eBay co uk

[Golden Monkey]

Hell yes, Ebay is the way forward. . .. .I'm a big user, aiming to turn myself into more of a trader when I get the time. There are fortunes being made out there.. .. .In my experience it's much more of a tool for the seller than the buyer - the auction environment tends to make people keep bidding beyond what they originally intended. Which can be great. If you dress your listing up well enough, you can make a lot. Especially overseas. . .. .Having said that, on the purchasing side if you're wise about your bids and keep your eyes open for timing, you can definitely get excellent deals on a whole host of stuff - especially consumer electronics and computer hardware. . .. .A few tips -. .. .1. Set yourself a maximum and don't exceed it. Include the declared postage cost in this figure. . .. .. .2. Timing is everything. You've seen a good item, but rest assured there'll be another one along next week. If you can, try to wait until there are more than one of whatever-it-is up for auction at the same time, this divides the bidders and lowers the end price. . .. .3. Stick to sellers with decent star ratings and check their feedback.. .. .4. Sniping is getting more sophisticated these days, but it still holds that in general it's best to hold fire until the last minute on an auction. This is good for several reasons. . .. .a&gt; You don't get sucked into a bidding war with any other contenders. By the time it gets to the last few minutes most people will have declared interest and be near their maximums. It's best to stick to auctions with few bidders. . .. .b&gt; You can then decide if the item is still liable to close within your viable price range without having made yourself "visible". . .. .c&gt; If there's still some clear air between the current value and your maximum, go in with a big bid with 2 minutes or less remaining. Don't do it piecemeal. Each bid takes a while to process and as Ebay bids incrementally for you, there's no point in not going straight to your "do-not-exceed" figure as the auction closes. . .. .Happy hunting!. . . . <small>[ 28 March 2002, 12:28: Message edited by: SpinSpinSugar ]</small>