I have an accessory line that I have started and will also be putting my canvases up for sale. I need to create a way for people to contact me and also make them able to purchase my products off the Internet. People have told me to start a blog, others said a website. I know it costs money to keep a blog and a website, but I am completely clueless. How much should I be paying to have a website and a blog? Which is better for my business?

What a gaffe! I wanted to get more information about the new TomTom turn-by-turn directions application for the Apple iPhone 3GS and clicked "Buy App" instead of the icon for the app. Next thing I know, I've just paid $99 for this app and it's downloading onto my computer. Not good, not good at all! What can I do?

I'm building an online store with the help of a consultant and when we started talking about shopping cart backend systems, he told me that a standard SSL certificate was not sufficient for my needs and that I needed an "extended SSL certificate"? What is that, and is he right, or is it a hustle to get more $$ out of me?

I've started reviewing Apple iPhone games and just had a game developer tell me that he'd like me to check out his game and sent me a promo code. I'm a bit baffled by this: how do I redeem a promo code for an iPhone application so that I don't have to pay for the game?

I used to be into eBay to sell stuff, but now my friends keep telling me that Craigslist is the way to go. Since it lets me side-step the whole shipping issue, and definitely seems to lower the chance that I'll be ripped off if I'm meeting someone locally to do the deal. Do you ever sell stuff on Craigslist, Dave, and if so, can you offer some tips?

Google is one of many companies that's been pushing the various capabilities of mobile devices and exploring how to make its vast storehouse of search data accessible in novel and interesting ways to people with the G-1 (the so-called Google Phone) and the Apple iPhone.

The latest example is Google's introduction of its mobile shopping interface, officially called Google Product Search for Mobile. If you never search for products for sale - probaly to do some comparison shopping - you might never bump into it, but it's pretty cool.

Let me show you...

I might be last to this particular party, but before I start shopping on the Web I want to know: is it safe to shop online? I mean, really safe?

After a long, frustrating back and forth, I have decided that I'm going to refund a Paypal transaction from a customer who is dissatisfied with my product. I doubt I'll see the product back, but I don't now if I really care. I just want her out of my hair. Problem is, I can't figure out how to process a refund and I don't want to pay my transaction fees twice. Help?

I was trying to sell an old laptop on Craigslist and got so confused trying to differentiate between legitimate and scam offers. For example, one guy from France offered to send me a money order and let me cash it before I sent out the computer, and was willing to pay more than I was asking. Another said he was happy to pay via Paypal if I just sent him my Paypal account ID. Were either of those legit? If not, how do the scams work?

Hi, I went on craigslist.com and saw that they were giving away a pool table. I emailed the guy and asked for some pictures and he sent me an email back saying that he had posted them on his blog and put the web address in there. I clicked on the address and it said that I had to install something to see the pictures, I did not, but I really wanted to see the pictures. I clicked it again but this time it took me to ask.com. Could he have just put the wrong web address or was he trying to give me a virus? Thank you

I'm a big fan of eBay and am convinced that with some work, attention to detail and a bit of luck, I can create a profitable home business buying and selling on eBay. My question: what are your best tips for getting good deals on eBay?

I lost an auction on eBay, darn it, and a few days later got an email from the seller offering me the chance to buy the item for my highest bid as a "Second Chance Offer". I am very leery of these communications because eBay is cool, but it's also a hotbed for fraud in my experience. How the heck can I figure out if the Second Chance Offer from this eBay seller is legitimate?

I wanted to implement a similar thing to what you show on add a custom eBay search box to your site on my eBay store site, but I'd rather have a neat little box in a position of my choice, instead of using the ugly default eBay side menu. Is there a way to customise the search form so it only searches within my eBay store? Thanks in advance for any help you can offer!

I erroneously bid on two eBay auctions for the same item and won both. D'oh! I asked one of the sellers if I could just cancel, and he did so instead, but now I'm wondering if it's legit?

I got email from Amazon saying that there's a new tool available for us associates that makes it far easier to create links than the existing clunky way of logging in to the Associates program and finding the product again. Can you tell me how to connect the dots with the Amazon Associates Site Stripe toolbar?

I'm selling a lightly used home theater system on Craigslist and after a week of no activity and no interest I sudden got an email from someone who says they'll pay full price plus a few dollars if I'll accept a money order. Now obviously that's suspicious, but I dunno, maybe it's legit. Should I accept a money order as payment for stuff I am selling on Craigslist?

More than once I've seen people talk about getting into "bidding fever" or "auction fever" regarding eBay and other online auction services and I'm wondering what that's all about?

I've been using eBay for a while, but only recently came across a multiple item auction where the seller had a few dozen of the same item she was selling. I'm baffled about how these work, though. Can you explain how these multiple-item Dutch auctions work on eBay?

I got an email from an eBay buyer saying that he had a question for me about an auction, but it's not an auction I'm running. Will I get into trouble with eBay if I don't answer the question? I mean, I don't really understand what's going on?

I've been trying to add some new stamps to my collection by looking on eBay, and while I am amazed at the range and variety of what's available for us philatelists, I'm finding it very tedious to have to be logged in and watching for those last few minutes of the auction to ensure someone else doesn't win at the very last second. Is that just part of buying things on eBay? I also don't understand how auctions work when they're selling more than a single item. Can you enlighten an old man on this newfangled stuff?

As I write extensively about TV and satellite programming, a couple of people have told me I should sign up for an affiliate program and make some money based on my recommendations. They suggest Commission Junction, but I can't figure out how the site works. Help!

I've been poking around on eBay and am astonished at the range of products available. From books that've been out of print for decades to celebrity signatures, and more, it's awesome! But I have heard that a lot of what's for sale on Ebay is a rip-off and that a lot of people get taken. How can I avoid the bad guys?

Seems like not a week goes by without some sort of story in the paper about a computer security breech, identity theft, or scams or other rip-offs. It's enough to make one avoid shopping online, except that it's so darn convenient! What's your opinion? Should I avoid shopping online entirely, or are there tips you can offer on how to stay safe while still going to the virtual mall?

Maybe I'm the only one who has this problem, but I swear, I get email from eBay's Half.com every two or three days telling me that something on my wish list is now available. Which wouldn't be bad, except every time it's the same item. How do I make it stop??

I've been doing research for my support company (we help people get their PC to talk with their gadgets) and am curious if you can tell me what toys, devices and gadgets are the hot products being bought on eBay?

I recently bid on - and lost - an eBay auction on a set of DVDs for my sweetie and now I seem to have gotten onto some sort of list where other folk are emailing me offers to buy the very same item but circumventing the eBay auction system. I'm leery, but thought maybe I'm missing out on a good deal. What's your advice?

I'm studying the eBay marketplace to decide if I want to get into the world of baseball trading cards and want to know if there's any way to figure out the half-dozen largest merchants in this area of eBay without tallying things up manually?

Dave, I got the search box into my site (as detailed here: Add an eBay search box to your Web site) but I need to be able to use it to search both title and description. I have not had any luck getting that part in. I need this because I encode the description of an eBay listing with a specific number giving my customers an easy way to look at their items only. Thanks for the help

My brother travels the world and recently he's been buying and sending me rare DVD movies that he picks up on his travels. Which would be fine if only I could play them. I don't want to admit it to him, but neither my DVD player nor my computer can handle PAL disks and they also complain about me being in the wrong region. Is there some sort of savvy solution?

It happens to everyone who sells products on eBay, someone wins your auction but never pays. You can kvetch about it all you want, but there's an official mechanism for filing a complaint and receiving a refund on the transaction fees that's a critical step to really resolving the problem fairly!

Dave, I got a cashier's check in the mail from a mystery shopping company. They say that I am to cash the check, wire $2000 to someone in Canada, and evaluate the service at the wire company. I get to keep $300 out of the check for a couple of hours' work. This sounds sweet, but a friend of mine said it sounds too good to be true. Hey, it's a cashier's check, so what could go wrong?

I am a law student and have completely switched over to a laptop for all of my notes. My laptop is bluetooth and I use a bluetooth mouse. My question is do you know of any bluetooth pen devices? Sometimes it would be helpful to draw things by hand, and the regular mouse doesn't cut it. I want a pen-like device that can act as mouse. Hopefully it would be small, portable, and bluetooth.

I hate Paypal and have too many friends who have had their money frozen or accounts frozen, never then able to get their balance out. I want to just close mine up completely, but, predictably, they make it hard to figure out how to do so. Dave, how the heck do you close your Paypal account?

Hi, It's a bit embarassing to ask this thing. I know what is eBay and that's all. Please tell me how does it work? I heard a lot about scams in eBay. How can I avoid them? Thank you so much.

I've been a part of the Amazon Associates [affiliate] program for months, but have never really figured out the nuances of the different fee structures. Inn particular, should I switch over to the "performance" fee structure on Amazon. You're an Amazon affiliate, what's your fee structure?

I've been a Paypal member since before it was part of eBay and I only recently learned that they have credit cards available. Cool! My question: what's the main difference between their Paypal Debit Card and Paypal Plus Card?

I'm a big fan of the book reviews that Thomas Duff writes on Amazon.com and was suddenly struck with the question: can I actually get his reviews mailed to me so I can keep up on what he's recommending? For that matter, there are a number of other reviews I've found that have very similar tastes to my own, so I'd really like to have some way to keep track of what they're recommending too.

I've been trying to sell some stuff on eBay and always seem to price things too high, I guess. At least, I rarely get a bid on my sale items. Is there some technique for figuring out how much something is commonly selling for on eBay?

Selling my stuff via auction on eBay used to be really fun, but now everyone waits until the very last second to bid, which means that I have this constant anxiety that my products aren't going to sell at all and then, just before the timer runs out, there are suddenly a flurry of bids. I'm sick of it. eBay isn't any fun any more because of all these snipers. How do I avoid having them ruin my auctions??

We've been selling our monthly clubs and gift baskets on Amazon for a while now, Flying Noodle.com (we really focus on gourmet gift baskets, actually), and it's a nice but unexciting part of our business. Bottom line is that beyond some obvious things, we haven't been able to find anything that helps increase our products' exposure on Amazon. Do you have any tricks, or know where to look for some, on how to get your products more exposure on Amazon? Are there consultants in this area?

I love my new RCA Lycos Mp3 player but am finding that listening to the same dozen songs over and over again is getting, dare i say it, boring. A friend turned me on to audio books and now I'm eager to listen to more, but I can't afford $25-$40 per book! Are there places I can get free or really cheap audio books?

Dave, I'm just a few weeks from starting my first semester at college and am aghast at the price of textbooks. Is there some way I can save some money by buying used textbooks online, and if so, what are your recommendations for where to go? Thanks, man!

Dave, do you know anything about Japanese comic books or "Manga"? An IM pal of mine has been trying to convince me to buy some of his hentai, which he says is an "adult" form of manga, but he gets all upset when I ask him about the stories in his books. So am I the only clueless person on the planet? What is Hentai?

I'm kinda freaking out: I just got a receipt via email for an almost $500 purchase that I apparently made through Paypal to buy a cellphone from LWP Electronics, to be shipped to someone in Maine. But I didn't make the purchase and when I log in to my Paypal account, I don't see any trace of the transaction. What's going on?

I've been an Amazon Associate for years and have been wondering when they might offer some sort of context-sensitive ad box a la Google AdSense. It appears my wishes have finally come true with the beta release of their new Omakase Links program. What can you tell me about it, Dave, and how hard is it to get working properly?

I just read about Google Checkout (at your site, actually: Introducing Google Checkout and I"m inspired to add "buy now" buttons for this service to my page in addition to the Paypal buttons I already have. Can you step me through the process, please?

I heard that eBay's announced a new blogging tool, and I want to use it, because, well, I think it can help drive traffic to my eBay store and would be a fun additional marketing tool too. Not really too sure about blogging in general, actually, but it seems like it'd be cool and goodness knows, my kids have been talking about blogs and blogging for years now!

I was on Ebay searching for a macbook pro when I saw all these items really cheap from China. The problem is, I'm not sure if they are real of just a con. Can you have a look and help me? To find one, just go on ebay.co.uk and search for macbook. Usually they are in a big group together and they have around $50 shipping.

I got an email saying that I can get a free cruise as a mystery shopper. What is a mystery shopper and can I really get a free cruise? I gotta say I'm darn skeptical...

Dave, I get e-mails about sites promising to get me mystery shopper jobs if I pay them a fee. I love the idea of getting paid to shop, but I don't want to get scammed. Is mystery shopping for real, and should I pay to join one of these sites?

Hello. I bought an item off of eBay a while ago and sent the money the next day. I then never got the item. So I tried to contact the person and he said he would give me a refund but never did. So I waited patiently for his reply but never got one.

I then filed a report 40 days after the time I bought the item but there were a couple of problems. I closed my paypal account maybe 2 days after the transaction due to an identity theft reason (I was paranoid) and I opened a new account. I asked the paypal representative that if this was a problem and she told me no and it would be still investigated and then she filed the buyer complaint under my new account.

After about 2 months or so I never got a response and decided to call back for an update. Then the man told me that paypal investigated it and said there was nothing he can do because the transaction took place on an old account and that he will file another buyer's complaint stating that I had to close the account due to identity fraud and told me to call back in 2 days.

So I call 2 days later and they tell me now that they cannot get my money back because I filed a complaint 2 days ago and it was not covered because they have a 45 day policy that says I cannot file a claim after 45 days. And that I am not eligible for the buyer's protection because I closed the account that had the transaction on. And if I wanted to I can file a police report but they cannot give me a name, or email or anything.

I'm desperate Dave what should I do?! We're talking about 150 dollars that I am out and that is a lot of money when you're going through college!

Does jewelry sold on eBay need to be appraised? If not, how do you figure a price, and if so, how do I go about getting a credible appraisal for my online auction?

I currently use paypal shopping carts on my website, 1 Madd Max.com. I am going to be releasing some new products but will offer them as an add on to existing items. What I need is a FREE paypal button to add these items to the shopping cart. Currently I cannot do this as the shopping cart needs a currency value to work.

I have a small ebook I'm trying to sell by using some Google AdWords adverts (and other links), but for the life of me, I can't seem to get any of the people who come to the information page for the book to convert into buyers. Are there best practices with these targeted pages?

After a meeting with my IT group a question was raised that received a split vote. Could you steer us in the right direction? The question: Should a web based company make customers register before making a purchase? If so, why?

I am amazed how many people on eBay and such sites can sell dozens if not more of gift cards "claiming" to be worth a mystery amount, is this a scam? Also, I see people bidding on them for $500 dollars that reach near that amount and the sellershas dozens of them? How can anyone afford to lose money and purchase such high dollars amounts? where is the profit in that. I am tempted to bid but but something is fishy about those auctions. Where do they get all those gift cards? thanks for your time, dave

I buy and sell on eBay quite a bit, so it's really a pain to worry about possible phishing attempts from delinquents trying to get me to reveal my eBay account and password. How do I easily ascertain if a specific message is from eBay or a phisher?

I've been looking for phones online these days and i've found someone on ebay selling one. We talked out the price and everything. He asked me to transfer money through Western Union and put the receiver's name as a fake name where he can't get the money until I get my product, then once I get my product I would change the receiver's name back to his name. Is there anything to lose for me? You know, I'm scared to shop online as a first timer. Would you say this is a safe method of payment?

I'm a happy Amazon shopper - even for your books, Dave! - but I've always been curious: when I see a review and have the option to vote whether it's useful to me or not, does it actually matter what I click? I'm just wondering if there's some secret backroom feature that it enables or something?

I have been recommended a new eBay-approved product called Nabit which is supposed to let you do your eBay tasks directly from your PC desktop. However, I am nervous with new software. Viruses, I guess. Can you tell me if you've heard of this software, and if so, if it's any good?

Dave, I've just started getting into eBay and finding out about the terrific deals available on the site, but I'm not sure what strategies I should be using to get the best price on things I want to buy. Can you advise?

Dave, help, how I would go about adding an eBay search field to my homepage, one that I could enter a search term in and get the results popped up on the eBay website?

What are the most popular items sold on eBay? My wife wants to start selling on eBay but dont know what is a good starting point.

I sent a money order for payment to a seller on Ebay, I STILL have not received the DVD/VCR player that I paid for. What can I do? I sent the payment on or about May 31st.

I'm just starting out with eBay auctions and one thing that I just can't figure out is the best strategy for setting an opening bid on my auctions. Do I set it to be the same as other auctions of the same item? To be lower than my competitors? Or ?

Dave, this might be a bit of a daft question, but I buy lots of books at Amazon.com and I'm curious how you move from being a reviewer to being a rated reviewer? Can you tell me how that works?

Dave, I heard from a friend recently that eBay offers some capabilities that let you check your credit score and that of other people who might be buying your products? I find it hard to believe and poking around eBay I didn't see anything to substantiate what my friend is saying. What's the story?