STUFF ALERT’s ‘Fergus the Fish’ shares his top ten eBay buying tips

March, 2009

Fergus wants your experience of buying on eBay to be as stress free and enjoyable as possible and hopefully will result in you getting a great bargain. Here are his top ten tips for eBay buyers. If you are a seasoned eBay-er they may not be news to you but for others they may just save a few dollars in these credit crunch times. This article is all about making the whole eBay experience a whole lot better for everyone so we welcome your thoughts and comments here at Stuff Alert’s ‘The eBay NewsWire’ blog.

Fergus’s top 10 tips in no order of priority, because he feels they are all #1’s are : -

1. Do your research and get to know the market. Start by watching auctions selling the item you are looking for and do some research outside of eBay. The internet market is huge and you may find what you are looking for at various other websites, such as Amazon, Best Buy, Target and many others that have online shopping. On the other hand if you are looking for hard to find items like, antiques, rare books, coins or stamps, there are many publications and online resources that will aid you with your research. Armed with this information you can decide your bidding strategy.

2. The devil is in the detail. Make sure you read carefully and thoroughly the item description, Caveat emptor or ‘buyer beware’ applies putting the onus on you to be satisfied you are buying what you think you’re bidding for. Pay close attention to ‘the condition’ information and ask yourself for every auction item - Is it new? Is it broken and is that okay? Is it reconditioned or is it being sold ‘as is’. When a Seller uses the term ‘as is’ in the eBay auction description, assume the worst. The item is more than likely broken or seriously flawed in some way. ‘As is’ means that if you win the auction, you keep it no matter what the condition. The Seller will not accept its return just because you’re not happy with it. Fergus recommends that buyers don’t bid on ‘as is’ auctions. Review the Seller’s shipping policy. Is a flat rate or handling fee being charged for shipping? Are these fees excessive? Where is the Seller located? If the Seller is located overseas, the shipping costs could be very high adding considerably to the price of the item. Buyers may also be liable for any import duties, the Sellers will normally refer to this in their listing. What payment methods does the Seller accept? Do they require money orders? Do they accept personal checks? Remember as in life if you don’t ask you will never know. It is common place in the eBay community to ask Seller’s questions and a genuine Seller will only be too happy to help.

3. Have a bidding strategy. Armed with your research have a plan for bidding. Ask yourself do you need the item quickly? Is the item a must have collectible, do you need to win the auction or is getting a bargain more important to you? An important fact to remember if you are making a maximum bid where someone else has made one first and both maximum bids are the same then they will win because they put in their bid first. Another bidding tip is to formulate your bid in whole amounts plus a couple of cents. For example if you are thinking about setting a maximum bid of $50, make it $50.01. You will be surprised how often this clinches the auction! Fergus’s advises getting your maximum bid in early. Don’t get emotional when bidding. The majority of items you will look for on eBay are in plentiful supply. Do your research, set your bidding strategy and make sure you have done your homework on the Seller. It is not a failure if you don’t win an Auction, there is always another one to find on eBay.

4. Review the Seller’s feedback rating. It is really important to look into the feedback of your potential Seller including their recent transaction feedback. Whilst the huge majority of eBay-ers are good honest citizens, there may be some that are less reputable. When reviewing Seller history contact eBay-ers that were recent buyers from that Seller, most folks are obliging in providing genuine comments. There are always disputes (as in life) so bear that in mind when evaluating Sellers with a few negative posts before passing judgment on a Seller. Honest feedback is key to the eBay Community to find out more visit the eBay feedback Forum located at the ‘Community’ tab.

5. Auction end dates and times. Some of the best bargains can be grabbed during the day when most folks are at work. Many employers look dimly on using work PC/Internet for personal reasons. Chances are that if the Seller has got an end time during the day there may not be too many people sitting there watching. So there is an opportunity to bag a bargain if you do your research right (what you want to pay) and get your maximum bid in early. Auctions that end at evenings and weekends may attract more bidders which can increase the amount that is paid for the item. Again if your research is thorough you will be able to see this based on similar items you have watched.

6. Shill bidders. Although it may be difficult to detect and even harder to prove, you need to be aware that there are some unscrupulous Sellers who are using shill bidders. A shill bidder is an eBay user who is working with the Seller to drive up the price of the auction. The shill bidder may even be the Seller himself bidding under a different eBay name. During the course of the auction, the shill bidder makes a bid on the auction to push the price up, normally during auctions with little bidding activity or as an auction nears its close and where the current bid is much lower than the normal eBay market value of the item. The Seller knows that they will take a loss unless the price is bid up, so they use shill bidders. The only way of detecting the presence of shill bidding is by reviewing the bid history for items sold by a particular Seller. If it appears that the same buyer bids on that Sellers’ auctions repeatedly, but infrequently wins those auctions, shill bidding might be indicated. Again, this is difficult to prove so if you suspect that a Seller is using a shill, the best thing you can do is avoid that Seller in the future.

7. Buy it Now or Auction. If the Seller has offered the option of using ‘Buy it Now’; and you want the item quickly with no competition, and you’re not necessarily interested in paying the lowest price possible, ‘Buy it Now’ may be the best strategy for you.Do not be put off by items that are offered as ‘Buy it Now’, as you can still get bargain by using this option where an auction is competitive and pushes up the price above the Buy it Now offer! A great additional feature associated with the ‘Buy it Now’ option offered to Sellers is the addition of ‘or Best Offer’. Again with the right research you can get 10% to 15% off, in some cases more, again many dynamics influence this but there are deals to be had here too.

8. Payment options. Paypal is great because it is easy to use, free for Buyers, and secure. No need to write a check, or prepare and stamp an envelope or disclose your credit card details. Paypal sends payment electronically to the Seller who pays the commission for the Paypal payment. Many Sellers like it and use it because it’s convenient to receive payment. They don’t have to make a trip to the bank to cash checks or money orders. Another great thing about Paypal is that it is extremely secure. Although you can use your credit card to top up your Paypal account balance, the individual eBay Seller never receives your credit card number and therefore it’s protected from unscrupulous individuals. A Seller can never receive payment from your Paypal account without your knowledge - the Buyer must make a conscious effort to send payment.

9. Item descriptions ‘Keywords’. Spelling can be a problem. It can be as simple as US (English) verses UK (English), example here is the word collectible, which your cousins across the pond would spell as collectable. In a similar vein a motorcycle could be referred to as a motorbike and ‘gas’ verses ‘petrol’. In instances like these you may need to search using the alternative words. Misspelt or misspelled words are another problem! They can come about through typing errors, genuine bad spelling or the incorrect spelling of a brand name. Bear all this in mind when putting in your keyword search.

10. Searching eBay for hours. Avoid the hundreds of hours trawling eBay and use our great FREE eBay search tool. It can be found at www.stuffalert.com. It is easy to use and a hassle free way to locate those hard to find items on eBay. Why not give it a go.