Don't Get Burned on eBay
- ISBN: 0-596-10178-3
- Publisher: O'Reilly
- Publication Date: March 2006
- Pages: 174
- Price: $16.99
The first thing to notice about this book is that it is heavily Americo-centric. It is about Ebay.com, and some of the features differ from Ebay.co.uk. So some of it - particularly some of the payment and shipping advice - is less than useful to the UK reader. However, some of it is extremely useful, and generalising the advice to apply to yourself is always good.
The book uses friendly and approachable prose, appropriate to the subject matter. It's very common-sensical, and it's hard for the technically savvy reader to believe that there really are people who need some of the advice - but it's clear that there are people being burned by these issues, and actually, when there's an awful lot of common sense needed, even the most pragmatic of us can miss things.
This book advises people as both buyers and sellers, which also provides a useful insight into the "other side" for everyone. It also provides a handy glossary for the confused.
I'd like to think that most CompSoccers are too tech savvy and sensible to need this book - but it would make an excellent Christmas present for nervous mothers, grandfathers and friends.
Which being so, a 5/10 for it - 3/10 for usefulness to techies, but a good 7/10 for the general reader.
Jenny Radcliffe
