Free Ebay Tips

The introduction of ebay to the internet was a godsend – how brilliant is the idea of having an electronic marketplace where people can buy and sell each others goods at a reasonable price? It’s the garage sale of all garage sales, and more fun too!

There are a lot of ebay book and guides out there that will give you the same information listed in this article, for tens of dollars. I say, just read on – for free!

• When buying on ebay check shipping costs – there’s nothing like paying $5.00 for an item, and then paying $15 in shipping. If the item’s worth it – go for it. If not, then don’t even bother. If the shipping cost isn’t listed, then e-mail the seller. If the seller does not respond, they’re not somebody you want to deal with anyway.
• Read the description carefully – if a seller puts “as is” in the ad, it’s there for a reason. Make sure you know what you’re buying, so that there are no surprises when your item arrives in the mail.
• Check the seller’s feedback rating – a feedback of 90 – 95% and above is acceptable. Remember that sometimes negative feedback is not the sellers fault – there are plenty of buyers who are jerks, as there are sellers.
• If you have any questions, ask – again, a seller who does not respond to your e-mail, is not much of a seller.
• Watch for “free shipping” – many sellers will offer free shipping for an item. Of course, this is a major bonus.
• Watch for “will combine multiple items” – this means that if you win more than one item from a seller’s auctions, they will simply stick it in the same box. Why pay shipping twice, if you don’t have to?
• Make sure the seller is willing to ship to your country – this is very important. You don’t want to win an auction, and then find out that the seller doesn’t even ship to where you are. This is especially a problem for Canadians. Scroll down to the bottom of the item screen to where it says “ships to”, and make sure your country is listed. If you really must have the item, contact the seller and ask if they will make an exception. Many times, it’s not a problem – just be prepared to pay more in shipping.
• Bidding at the last moment doesn’t always work – this method is popular, but with ebay’s “proxy bidding” system, it’s not necessary. Simply enter the maximum you’re willing to pay for the item, rather than bidding a million times. Of course, sometimes it’s a good idea to enter a higher maximum during the last few minutes of an auction, but usually, this isn’t necessary.
• Use the “search” tool properly when searching for items – this is certainly an overlooked tool when it comes to ebay. Remember that sellers are limited in the number of characters in the title of their item, and sometimes sellers write poor titles to begin with. If your search is yielding no results, try doing an advanced search. Check off “search descriptions”, and you just might find what you’re looking for.
• Ebay auction sniper software might be a good investment – I certainly don’t condone the use of this type of software, but if you a serious and frequent ebay buyer, this might be a useful tool for you. This software is designed to help win your auctions, while keeping prices as low as possible. Type in “sniping software ebay” in a search engine to find out more.
• Have fun! – ebay is a great place to “shop”, waste time, and find items you never knew existed, or even knew you wanted! Ebay really puts into perspective the amount of products that are out there, and the infinite variety that we enjoy. Remember that online payment methods such as PayPal are great tools, but it’s easy to get carried away. Take it easy, have fun, and happy ebaying!

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