Headline CNET News: On eBay, misspelling in ads often spells cash

On eBay, spelling matters. Some people deliberately misspell items when they search eBay, looking for common misspellings. If you can find, for example, a “labtop computer”, you can buy it for a fraction of the cost if the seller had correctly spelled it, since you have so much less competition from other bidders. It is not uncommon for people who search for misspellings to then turn around and re-list the items, with the correct spelling, and sell the item for the usual price, making a nice profit on the deal.

For example, a jeweler bought a box of watch “gers” for $2 and then sold the watch “gears” for $200. Another person has purchased three “Compact” (i.e. “Compaq”) computers for a “pittance”.

Jim Griffith, whose official title at eBay is dean of eBay education, teaches 40 to 50 seminars a year around the country. Although the auction house flags common misspellings online, Mr. Griffith said, the most common question he gets is, “When will eBay get a spell checker?” His answer? “You go to a store called a bookstore, and you buy something called a dictionary.”

I’ve heard of a bookstore and a dictionary (and also a spell checker). I even know where to find an online dictionary. But I’ve never heard of a dean of eBay education, so I guess I have a lot to learn about eBay. At least now I know that since I’ve got all those MP3 files, I better start looking for my “iBod”.