EBAY bargains

[pinkie]

Just wondering if any Pruners have had any good bargains from Ebay.
I was bidding on a couple of items recently, but they both went for silly money. One was a digital camera that went for £285 (a new one only costs £305 from Dixons and you get a guarantee), and the other item was a radar detector that went for £245+postage, and a new one costs £270.
Are these normal examples, or have I just been unlucky?
:rolleyes:

[What_does_this_button_do?]

It's amazing what you can get from ebay but there is a lot of bid "rigging" that happens (friends bid for friends items which increases the price).

You might have been unlucky. I have had a few items and I've sold a few things too.

We didn't really need Grandma after all! (joke)

B

[Ronbmy]

It all depends on what you want.

If you see something that you would like then THINK HARD about the maximum you are prepared to pay for it - and STICK to it. Too many people on Ebay 'chase' items as the price rises above what they wanted to pay. As a result they end up with a bad deal.

If you think that some 'bid rigging' has been going on then report your suspicions to Ebay. People should not get away with such behaviour.

I've noticed in recent months that some sellers are giving ambiguous descriptions with or without fuzzy photos and failing to mention that an item is a copy - not an original.

Check the sellers feedback and see what other people think of them - this has been sufficient to prevent me from bidding for a few items.

If you have any questions then email the seller - and be quite blunt, but polite, with the wording of the question - before the auction ends.

If in doubt - Leave it.

I've been on Ebay for about 18 months and built up a feedback rating of 117 but I still treat most auctions with suspicion.

Good luck and Happy hunting. Be carefull out there.



:O

[pilotwolf]

Good Advice so far.

Check new price before bidding - think of value of guarentee - I never bid more than about 60% of new price.

Remember p+p too - some people change over the top.

Not really been burnt yet but came close with some Trevor Thom manuals.

As they say Caveat Empor or something similar.

Don't get carried away with the excitement of the auction.

[FL245]

Hi Guys

Best advice is to check feedback of seller. Be very careful of sellers with a zero feedback.

Try using auctionsniper.com for bidding for times when you are away.

As Ronbmy says know your price and stick to it, best not to bid till last min!


Good luck

[Dr. Bunsen Honeydew]

I use ebay a lot, both for buying and selling, and have found quite a few excellent bargains. Computer equipment can be a particularly good deal (I recently bought a laptop for a friend for £950 which was retailing in Dixons for £1400), as well as mobile batteries etc. It's also a great way to get rid of all that junk around the house that you don't use anymore but is too good to throw out (and is too specialised / wierd for anyone you know to want). There is always someone out there who wants your stuff.

A good tip is to wait until near the end of the auction before putting in the maximum bid you are willing to pay, as a lot of people bid with days to go and never get the item.;)

[Rollingthunder]

A lot of good advice there. You can widen your horizons by going to ebay.com as well as ebay.uk. Remember higher shipping costs from N.A. but much wider market. I have addresses in NA and UK. Sniping is a good technique and fun if you're at the 'puter near the end of an auction. I use a stopwatch. Last one I won, my bid was in 5 seconds before the end.:D

[Ronbmy]

Why bother with ebay.com? unless you are just browsing.

If you use the search facility to find an item you have the option to select...

Items located IN the UK

or

Items available to the UK.

By the way have a look at....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4783&item=3310756390&rd=1

Not long before the end of the auction it had only reached £20.
Then it gets cancelled because 'something is wrong with the voucher'.

Wrong?? funny ha ha.

I was going to put a bid in for this and send a mate up - try and get a new recruit. Baa Humbug