Art can cost a lot or a little and whether you pay thousands or pennies will depend on a lot of factors.  One of the biggest you have to consider is: do I want to buy something that just looks good or do I want to buy something that could be an investment for the future?

Beauty is most definately in the eye of the beholder - look no further than the Turner prize for examples of art at its most extreme.  The general eBayer will be looking for a picture or sculpture and that is where the generalisation ends. 

Antique Art is definately not something for the beginner - while some can, and do, get lucky with a purchase, it is all too easy to buy something overvalued and I would not recommend this to a beginner - you need to do a lot of research to prevent getting burned!

I can only really speak about modern pictures.  I have recently bought Nick Andrews "Carncole" and John Wilson's "Wall of Fame", both very different in style, but perfect for me.  It is the "perfect for me" aspect that I recommend you focus on - art is, at its most fundamental level, there to be enjoyed.  When you browse through eBay's listings, follow your eyes first - allow yourself to be drawn to a thumbnail rather than a description.  In this way, you will find the image that is most suited to you.  Once you've fallen in love with an image or a particular artist's style you then have to think about how much that picture is worth to you... 

Let me go back to the two pictures I bought for myself recently and I can guide you through my thought processes... I had two very bare rooms - the living room and a bedroom.  Living in rented accommodation the walls have to stay magnolia and art is the only way to break the monotony.  I wanted something framed that I could take with me when I do finally get round to buying my first house.  I knew what colours I needed to match each room and that was where I was when I started looking.  Nick Andrew's style appealed to me like a modern Monet - up close you see only brush strokes, but step back and you see an immensely detailed landscape.  The colours were perfect for the living room and the style was right.  John Wilson's pictures all brought a smile to my face - the combination of childlike stick drawings looking at "high" art was just so much fun, and again, the colours in wall of fame matched the bedroom perfectly.

My choice then was how much I wanted to pay.  Both of these artists are relatively new to the scene and so an original would cost several thousand, while limited edition prints are a few hundred each.  My meagre budget wouldn't stretch to an original, even if they were available, but I knew I wanted something that was of a high enough quality to last and, should the worst happen and I would be forced to sell, would retain its value.  I chose limited edition Giclee prints - these are high quality prints where the paint is sprayed onto the paper in a manner that recreates the lustre and textures of the original image, and the limited run ensures exclusivity.  Had I just wanted some "throw-away" art that I could have got cheaply then there are standard non-limited prints of other works available that I could have framed, but what was right for me was something a little special and something that would hold its value.  Most importantly, it was buying something that I enjoy looking at every day.  

So if you're thinking of buying art for the first time, follow your instincts.  Something that you enjoy is never a bad buy!