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Ebay Buying Advice - you asked for it
E3E:
--- Quote from: Hellmark on Sat, 03 January 2015, 09:48:39 ---They charge on shipping now too? I guess to get the people that would have a penny item and hundred dollars shipping on what is normally a hundred.
I did notice that on accept offers, and unchecked it.
--- End quote ---
I love seeing items that have a low listing price but have shipping that places it around the same price as all of the competitors. Such an annoyance.
fohat.digs:
--- Quote from: E3E on Wed, 28 October 2015, 01:06:14 ---
I love seeing items that have a low listing price but have shipping that places it around the same price as all of the competitors.
--- End quote ---
I hate it too, but honestly, people are weird. I have listed items with free shipping (which I prefer to do) just sit there for days, but when I divided up the same price to make shipping separate, they sold quickly.
I wish that domestic shipping and sales tax were mandatory to be included in the ebay price, with surcharges allowed for expedited and international shipping.
SamirD:
Since I started to buy from ebay (prompted from needing something for work that was only available on ebay), I finally read this great thread. It will be interesting to use a lot of these tips in the future if I start to use the selling capability.
One thing I can say for buyers to avoid being caught up in the bid frenzy if you plan to snipe and bid the old-fashioned way, is to already know your limits. It's actually no different than buying or selling stocks--you decide beforehand what is your max bid before you even place a bid. And with that already settled, you can snipe at full speed at the end of an auction if you want to attempt to get something at a great price. I've used this a few times now with great success. :cool:
ander:
--- Quote from: SamirD on Fri, 17 November 2017, 23:58:22 ---One thing I can say for buyers to avoid being caught up in the bid frenzy if you plan to snipe and bid the old-fashioned way, is to already know your limits. It's actually no different than buying or selling stocks--you decide beforehand what is your max bid before you even place a bid. And with that already settled, you can snipe at full speed at the end of an auction if you want to attempt to get something at a great price...
--- End quote ---
Samir's exactly right, as usual! But then, we've come to expect such wisdom from him—he's an insightful type o' geek. :?)
Something else to keep in mind: If someone does outbid you, don't get bummed, thinking "I might've won if only I'd had time to bid again!" Most likely, the winner entered a maximum bid well above what you would've been willing to pay (believe it or not, there are many people in the world with so much dough, they don't care what stuff costs as long as they get it), and eBay's page automatically advanced their bid just enough to top yours.
You can apply this philosophy to other areas of life. For example, there was a girl in high school I was crazy about. I worked up my nerve a couple of times and asked her out, but she turned me down. Rather than taking it personally, I thought: "Maybe a slightly better-looking guy asked her out for that night, and she'll find out his looks aren't enough to compensate for his lack of personality—then I'll have another chance!" In eBay terms, I figured the item would be relisted.
As it turned out, she never did go out with me. But I stumbled across a photo of her last year, and she's completely lost her looks—so HA!!! But I digress.
ander:
Here's another eBay tip, in case no one else has mentioned it:
As the ends of their auctions approach, people often become willing to accept lower offers. So if you're looking at an assortment of items, try sorting them by "Time: Ending Soonest", and submitting low offers on any "Make an Offer" items that interest you. And don't tell your significant other that I gave you this advice.
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