and earned the title of education specialist.

"Then I was qualified to teach a course, 'The Basics of Selling on eBay,' " Gehrke said.

In May 2005, Gehrke went to San Jose, Calif., for "eBay Live," an event similar to a reunion for users of the online auction house.

"That one was special, because it was their 10-year celebration," Gehrke said.

He also took more classes and, in November 2005, passed the course for teaching "Beyond the Basics."

"So now I am able to help the serious eBayer set up and operate his or her business on eBay," he said.

Besides offering specifics on selling, Gehrke said he focuses on buying and selling online the safe way.

In a time when Internet thieves are rampant, and all of them seem to be trying to con honest folks out of their personal information, Gehrke is determined to help people secure their identities and private details. During his free workshop, he offered tips to senior citizens about signing up for eBay and setting up passwords.

"A lot of people use numbers and letters," he said, adding that the password should be easy to remember, yet hard for other people to figure out.

"On my eBay password, I change it every 60 days, just to make sure," he said.

eBay will ask for a credit card when users first sign up, he said, but providing that information isn't necessary.

"It's only to verify who you are, but if you don't want to use a credit card, they will go ahead and accept it (your application for membership)," he said.

Many eBayers pay for their items via Paypal, a payment service owned by eBay. Through Paypal, people can use their bank accounts or a credit card to give sellers money.

"Some people, if they're going to do a lot with eBay, set up a special bank account at their home bank just for this," he said.

Another Internet scourge are "phishers" --- crooks who send official-looking e-mails to unsuspecting people, asking for such important identifiers as Social Security, credit card and bank account numbers.

Paypal and eBay users frequently get this kind of e-mail, Gehrke said, but there's a fairly easy way to identify it.

"If you get something from Paypal or eBay, and it doesn't have your name on it, it's not from them," he said.

Be cautious even if something does come with your name, Gehrke said.

"Never, ever respond to anything online that asks you for your personal information," he said. "Paypal already has your information, eBay has your information. Why do they need to ask you for it again?"

Although most transactions on eBay go off without a hitch, Gehrke said buyers and sellers should be careful about who they choose to deal with.

eBay offers a rating system for members with the potential for both positive and negative feedback, Gehrke said. Buyers can read the feedback of others who have purchased from a specific seller -- similar to the old-fashioned practice of asking friends who does the best business in plumbing or hardware.

On eBay, consumers look for a buyer who has a lot of positive feedback to ensure that the sale will be a sound one.

"If you're going to buy something for $100 from someone who has a zero or minus-one feedback, you might think to yourself, maybe that's not such a good idea," Gehrke said.

Beginning sellers can start by auctioning small items to build up feedback or buying inexpensive things, Gehrke said. A certain amount of feedback is important to build trust.

"For example, if you see something you want to buy using the buy-it-now feature, you have to have at least a 10 feedback to do so," he said.

The only way to acquire feedback is by completing transactions.

"When (an auction is completed), you have the opportunity to leave either positive, negative or neutral feedback," he said. "You can only do it for that person, and they can do it for you. They can't get into their own feedback, though, and change it or add to it."

Even when feedback is good, buyers still need to exercise common sense and read the auction details before bidding.

"There's a lady in town who bought some batting for making a blanket (off eBay)," he said.

She purchased three yards. Buying batting of this amount at a fabric store is inexpensive and the weight of such material isn't much, Gehrke said.

"She didn't even check the shipping cost," he said. "She went ahead and bought it, then got a bill for $104 just for shipping."

The blame lies both with the seller and the buyer in this case, Gehkre said.

"Shame on them, but then, shame on her for not checking it out first," he said.

These kinds of horror stories are the reason Gehrke wants to teach classes in about America's newest marketplace.

"eBay thinks, as a whole, people are basically honest, and 99.9 percent of the time, transactions there go well," he said. "But there is that tenth of a percent out there that can get us."