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Copyright
Copyright 2005, 2003 O'Reilly Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
Published by O'Reilly Media, Inc., 1005 Gravenstein Highway North, Sebastopol, CA 95472.
O'Reilly Media, Inc. books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use. Online editions are also available for most titles ( safari.oreilly.com ). For more information, contact our corporate/institutional sales department: (800) 998-9938 or
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Editor: | Brian Sawyer | Production Editor: | Jamie Peppard |
Series Editor: | Rael Dornfest | Cover Designer: | Emma Colby |
Executive Editor: | Dale Dougherty | Interior Designer: | David Futato |
Printing History: |
August 2003: | First Edition. |
June 2005: | Second Edition. |
Nutshell Handbook, the Nutshell Handbook logo, and the O'Reilly logo are registered trademarks of O'Reilly Media, Inc. The Hacks series designations, eBay Hacks , the image of a corkscrew, and related trade dress are trademarks of O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and O'Reilly Media, Inc. was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed in caps or initial caps.
While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.
Small print: The technologies discussed in this publication, the limitations on these technologies that technology and content owners seek to impose, and the laws actually limiting the use of these technologies are constantly changing. Thus, some of the hacks described in this publication may not work, may cause unintended harm to systems on which they are used, or may not be consistent with applicable user agreements. Your use of these hacks is at your own risk, and O'Reilly Media, Inc. disclaims responsibility for any damage or expense resulting from their use. In any event, you should take care that your use of these hacks does not violate any applicable laws, including copyright laws.
This book uses RepKover, a durable and flexible lay-flat binding.
ISBN: 0-596-10068-X
[M]
Credits
About the Author
David A. Karp is that dangerous combination of compulsive writer and eBay fanatic.
He discovered eBay in the late 1990s while looking for a deal on an electric cat-litter box. As an avid collector of toys of all kinds, he immediately saw eBay's potential to quench his thirst for second-hand consumer electronics, handmade brass trains, and obscure parts for discontinued products of all kinds. Soon thereafter he began selling on eBay, and now trades religiously, taking breaks occasionally to write books. He still has the litter box.
Educated in mechanical engineering at U.C. Berkeley, David consults on Internet technology, user-interface design, and software engineering. He has written ten power-user books (available in nine languages), including the bestselling Windows Annoyances series. David also writes occasionally for PC Magazine and is a contributing editor for ZTrack Magazine . Noted recognition has come from PC Computing and Windows magazines, the San Francisco Examiner , and The New York Times .
David spends some of his spare time outside with his camera, but often finds it difficult to tear himself away from a good movie. He likes hiking and skiingalmost as much as he enjoys talking about them. David scored 30.96647% on the Geek Test (www.innergeek.us/geek.html), earning a rating of "Total Geek." Animals and children trust him. He can make 15-minute brownies in less than 10 minutes, and he never gets tired of the Simpsons.
Contributors
The following people contributed code and inspiration for some of the hacks in this book:
Todd Larason is a C and Perl programmer currently residing in Portland, Oregon; he's always interested in new technologies, challenges and obsessions. You can read more about his various obsessions at www.molehill.org.
Adam Trachtenberg is the author of Upgrading to PHP 5 and coauthor of PHP Cookbook , both published by O'Reilly Media. He began using PHP in 1997 and is a frequent speaker at conferences on XML, web services, and PHP 5. Trachtenberg cofounded and served as vice president for development at two companies, Student.Com and TVGrid.Com. At both firms, he led the front-and middle-end web site design and development. He lives in San Francisco, California and at www.trachtenberg.com. He has a B.A. and an M.B.A. from Columbia University.
Samuel L. Clemens (18351910) worked as a typesetter between the ages of 11 and 21, during which time he also wrote humorous travel letters for regional newspapers. He assumed the pen name "Mark Twain" (the term used on steamboats as a warning that a river's depth is only two fathoms deep) in 1861 while writing for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise , and was first made famous in 1864 by the story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," which he wrote as a reporter in San Francisco. He is best known for having written The Innocents Abroad, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , and literally thousands of memorable quotes, several of which adorn the pages of this book. Despite having died 93 years before this book was written, Clemens provided immeasurable inspiration to this and many other authors.
Best eBay Pop-Culture References
This is Spinal Tap.
In the DVD commentary track of the 1984 Rob Reiner film, the members of the heavy-metal band Spinal Tap (David St. Hubbins, Nigel Tufnel, and Derek Smalls) wax nostalgic about the guitars seen in the movie, stating that many of them can now be found on eBay.
The Simpsons (episode BABF22).
Homer loses his life savings in the stock market, except for a few dollars which he spends on a cowbell. He rings the cowbell gently, only to have it break apart in his hands, and yells, "Damn you, eBay!"
Spider-Man 2.
After having been discarded in a trash can, Peter Parker's Spider-Man costume is rescued by a garbage man who delivers it to the Daily Bugle. When the man is offered fifty bucks for the suit by the newspaper's editor-in-chief, J. Jonah Jameson, the man scoffs, "I can get more than that on eBay."