Things You Should Know About eBay Shopping!

Your eBay search has just led you to what might be the bargain of the century! You were looking for something like this exact thing for the longest time and now you finally found it. You really want this (fill in the blank) and you really want it NOW … but wait a second … take a breath … read this article … and then you’ll be ready! You finished? OK then, let’s get started …

For starters, a good rule of thumb when it comes to buying stuff (anywhere) is that an item is only worth as much as people have spent on it lately (note: sentimental value isn’t a logical argument here. At least, it shouldn’t be).  To find this out on eBay: first go down the left column of the page, look for the Completed Items link, and then click on it. This will take you to a list of recently completed auctions of similar items, which will more than likely give you a pretty firm idea of what you might expect to pay for your (fill in the blank again. Make sure it’s the same as the first time though).

Next, commit to memory the following four tips and you should be good to go (read: get your thing for the right price) after that:

“Work” late! If you find yourself unable to sleep during the wee hours of the night, do yourself a huge favor and cruise eBay for a while in search of serious bargains that are listed to end at this time (foolishly on the seller’s part, if you ask me). While everyone else is sleeping, it will be the perfect time to snag a bargain or two, because the final bid prices will automatically lower due to a lack of bidding competition.

Know exactly what you’re bidding on. Unless the item’s description you are bidding on is clear cut and definite, you’d be better off steering on the right side of caution. If the seller’s description of an item isn’t that complete, or if you’re buying a collectible or something used, why not take the time to email the seller and ask questions to clear things up? Better yet, these are the shadowy people you might not want to do business with anyway!

Check out the seller! Look at their feedback rating and comments. Why, you ask? Well, comments made by others that have dealt with this person in the past can be very, very revealing. However, don’t let one or two negative comments dissuade you, if most of the other feedback is positive. Everyone makes mistakes, and things do get lost in the mail. Also, there are some people out there who are very difficult to please.

Snipe it (dirty, yet productive). First, open one window with the auction description, then in a second window place the highest amount you will pay for the item and hit “Review Bid.” Now enter your username and password (but don’t hit “Place Bid” yet) and wait until 15 or 20 seconds before the auction ends — then hit “Place Bid.” With any luck your bid will arrive at the perfect time to beat out all your competition. Note: Be sure to synchronize your time with the official eBay time or you could miss the end out of pure stupidity.

Well, did you learn something here today? I hope so! There are many, many rules to buying things on eBay, but with these four basic concepts that I just went over you should be able to handle most of the problems that can sprout up while doing your business. BTW: these are tried and true methods, and so far they have not let me down since discovering them.

Well good luck, and if you happen to run across some nice Philadelphia Eagles, Phillies, Flyers or 76ers stuff at a great price please let me know! Deal?