If you are a watch enthusiast or any other type of consumer who does not use eBay, you are tragically missing out on a world of available items and rare finds. Think about what eBay is. Essentially it creates a market for many types of goods which would otherwise sit in someone’s house. It is monetizing the world of privately owned things that people want to sell. This means the market can determine the value, and the prices do not include company overhead.

It is true that many companies have have taken a place on eBay for their own stores. I mean the whole concept of the eBay store is amazing. The power to reach an enormous population with little to no overhead. You don’t have to have a retail location, employees, or much else. All you need is a computer, the items you want to sell, and the ability to ship them. But for me, the staple attraction of eBay has been the private seller.

eBay helped to reinvent the shipping industry. Yes, in the late 1990’s online shopping was growing larger, but it was the immense “peer to peer” buying and selling network of eBay probably took the US Post Office out of the dark ages, and into the modern era. The shipping industry still has yet to catch up with eBay’s seamless and past paced process, but it has come a long way. The next real innovation will involve being able to pick up shipments from your home or office, and then for us to be able and schedule specific delivery times. When those two issues are resolved, I fear for the lives of most retail locations.

So if you are not using eBay you really must understand that you are missing out on a world of available items at amazing prices. Sometimes price is not even an issue, it is mere availability. Watches especially that are rare and collectible can be often found on eBay with little need to look for months or years which was often the case before eBay. International distribution and advertising is not necessary. Because eBay has been “the place to go” for all auction and individual buyer and seller needs. eBay literally enjoys millions upon millions of visits and transactions each day.

Setting up an account with eBay is very easy, and of course is free. Same goes for setting up an account with PayPal, which you will also want to do for payment purposes. Using PayPal is not required, but highly recommended for safety and ease of use purposes. You merely give them your credit card or bank account information, and they are the middle man. This means that you do not have to keep giving out payment information to random people, the payments are delivered immediately (no waiting for checks to arrive in the mail), and most importantly, if there is an issue with fraud, PayPal has you covered.

So before eBay becomes your new best friend (and Friday night date), register with eBay here so that you can actually buy those rare finds.