Let's start with the Universal Law of Online Shopping: "A product viewed on a monitor screen, in all its shiny online display glory, is going to be at least five times more attractive than it really is. Also, the price you see will not seem like much till you've actually paid for it and the package is already on its way.

Despair, wipe off tears, repeat.'

Now that you know, and yet you stubbornly stick to your decision that you MUST have that 'mint condition", slightly chipped all over Superman action figure (because, face it, you can never have enough action figures, dammit) and you don't know how to buy stuff from EBay, then this article is for you.

It's pretty simple, really. Online purchases require that you have a way of paying for whatever flight of fancy takes its hold of your consumerist side ("I NEEEEEEED the $300 attachable iPhone camera and flash, my life simply isn't complete without it"). Usually the payment methods are restricted to PayPal, but depending on the EBay seller, certain International Credit Cards may be accepted too. To find out, just head to the "Payment Options" tab on the sale ad, then check if PayPal is accepted.

So how do you get a PayPal account? Well, you can't. PayPal services for Bangladesh is currently suspended, and only accounts with another country's country code can be used to purchase products off EBay. You can open an account, though, but it's a fairly illegal

process and we will not be helping you there.

If you don't want to go through the hassle of opening up a PayPal account, just find someone who has a verified account and is willing to make the purchase for you. The verified account bit is quite important, as some sellers on EBay might not be willing to accept a purchase from an unverified account. The address the package will be delivered to will be the address mentioned in the verified account, so make sure you trust the person who's buying it for you, to hand over the package to you when it gets here.

Shipping it here directly has its risks. Customs officials of our dear country are going to rip apart the package the moment they smell electronics (phones, tablets, laptops, etc.) or equally valuable objects (jewelry, for example). Buying online is the easy part, but making sure your package gets delivered to you is a nerve racking experience.

For small phones and electronics, its best to find a friend or relative who is coming back from abroad and make them carry your precious cargo. Under the shipping options tab, first check if the seller is going to ship to your or your carrier’s location. In most cases, delivery

within the US is free, but priority mail shipping to Bangladesh will cost you quite a bit of money, so check and compare the shipping rates between two sellers before deciding. Places closer to home, like Hong Kong, will sometimes provide free shipping, even if its priority mail.

Why would you want to buy stuff off EBay if it's so much hassle? Usually, phones and tablets are up to 30% cheaper than the local price, even if you factor in the shipping costs, and oftentimes you'll see something on EBay that hasn't even made it to the local market yet, which means you stand the chance to make a little money off of it if you don't want to use the phone yourself.

This is exactly what many people are doing, using their PayPal accounts to buy stuff online, then reselling them here on Facebook. Prices are a little higher, but at least its justified because of all the trouble these pages save you.

Then there is the Facebook group dedicated to buying things on EBay or Amazon. www.fb.com/groups/bd.ebay.amazon or www.fb.com/groups/amazon.co.bd caters to Facebook users who wants to order items from the UK, the US even India, with their own rates and policies in place that makes it relatively easier to buy things online than having a go at it yourself.