It's the biggest market place in the world. Whether you want to buy a football programme or a football team , a book, a bike or a brothel, eBay's the place to do it.

The entire world is your market place - without leaving your computer.

In the eight years since it was launched, the Internet auction site has changed the face of selling. Someone once even sold his soul on eBay. Memory says it didn't earn very much.

There was a bucket of water that went for £255, a fiver that went for £7 and a 1,500-ton ferry that sold for just under $400. The brothel raised around £100,000.

On any given day there are more than 16 million items listed on eBay across 27,000 categories, most of them a bit more mundane - but no less desirable.

Whatever you've got to sell, the chances are that someone out there wants it. If you're looking for something, someone in the world will have it - and is probably selling it on eBay.

HOW IT WORKS

Sellers advertise what they have to sell. There's usually a picture and a starting price - sometimes a reserve - and a time limit of just over a week.

(There are also some eBay shops and chances to buy things instantly.)

Buyers merely put in their bids. As the final hours and minutes of the auction approach, bidding can get swift and frantic.

The highest bid at the very second the auction closes, gets it. Payment can be made in a variety of ways, through secure credit cards systems or by cheque.

There are a number of safeguards built into the system. Every time a deal is completed both buyer and seller complete a feedback form rating each other. Whenever anyone's name comes up you can see how many transactions they've made on the site and read their references.

BUT...

Although there are safeguards, a dispute process and some comeback, eBay is not like a traditional auction house. It has no idea of whether items are genuine or not and merely acts as a go-between for buyer and seller. It's as safe as they can make it but the site bristles with warnings: 'caveat emptor' - buyer beware. Think sensibly.

WHAT'S ON IT

With 16 million items, there's just about anything you want. But in a totally random search we found:

* The football team Dynamo Kebab, as featured on Radio 1, offering themselves up for a charity match

* A Newcastle United signed shirt for £127

* A Jacobean oak refectory table for £570

* Brand new Praktika binoculars £60

* Christian Dior denim mini skirt £30

* A Triumph thong £1

* An MG Midget for £1,400

* A stretch limo £21,600

* Burberry scarf £29.99

* Mermaid Barbie £3.20

* A 1959 Broons Annual £205.

WHO USES IT

All ages and types from all over the world, many with their own specialities.

John and Lynn Briggs of Darlington have been selling on eBay since 1998, which makes them one of the best established traders.

"We had all these toys that had been my father's just rolling round the boot of the car, making a rattle," says Lynn. They sold them on eBay and a new interest was born. They specialise in toys from the 60s: "Toys we all had and we broke or that our mothers threw out, and now, we miss them."

They scour car boot sales and charity shops, collecting, repairing and renovating toys before selling them on eBay, probably to the generation who loved them first time round.

Roisin Robertson from Durham started a year ago selling china. "I have my own particular favourites that I collect, but I often had to buy job lots just to get one particular plate. I ended up with a terrific stock of china filling up my garage that I didn't want so started selling it on eBay just to get rid of it. Some of it went for a pound or so, but some other pieces have gone really well.

"Now I find I'm looking for things to sell on. I'm not making a fortune yet, but it certainly subsidises my own collecting habit."

ADVICE FOR eBAY VIRGINS

Buying:

1. Take your time. Don't rush into action but watch and wait and see how things go before you join in.

2. Read the descriptions carefully and make sure they really are what you want.

3. Decide on your maximum bid and stick to it.

4. Don't put a bid in too soon - you'll only push the price up.

5. Don't get into a bidding war. You could end up spending a lot more than you can afford. And the chances are that whatever you want, there'll be another one along soon.

6. Don't put in too many bids at once. It's easy to get carried away. And if your bid is the winner then you are committed to buying. A section on eBay keeps a tab of your total bids. Make sure you look at it regularly - it could stop you in your tracks.

7. Pay promptly. You need to maintain your good eBay rating.

Selling:

1. Make your descriptions absolutely honest. If something has a fault or a scratch, say so. People will still buy it. "Mint" is the most overused - and inaccurate - word.

2. Use pictures. People want to see what they're getting.

3. Set your opening bid at the lowest price you're happy with. You don't want to be unrealistic but you don't want to give your things away.

4. Don't put too many conditions on buyers about how you will or will not accept payment - only puts them off.

5. Once an item's been bought, pack it carefully and deliver it promptly.

Bouquets of the Week

Dear Sharon

I would be very grateful if you could thank Mrs Ghita Harbour, one of Mr Ken Saxby's wonderful Middleton in Teesdale Surgery's volunteer drivers.

Being now dependent on others for hospital appointments is very difficult but on numerous visits to Darlington Memorial Hospital this summer I have been made to feel that her time is mine and nothing is a trouble. This would be a thank you to her and to everyone in Ken's group.

Mrs Shirley Vickers, Romaldkirk, Barnard Castle.

l Thank goodness for volunteers. Unpaid, unsung, they keep the world turning. They are the glue that stops society falling apart at the seams. Well done to them all. We hope Mrs Vickers is on the road to recovery after all those hospital visits and we're sending Mrs Harbour this week's bouquet - and also some early birthday wishes.

Janet Goodison of Barnard Castle was planning meals for a houseful of visitors recently, which is probably why she left her handbag hanging on the Safeway trolley when she put it back and went to drive home.

"I had my car keys in my pocket when a woman came running up to me, shouting and banging on the window. I was quite taken aback for a moment until I realised she was giving me my handbag. I was so flustered I forgot to ask her name so I could thank her properly, but please let her know that I am very grateful."

Many thanks to Brian Addison of Darlington who spent an entire weekend sorting out neighbour Joan Stuart's garden. "He cut back bushes and trees that had become very overgrown and untidy and even took everything away to the tip. The garden looks so much better now and I hope I will be able to keep it that way thanks to all his hard work."

And finally, last week saw a very special anniversary for John Beaty and Beatrice who for ten years have been involved in organising the Tea Dances at Bishop Auckland Town Hall. Vera Nunn and Gordon Stewart wrote to thank them for "ten successful years of giving pleasure through their music and dancing and their commitment to charitable events in the community."

If you want to say a public thank you for good service or to a helpful neighbour, kind stranger or efficient business, then just write with all the details to Sharon Griffiths, Bouquet of the Week, The Northern Echo, Priestgate, Darlington, DL1 1NF. Each week the person nominated in our main letter gets a real bouquet of flowers or a box of hand-made chocolates from The Little Chocolate Shop in Leyburn.