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Clark has had a love/hate relationship with eBay for a long time. On the one hand, he loves the deals he gets through the website. But eBay has been notorious for helping out fences and counterfeiters. So there are opportunities to save big, but there are times you may get burned too. Clark recently needed to purchase a smartphone after his was damaged during the Hawaii staff trip. When he called up his carrier for a price quote, what originally cost him $99 was now being priced at $599! So he went on eBay and found a nicer one for half the money. The risk is always that the seller gives you junk or doesn't deliver. But Clark had no such problems.

The level of savings you can get on eBay are not just anecdotal. Recent studies at the University of Maryland and a foreign university have found that consumers have saved a cumulative $19 billion (!) over the years thanks to eBay. Your typical eBay purchase is available at a discount of 30 percent versus the retail price. Not surprisingly, the greatest savings are to be found when the economy slows down and people have to dump new stuff they can no longer afford. Right now eBay is going through a midlife crisis. Their CEO is out, and eBay is lowering the costs of its items while raising commission on the sell. Clark thinks eBay needs to take a cue from Craigslist -- of which it owns a 25 percent share. Craigslist allows sellers to list their wares for free and not pay any commission when something sells. It's as if Craigslist is the new and improved eBay. The new CEO at eBay will be challenged with making a marketplace in which the counterfeiting is dealt with and people know they won't get junk.

There are brand-new stats out about credit card debt that really disturb Clark. It turns out 1 in 9 people can barely make their minimum monthly payment. If the average card holder never uses the card again and pays only the minimum payment, they'll be done in 2043. Clark will be 87 in that year! He doesn't want to have to walk with cane and say, "What was that you said? You finally paid it off?!" Minimum payers are also subject to retroactive interest rate hikes under current law. So that means they can raise the rate on your existing balance from 14 percent to 20 percent or even to 39 percent! Clark has no problem with high rates on future purchases, but he thinks it is dirty pool to raise rates on an existing balance.

What if there was a way to make the minimum payment and get out of debt in a quarter of the time? Fortunately, there is: Say your minimum is $100. Try paying $50 every two weeks instead of $100 once a month. By doing that, you'll make 13 monthly payments in a year. Beware that as the balance comes down, the credit card company will drop the minimum to try to keep you in debt even longer. Don't fall for it!

RIP-OFF ALERT: There's been so much in the news recently about the rebate checks that could be coming from the government. Scammers are already thinking up ways to take the money out of your pocket! The Department of Consumer Affairs reports scammers have been calling people up and pretending to be from the IRS. They're seeking personal banking info and claiming you won't receive the rebate until they confirm your checking account number. The IRS has responded, of course, by saying they will not be calling to verify any account info.

Once the scammers have your info, they don't do anything with it until they monitor your account and figure out when your balance is at its peak every month. Then they'll strike. Electronic draft is the preferred method of withdrawal because it's very difficult for your bank to monitor. Clarks says you should contact your bank immediately if you feel you recently gave your info to a scammer. You'll likely need to close the account, and your bank will probably put a referral stop in place. The referral stop will ensure that your bank won't reroute requests from your old account to your new one. Of course, you could also get around this problem by taking your business to another bank or credit union. But the bottom line is you should never reveal your account number over the phone. Also, never give your account number to bill collectors; they'll clean you out if you do. The only way to pay a bill collector is on your terms by writing a check.

Years ago, Clark did an experiment to see if banks purposely hold credit card payments to trigger late fees and ruin your credit. So for 8 months, he sent in his payments by overnight express mail shortly before they were due. During that entire time, the company posted his payments anywhere from 4-9 days after they had been received. When Clark called customer-no-service for an explanation, the representative blamed the U.S. Postal Service. He escalated his complaint to media relations and got a response of no comment. That alone speaks volumes.

Fair Isaac -- the originator of the FICO score -- knows that the banks are playing dirty pool. So Fair Isaac is looking at revising its credit scoring model by the spring. Previously, a late pay on your credit report would demolish your FICO score. Under the revision, an occasional late pay will not harm your score, but a pattern of late payments will destroy it. Also, applying for instant store credit won't take the bite out of your credit score that it once did. However, being an authorized user on an account will no longer help your credit score and may hurt it going forward.