BLOOMINGTON - With Christmas shopping season here, it's good to know dollars can be saved on your favorite hobby by shopping from home on eBay.

But the online auction house can prove costly for customers unaware of potential pitfalls. The slogan, "Let the buyer beware," truly fits the Internet. Online merchandise often is sold without warranties or guarantees and the world's largest online shopping mall has no substitute for the helpful advice experts can give at a local retail store.

But security measures are in place to reduce the odds of rip-offs, and people who spend a small fortune (that's me) at the shop down the street shouldn't feel guilty if they look online for a deal on the gear they need. Whether you fish, hunt, kayak, camp or devote time to any one of a thousand other pastimes, eBay has it. Heck, a co-worker just stopped by my desk to say her parents are selling their house on eBay.

As an experiment for this story, I had a friend, Andy Sweet of Bloomington, use his eBay expertise to buy parts to build a bicycle with top-of-the-line Shimano Dura Ace components. I didn't want to spend a lot on another new bike. I've already done that several times since I took up cycling a little more than two years ago. I was hard-pressed to justify another new bike so soon - even to celebrate victory over cancer, which was behind this purchase. I wanted titanium, what many think is the top material in cycling. It's light and durable, but also expensive.

Even if I were in the market, local shops didn't have a titanium bike my size in stock to test ride. Building a bike from scratch with new or slightly used parts seemed like a great alternative.

I'm glad I did it. It turned out to be fun and a great learning experience. There is no better way to learn how to work on bikes than to build one.

Sweet, a bike builder, triathlete and eBay entrepreneur, was more than willing to help. At 26, he's been buying and selling on eBay since he bought rock-climbing gear online in 1996, about a year after the Web site was launched. Sweet family purchases aren't limited to the sports world: His new bride, Heather, bought the wedding dress she was looking for on eBay for a savings of nearly $1,000.

I ended up with a dream bike. Final price tag was about $2,100 - about a third of more than $6,000 the bike would cost new.

The project got an early boost. A friend of ours, Phil Warlow of the McLean County Wheelers, had asked Sweet to sell a used, but pristine titanium Lemond Tete de Course bicycle frame on eBay for him. It was exactly my size. Sweet then used a fund I set up to buy the remainder of the new and slightly used parts.

They included everything from handlebars, cranks, and shifters, to front and rear derailleurs and brakes. I spent another $300 at Vitesse Cycle in Normal for accessories, including tires, tubes, a chain, pedals, a cyclometer, a tool kit and lights. The seat was an Adamo from ISM designed to be easy on the prostate area, an important factor since my cancer surgery last year. Sweet collected the pieces in about six weeks.

McLean County's cycling community thrives on learning and sharing information, so Sweet scheduled a bike-building seminar where he talked me through the building process. I'm usually the guy sent out for snacks when the tools come out. But, thanks to a lot of help and patience on Sweet's part, the two-wheeler was ready to ride in about four hours. Afterward, I knew volumes more about how bikes work.

Sweet and eBay officials offer these tips;

• The eBay community is huge: company officials say eBay users worldwide trade nearly $2,000 worth of goods every second. Net revenue for eBay Marketplaces in just one quarter of 2007 totaled $1.25 billion, up 23 percent over a year earlier. Gross merchandise volume for 2006 totaled $52 billion. So much is offered, customers can go to eBay to purchase specific items. But just finding what you're looking for can be a challenge. The Web site has tools to make it easier. Users can customize and receive regular e-mail alerts each time an item matching the description is offered for sale;

• Know your products. Specializing in one or two areas lets you become familiar with what items are worth. "Stick to an area you're knowledgeable with," Sweet said. "If I went on(line) to buy pottery, I wouldn't know what it was or what to pay for it. But I know bike parts."

• Naturally, you can't know the people you're doing business with online like you can a local store owner. But each time someone buys or sells merchandise on eBay, people involved in the transaction can leave comments. Sellers' ratings are posted. Use caution when dealing with people with low approval ratings or with people who haven't been very active on the Web site.

• Many sellers are, in fact, businesses that offer money-back guarantees, and some individuals do, too. For example, Sweet offers a seven-day return policy;

• Complaining you bought something that wasn't described accurately after the fact is difficult to prove. Avoid products if sellers post only vague descriptions or blurry photos. Legitimate sellers post clear pictures and tend to be overly descriptive of flaws when selling used merchandise so no one can claim they were misinformed.

"The more detailed the description about things that are not right, they are probably being honest," Sweet said.

• Be patient. "If you want to get good deals on eBay, don't get overanxious or put yourself on a time frame. Realize you might not find the part you want in a month or two. If you want it now, you may not get as good a deal. But if you're willing to wait, you could," he said.

• The Web site offers two main ways to buy.

First, there's an auction that gives you two options. Enter an amount for your top bid and the Web site automatically bids for you until your maximum is reached. Or, monitor the auctions yourself until the final moments and enter a final bid yourself. The key is to avoid getting caught up in the excitement. Otherwise, you could exceed what you set as your limit.

A "Buy It Now" feature accounts for about 40 percent of the Web site's business. Buyers agree to pay a pre-set price, but Sweet warned not to forget to factor in shipping costs, or you could wind up paying more than what you'd pay the shop on the corner. Items offered under "Buy It Now" often don't last long. That's where the "favorite search" feature shines.

• eBay officials recommend communicating with sellers using the "Ask Seller a Question."

"Copies of the e-mails will be sent to My Messages, and you have the option of hiding your e-mail address if you don't wish to share it with the seller," eBay says. "In addition, if you communicate with a seller through eBay's 'Ask Seller a Question' system, eBay may have the ability to warn you if something goes wrong with the seller. You should be wary of any eBay seller who asks you to use another form of communication."

• Sweet agreed with eBay on how to make payments. PayPal or credit cards are safest. The seller will never see details about your bank account or credit card when you use PayPal, according to eBay. If you're dissatisfied and you used PayPal, the company intervenes and tries to resolve the dispute. If a refund is warranted, PayPal will collect it from the seller or cover your loss.

"Personal checks, cashier's checks, money orders and bank-to-bank wire transfers all provide reasonable levels of safety in most transactions," according to eBay. "But they don't provide as much protection if you don't receive satisfactory goods. The most risky forms of payment are cash and 'instant cash transfer' services like Western Union or MoneyGram - don't use these for eBay transactions."

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eBay Facts

• Total gross merchandise value for 2006: $52 billion

• Number of countries where eBay operates: 36

• Value of merchandise traded every second: $1,839

• Registered users worldwide: 233 million

• New listings added to eBay worldwide in a single quarter in 2007: 588 million

• Most expensive item sold on eBay to date: a private business jet for $4.9 million

• Top sellers by category: vehicles; consumer electronics; clothing and accessories; computers; home and garden; books, music, movies; collectibles; sports; business and industrial: toys; jewelry and watches; cameras and photo; antiques and art; and coins and stamps.

Source: eBay

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Heartland bike classes

Andy Sweet will teach three bike repair and maintenance classes this spring at Heartland Community College in Normal.

• Bicycle Repair & Maintenance I will teach the procedures required to keep your bicycle well-tuned and safe on the road. Lessons will include derailleur and brake adjustments, tire and inner tube changes, chain replacement, pedal removal and headset adjustments.

Cost: $55.

• Bicycle Repair & Maintenance II is designed for the more serious bicyclist and will cover all of the necessary procedures for a complete bicycle overhaul or a new bicycle build.

Cost: $75

• Bicycle Repair & Maintenance III will explore advanced topics in bicycle mechanics, including wheel building, headset installation, fork installation, hub maintenance and bottom bracket maintenance.

Cost: $75.

• Classes are 6-8 p.m. Wednesdays from Feb. 13-May 21.

• Register at www.heartland.edu/communityEd ; call (309) 268-8160; or fax (309) 268-7882. Mail registration to Community Education, Heartland Community College, 1500 W. Raab Road, Normal, 61761, or visit Community Education, Workforce Development Center, Suite 2400.