I’ve been an active “EBay-er” buyer for several years now, and like most people I’ve gotten some incredible deals just by being on the website “in the right place at the right time”. Everyone has an “eBay story”, about how they got a fantastic deal and basically “stole” an item for pennies, and I myself am no exception. I’ve saved on just about everything from designer handbags, to electronics, to clothing lots, to even household items. That old saying “One person’s trash, is another person’s treasure” rings especially true with eBay…There is a buyer for everything on EBay. As a matter of fact, I log into my EBay account just about every day just to scroll through the auctions and see what’s happening, whether I have an idea in mind for a purchase or not. I can usually be persuaded to make a purchase if the deal is simply too good to pass up. It certainly helps that in my years as an EBay-er, I’ve learned a few tricks and shortcuts to help save myself money on auctions, and since today is your lucky day, I’m going to share some of those tricks with you:
1. First off, auctions that end over the weekend usually have more bidders and higher prices than those that end mid week. Reason being is that more people are home, and more likely online browsing over the weekend than during the work week. If you’re looking to save on an item, find ones that end mid week, preferably late at night as they’ll more likely have less bidders driving up the cost of the item. I lucked out once by bidding on an item that ended in the middle of the night, and I’m not ashamed to admit that I actually set an alarm clock to make sure that I didn’t lose that auction!
2. One thing that annoys me about EBay is that some listings have shipping costs that are higher than the actual item for sale. Free shipping is one of those “luxury items” on EBay, so anytime I come across a listing for free shipping, it instantly makes me a whole lot more interested in the item. Think about it this way: if there are two identical items for sale, one for $15 with $7.50 shipping, and one for $20 with free shipping, the $20 item is obviously the better deal. If you’re interested in saving on shipping costs, check out our eBay coupon here for all items marked free shipping.
3. The next suggestion can be a bit of a pain, but a little effort on your behalf can add up to considerable savings, and that is to reconsider bidding on items that don’t accept PayPal as a payment term. Most bidders won’t bother with listings that do not accept PayPal as it takes quite a bit of effort to go out of their way and purchase a money order. Therefore, if you bid on items that do not accept PayPal, you’re bound to save yourself a nice chunk of change since they’re more than likely being ignored. Once again, if you resolve to do the legwork, the savings can be substantial.
4. Stake out an item, add it to your “watch list” and then place your bid in the last few seconds to “steal” an item from another bidder. This is known as “sniping”, and though it sounds harsh, it is fully supported by EBay as part of “the EBay experience”. All bids are valid, even in the last few seconds of the live auction, and as a matter of fact most auctions garner the most activity in the last couple of minutes. It can be very gratifying to know that your patience and due diligence paid off, so sneak in there and grab it while you can!