EBay Buying Tips

by E-NewsCast Team
August 23rd, 2010

How to Get the Best Deals on EBayFinding deals is exciting. It feels like I won a game when I buysomething at a great price. I shop store sales, bargain stores,closeouts, and more — but found that I could often do muchbetter by simply buying through online auctions – if I buycarefully.Squeezing a deal out of an EBay auction is an art. Buying fromauctions can be a costly proposition or a very economical optiondepending on your tactics. Buy wisely by learning from my(sometimes costly) experiences. 1. Is the Seller Honest? Both EBay and Yahoo auctions have seller ratings. Read theseand their associated reviews. If the seller has a good ratingfrom buying and a bad rating from selling, you probably don’twant to buy from them. Look at both praises and complaints tosee if they apply to what you are bidding on. 2. Read the Description Throughly It is very simple to read what you want to see in an Ebayauction rather than what is actually written there. Read bothwhat is in the Ebay description and what is NOT in thedescription. Often your mind will want to fill in details withyour dream interpretation. You need to re-read the descriptionuntil you find out whether what you are searching for and whatthe seller is selling match. * Used or New Is the item you are buying used or new? If it doesn’t say new,you are most likely buying something that is used. * Real or Fake Is the item you are interested in “real” gold, sterling silveror pearls? For example, a description saying: “gold necklace forsale” does NOT say 14 kt gold or 18kt gold. That most likelymeans a gold COLORED necklace which may or may not have actualgold metal. This also applies to pearls as many call plasticfake pearls simply “pearls”. If the seller is selling beads, those beads could be plastic,glass, stone, scrap metal, crystal, chips, wood, clay, gemstoneor some other material. * Quality, Quantity and Size Does the EBay description really say how much you are getting,how long the item is, and quality of the item? Selling by thepound can be a fantastic deal – or a terrible deal. * Hidden Costs Add Up Look at shipping and handling costs. I’ve seen many pennyauctions that have $13 or more shipping. Some EBay auctions evenhave handling fees. * How Quick Will it Ship? I’ve been seeing a fair amount of online auctions that notethat the product will ship in 2 months or that shipping time is2 months. If you are buying for a particular holiday, be surethat you will get the item in time. 3. Is it a Deal For You? Many times an EBay auction will say that the items are “worth$XXX”. In many cases, that price is inflated. Often you can findsimilar items much cheaper than “$XXX” at normal stores.(However, the auction price may still be cheaper than you can byelsewhere – it really helps to know how much you usually pay foritems!) If you are only interested in some of the items in anauction, adjust your bid to reflect how much you are willing topay for just those items unless you plan to sell the rest asthat is how much you would pay for it elsewhere. 4. Auction Excitement When in a bidding war, it is easy to get caught up in thepossibility of getting a deal. Compare prices on the net toavoid overpaying. Know that usually you can get the item laterelsewhere. Wise buyers know to walk away when the price ishigher than the item is worth to them.

Popularity: 2% [?]