In its infancy, eBay was considered more of a ?classified ads? or ?garage sale? type of portal, where people could trade goods and services with each other. Oh, how times have changed. Today, eBay is the fifth most visited website in the U.S., and provides the basis for the easiest way to make money online. I mean, where else can you start an honest business with absolutely no startup cash?

People around the world spend thousands upon thousands of dollars on eBay each and everyday, looking for everything from cell phone cases to pool tables. And sellers are raking in the profits - everyone from the cream of the crop PowerSellers to the eBay hobbyist. Among them are thousands of people who use eBay to make a full-time income.

eBay Explained: Simply Put

Let's look at eBay in a more basic sense. Thanks to the wonder of the Internet, eBay provides a platform for anyone to sell an item to anyone in the world. By implementing an auction-style format, sellers benefit by getting a fair market value for their product which is driven by buyers' bids. The buyers benefit as well, often times getting a large discount off of the item's normal retail price. While eBay did start off as a ?flea market? type of site, it has now grown to include many successful online businesses today, selling new, brand-name items at drastically reduced prices.

eBay's foundation is built on trust - the trust between buyer and seller. The more trustworthy the eBayer, the better their "reputation". This reputation is quantified as an eBayer's feedback score. Each time you transact business with another eBayer, whether buying or selling, you are given the opportunity to post your feedback of the other party. Generally, the higher the feedback score, the more trust you can put into them when considering doing business with them.