How to buy wisely on eBay

- Research: Become knowledgeable about the typical eBay market price for the item(s) you are shopping for
- Become an auction search expert - Find every auction selling the item you’re interested in.
- Read the item description carefully
- Check sellers' feedback without fail
- Use the right bidding strategy
- Don't get emotional when bidding. It's not failure if you do not win an auction.

Research - Before you place a bid on eBay do some research on eBay for the item you're interested in. If you're on eBay to begin with, more than likely you're looking for a bargain and you probably don't want to pay more than you have to. Doing a little homework by searching for your item and reviewing "completed auctions" should give you a good idea about what the going eBay market price for your item is. Reviewing current auctions may not give you a good idea about the market value because for some items, much of the bidding occurs in the final day or even the last hours or minutes of an auction. If you're looking to buy new products, be sure to check other online sources of the product that you are interested in. Best Buy, Costco, Target, and many others have online shopping. There is a chance that you may find the item you're interested in cheaper there. Costco sells wholesale to the public and many eBay sellers are purchasing their eBay sales inventory there.

Become an eBay search expert - The greater the selection, the greater the chance that you're likely to find a good bargain. For example: If you are looking to buy collectible books by Ernest Hemingway, you want your eBay search results to include every auction on eBay offering collectible Hemingway books.

When using the eBay search function, we recommend selecting the option below the entry window that reads "Search titles and descriptions". If you don't select that box, the eBay search engine will only search the auction titles for your search phrase of interest. 

Try different spellings and different terms for the item you are shopping for. Also, try very specific searches (like "Ernest Hemingway first edition"), or very broad searches (like "Hemingway"). These two search examples will return two very different sets of search results. To save title space, every eBay item category seems to have developed its own set of customary eBay abbreviations (Example: for books, "DJ" means that the book has a dust jacket, "1ST" means that the book is a first edition). As you review the listings, take note of these abbreviations and you will be able to use them to your advantage during searches.

Read the description carefully - Caveat emptor - Buyer beware. Pay close attention to condition information. For every auction, you should answer the following questions. Is it new? Is it broken? Is it reconditioned or is it being sold "as is". What kind of shipping policy does the seller have? Do they charge a flat rate for shipping? Do they charge a handling fee? Are these fees excessive? Where is the seller located? If the seller is located overseas, the shipping costs could be exorbitant. What payment methods does the seller accept? Do they require money orders? Do they accept personal checks?

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, it's yours to keep no matter what. The seller is stating that he or she will not accept its return if you're not happy with it. We would recommend that buyers not bid on "as is" auctions.

Review the seller's feedback rating - An easy way to review a sellers' feedback is to click on the number link next to the sellers eBay name. The letters "B" and "S" in the column to the right of each feedback entry indicate whether that eBay member was a Buyer (B) or seller (S) in that transaction. Avoid sellers with negative feedback ratings. Be wary of sellers that have a history of many negative comments or a few recent ones. Before you pass judgment on a seller with a few negative posts, you might want to read some of the comments to determine whether they were warranted. Are they related to poor packaging? Items that weren't delivered, or do the comments seem to be the ravings of someone with a bad attitude?

Don't get emotional when buying: "Sangfroid bidding" - Before you place your bid, think about what the highest price is that you'd pay for that item. Once you've decided on your maximum bid, stay with it. Don't ever bid over that amount. Don't give in to the temptation to bid one dollar higher. Like most of us, you've probably been programmed by our culture to "win,win,win" everything, but you must remember that it is NOT necessary to win every auction. In fact, if you win every auction, rest assured you've probably been paying too much for some of the auctions that you won. You may even be influenced by the thought that "this is the only time this item will be up for auction". That's a mistaken assumption; more than likely that item will be auctioned again, eventually.


eBay Bidding Strategies

How to bid - What kind of eBay bidding strategy should you use? Before you decide which bidding strategy to use, you should think about what you want to accomplish in the auction. Do you need the item quickly? Is the item a "must have" collectible - do you need to win the auction? or, can you wait until the end of a 7 day auction and is getting a bargain more important to you?

- If the seller has offered the option of using BUY IT NOW, you want the item quickly with no competition, and you're not necessarily interested in a bargain, BUY IT NOW may be the best strategy for you.

- If winning the auction is important to you but don't have the time to monitor the auction to it's completion, you should use a PROXY BID strategy.

- If you want to win an auction and save some money in the long run and are willing to invest the time to monitor/re-visit the auction you should use a SNIPING BID strategy.

- If you want to pick-up a good deal on eBay but you're not necessarily interested in winning every auction, you should use a MINIMUM BID strategy. This is a buying strategy used by many who re-sell items on eBay.

Buy it Now - If you're knowledgeable about values and are in a hurry to receive the item that you're shopping for, using the BUY IT NOW option may be right for you. Once you've chosen to bid using BUY IT NOW, no one else can compete with you to win the auction. It's yours. Keep in mind however, that most knowledgeable sellers set their BUY IT NOW prices close to, or higher than the typical eBay selling price for that item so it is very likely that you haven't picked up a bargain; at least when compared to the same item sold on eBay. There are exceptions however, and we have picked up some great deals on collectibles using the BUY IT NOW option. Apparently the sellers didn't know the value of the items they were selling and we were able to take advantage of their  lack of knowledge (one reason that we recommend that sellers not use this option). The key is to know the market value of the item you're shopping for. If you use the "Buy it now" option, make sure that you've done your research to ensure that you're not paying too much.

Proxy bidding - Proxy bidding makes full use of the capabilities of eBay's auction bidding system. eBay, in your absence, will bid automatically for you against any other competing bidders up to a maximum that you set. If a competing bidder eventually places a bid higher than your maximum, that buyer becomes the high bidder. To use this bidding strategy the buyer bids using a price that is the maximum that they would pay for the item.

Let's walk through a proxy bidding example: Let's say that a seller has placed an item up for auction that has an initial listing price of $5.00. Buyer “A” finds the auction in a keyword search and notices that no one has bid on the item yet. He has done his homework and knows that the item normally sells on eBay for around $15.00. He has also read the item description thoroughly and checked the seller's feedback. Everything checks out fine. Buyer “A” decides that he really wants to win this auction, but his maximum bid is going to be $15.00. So Buyer “A” logs-in to eBay and places a bid of $15.00. Refreshing the auction page, Buyer “A” is content to see that he is now listed as the high bidder and that the current bid price is $5.00. No one else can see that his maximum bid price is $15.00 because it is kept secret by eBay. A few days later, a competing buyer, Buyer “B”, views the auction and decides to place her own bid on the auction. Depending upon the current auction price, eBay requires that follow-on bids must be made at a price no less than the current bid plus an increment determined by eBay ($.50, or $1.00, or more). The higher the bid price, the larger the follow-on minimum bid price increment. In other words, eBay won't allow someone to place a bid for only $.01 more than the current bid. The good news is that eBay will let you know what the next increment is.  For this example, let's assume that the bid increment is $.50. So let's say that Buyer “B” believes that Buyer “A” probably only bid the minimum of $5.00. So she places a bid at the new minimum bid price which is now $5.50. After placing the $5.50 bid, she would immediately be greeted with an eBay page that would state "You've been outbid". Buyer “A” would still be shown as the high bidder on the auction page and the current bid would be shown as $6.00. Since the eBay system knows that Buyer “A”’s maximum bid is $15.00, the proxy system would automatically place a counter bid for $.50 (the minimum increment) over the bid that Buyer “B” placed. Assuming that the Buyer “B” had a higher maximum bid in mind than Buyer “A” did, they could continue to bid in additional $.50 increments (or possibly more as the price increased) with the eBay proxy system automatically counter bidding at the minimum increment until Buyer “A”'s maximum bid was exceeded. Assuming that after a series of bids, Buyer “B”'s bid finally exceeded Buyer “A”'s maximum bid, Buyer “B” would be shown as the high bidder and eBay would automatically send Buyer “A” an email stating that he had been outbid in that auction.

In this same case, Buyer “B”, could just as easily have decided to place a $20.00 maximum right from the beginning. In that case, eBay would have bid and counter-bid in a virtually instantaneous behind-the-scenes proxy bidding war until Buyer “A”'s maximum bid was exceeded. Buyer “B” would be the new high bidder and the high bid would stand at $15.50, or $.50 over Buyer “A”'s maximum bid.

Sniping auctions - If you have the time and the inclination to monitor auctions until the close, or if you don't mind putting your trust in third-party software that will bid automatically for you, sniping auctions may save you some money. Sniping, or bidding within the last few minutes to win an auction, is a bidding strategy used by many experienced eBay bidders.

Here's an explanation of how sniping can save you money: Many auctions run their course with progressive bidding occurring throughout the life of the auction. Bidding participants monitor the status of the auction and because many of the bids are placed early in the life of the auction, bidders have a chance to reassess their personal upper bid limit. The bid price may quickly approach the market value of the item. Emotion can take over and with plenty of time to contemplate the auction and then bid again, some bidders may finally decide to bid in excess of their original planned maximum. Also, a large number of bids on an item can attract additional buyers. Every eBay auction status line shows how many bids have been placed on that auction. Heavy bidding activity can draw buyers who are curious to see what causes that auction to be so popular but who might not normally view and/or take part in that auction. The result can be a very profitable auction for the seller. In the case of an auction where a bidder snipes an auction and places their bid in the last few hours or minutes, the previous high bidder(s) may not have the opportunity reassess their upper bid limit and place a counter bid. In many cases, the result is that the price is not driven as high as it would have been had all bidders bid early on in the auction.

Sniping works extremely well in the case of auctions where only two or three bidders are interested in the auction. An example: Let's say that Buyer “A” stumbles upon an auction for a collectible which is a few days from closing. No one has bid on the auction and the minimum bid is $10.00. Buyer “A” knows that the item is worth around $30.00 and places a bid for the minimum amount, $10.00 expecting to win the auction and get a great deal. (Many buyers like to maintain control of their bids and do not use eBay's proxy bidding capability.) Buyer “A” figures that there is a good chance that she will win the auction because no one else bid on the item and it is relatively late into the auction. Buyer “B” then views the auction after Buyer “A” has already bid, but did not bid at that time knowing that if he did bid then, Buyer “A” would then know that another bidder was interested in the item and he would have a chance to see his higher bid and possibly place a counter bid. So Buyer “B” decides to try to “snipe” the auction and waits patiently until the last few minutes of the auction and then begins bidding. In this case, all Buyer “B” needs to do is put in a bid for $10.50 (if the bid increment is $.50), and unless Buyer “A” is watching the auction closely, Buyer “B” will win the auction. eBay will automatically send an email to Buyer “A” notifying her that they have been outbid, but it will be too late to act upon.

The best defense against auction snipers is to use eBay’s proxy bidding capability and bid the highest amount that you would be satisfied paying for that item. In the case of popular collectibles, If you are the first bidder and bid the minimum, assuming that the item is worth the starting price, you are likely to quickly get outbid or sniped.

There are eBay users who have a strong aversion to the auction sniping practice and call it "dishonorable". They clearly don't understand the eBay auction concept. The practice of placing bids during the last hours or minutes of an auction does not conflict with any of eBay's rules and policies. If you decide to use this bidding strategy, there is absolutely nothing dishonorable about sniping an auction.

Minimum bids - Many buyers place the minimum bid because they are comfortable with that bidding method and/or want to maintain positive control over their bids. It is also a way to get really good deals on items as long as no one else bids on them.

When you place a minimum bid keep in mind that any other bidders that place a bid on that auction will become the high bidder. The buyer using a minimum bid strategy must either re-visit the auction and place additional bids as the auction moves higher or be comfortable with the fact that the next bidder will become the high bidder. What is the harm though? If no one else bids, you get a great deal. Otherwise, you don't care if someone comes in and snipes it out from under you. We have noticed that some buyers (and some who resell on eBay) place minimum bids on a great number of auctions expecting to be outbid on many of them. Most of these they don't win, but for those they do win, they get great deals.


Payment options

Use Paypal - Paypal is great because it is easy, free, and secure. No need to draft a check, or prepare and stamp an envelope. Paypal sends payment electronically to the seller. For buyers Paypal is free. The seller 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 increase your Paypal account balance, the individual eBay seller never receives your credit card number and therefore it's protected from unscrupulous individuals. The seller can never receive payment from your Paypal account without your knowledge. To transfer money to a seller, the buyer must make a conscious effort to send payment.


eBay scams

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.


How to find good deals on eBay.

The best deals on eBay are auctions by sellers who have not done a good job marketing or describing their items.

Types of auctions that can end up being good deals

- Auctions with no images
- Auctions that end on particularly poor shopping days or times
- Auctions that have misspelled words or very brief descriptions

No images - Many people won't bid on an auction if it doesn't include an image. That's why these auctions can be such great bargains. But If you're comfortable purchasing an item from an auction without an image, these auctions can be great opportunities. If the item is well described with adequate condition information and the buyer has impeccable feedback, these may be the best deals you can get on eBay.

Auctions that end on poor shopping days and times - Because no one else is shopping on these days, there's little bidding competition. Shop on Christmas day, and the days between Christmas and New Years. In our selling guide we recommend that sellers not sell during holidays, major televised sporting events, or well-watched television shows. These are the times that buyers can find very good bargains.

Poor descriptions and misspelled words - Not every seller does a good job marketing their items on eBay. Poorly described auctions or auctions with misspellings may not generate much traffic because buyers are not able to find the auctions in their searches. Fewer viewers result in lower prices. How do you find these auctions as a buyer looking for a great deal? By either predicting what those misspelled words might be and searching for them or by browsing auctions by category.


After the auction

Photographs as evidence - Save a copy of the item photograph before the auction ends. Saving a copy of the seller's image file is a way of proving what was presented on the auction. eBay maintains images uploaded to it's own auction image system for a limited amount of time after the auction close, but If the seller hosts images on a third party web server, they can pull the images down immediately after the auction ends. If you receive your item and it is not in the condition shown in the photograph, you have proof showing what the item looked like during the auction.

Communicate - It is customary for the seller to contact the buyer after the auction. After you receive an email from the seller regarding total payment you should send some type of acknowledgment that you received that email and that payment will be sent shortly. If you receive an item that does not meet your expectations, contact the seller before posting negative feedback or registering a complaint with eBay. Most sellers are willing to work with you to make you happy with your purchase, especially those with impeccable feedback ratings.


Miscellaneous eBay buyers tips

Save on shipping - If it makes sense, consider buying more than one item from the same seller. Many sellers will combine shipping costs and you can save some money.

Shop regionally - If you're shopping for large items (like furniture, antiques etc.) shipping costs are likely to be very costly. If you use eBay's regional search feature to find sellers in your area, you'll probably find sellers agreeable to allowing you to pick up any large items instead of having them shipped to you. You save the cost of shipping and the seller saves time by not having to pack the item. 

Leaving negative feedback - If you decide to leave negative feedback for seller and they have not yet left feedback for you, there is a technique which has a good chance of preventing them from leaving retaliatory feedback for you. The ability to leave feedback on eBay for any auction expires after 90 days. This expiration point can be exploited by simply waiting until the last hours of the 89th day after the end of the auction and then posting your negative feedback. There is a good chance that the seller will not notice the negative feedback that you posted and will not have enough time to post negative feedback for you. The problem here is that you need to remember to post that feedback on the 89th day. A great way to remind yourself is to enter it into your Outlook calendar, or your Palm Pilot or other PDA. 


A couple of tips about buying books on eBay

Dust jackets - Read the book description carefully. Books with newly reproduced, facsimile dust jackets are regularly being sold on eBay (although they are described as such). You should also ensure that the dust jacket is the same state as the book. Some sellers sell first edition, first printing books with first edition, later printing dust jackets. Again, these are normally described that way, but you should not assume that a first edition, first printing has its original dust jacket.

Signed first editions - Some eBay sellers are marketing books with tipped-in autograph sheets (a piece of paper with the author's signature) as signed books. Tipped-in autograph sheets are pieces of paper signed by the author that have been pasted into the book. The sheet could have been pasted into the book at any time and therefore these books are not as valuable as a book actually signed by the author. Also, keep in mind that books signed by the author with just an autograph are worth more than books signed with an inscription ("to John Doe").

Top Ten Buyer Tips

Read our tips on how to sell on eBay

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