As scary as it might seem, both these companies perform a great service for the slot car enthusiast, and they are both easy to set up. We won't focus on all the amenities, here, but rather on getting accounts set up.

Let's preface, though, with what they do. eBay, in case you've been living under a rock, is the worlds largest auction/garage sale. Basically, you list an item, and people from all over the planet get to bid on it. The highest bidder, in the time frame you allot, is the winner. If you are looking for something, hit the "Search" button, navigate to the category that best fits what you want, and enter your search phrase. Look through the items that appear, and bid if you like. Get the high bid, you win. That is an oversimplification, but with practice, and some help, maybe from a friend, you will soon adapt.

PayPal is how you pay, or receive payment, for items. Fill in the person's email that he has registered, and the amount you owe, and it transfers instantly. Receiving payments is the reverse.

Of course some of you may be apprehensive, giving out pertinent information, but if you think about it, banks transfer information about you all the time over wires, and they are essentially no more encrypted than these companies.

So, let's get ready to set up your accounts. We are going to approach this from the perspective of a slot car buyer or seller.

Setting up PayPal

Of the two, PayPal is the most useful. It also is the easiest to deal with, in my opinion. It is free with a $100 balance. There are other options that expand service. Here's how the sign up works:

1. Go to PayPal.com, and hit the "Sign Up" link at the top of the page.
2. This will take you to a page where you fill in your personal information. Remember, they do not sell the information, and they are 128 bit encrypted, which is quite secure.
(Hint: Use upper and lower case alpha characters for passwords. Makes it harder to crack).
3.After submitting your information, you will get a page like the one shown to the right. Do as it asks, to confirm the email address.

Now you will return to the PayPal site, to enter in bank account information, from which you will be able to receive and send money. Checking account should be the primary, but I include my savings account also. This allows your money to be moved around in many convenient ways that will become more apparent as you use PayPal. The information needed will be the account number, and the routing number. Your bank can furnish these. If you have a check, you can find these at the bottom. The first 9 numbers are the routing number, and the second 10 numbers are the account.

4. Set up your account/s one at a time, with the necessary information.
5. Now, you will get an email stating that you will receive two deposits in a few days, both under $0.10. When they register in your account, click the provided link in that email, and it takes you to the PayPal link where you verify the two deposits, and the account is now active.

The great thing about this system is that often times payments are made within seconds of an auction closing. This speeds up everything for the buyer, who doesn't have to deal with writing, and mailing a check, or going out to get a money order. For the seller, he gets the money confirmed, and he ships within 24 hours, with many shipping the same day.

If you plan on doing a lot of eBay selling, then think about setting up a Premiere account, which offers such features as being able to accept credit card payments. Take your time and explore, before you commit to any options. It's a beautiful system.

Setting up eBay.

eBay is an auction house. You buy and sell items to people all over the world. It offers a great interface to complete these tasks from bidding to payment to shipping, and all are very simple, and well documented. eBay is just as easy to set up. There are no charges to buyer, and seller pays insertion fee and percentage based on amount of high bid. Here are the steps:

1.go to eBay, and scroll to the bottom of that page. Find the "Register" link, and click.
2. Enter in the personal information. Again, use uper and lower case letters in your password.
3. Hit "Continue" and continue to a second page where you get to read the terms and conditions, if you like. Check the over 18 box.
4. A confirmation email is sent to the email address you entered. Click on the link (shown, rigth), and it takes you to the "Congratulations" page. You are ready to bid.

There are many intricacies to bidding, or setting up an auction. We won't get into that here. Take time to research and learn. We feel that eBay and PayPal are necessary and integral parts of the current internet situatin, as it relates to slot cars. Enjoy.