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It's all too easy to get carried away in any auction, desperately trying to win, bidding more than an item is worth, being afraid to lose.
Remember that unless the item is very special there's always another one.
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Make sure you know the current new price for the item, it's amazing how often items are auctioned for more than they can be bought from the shops.
If for instance you're interested in a particular make and model of notebook PC, Search for matching items, and watch what they are going for.
Generally you will find that some go cheaply, some get a high price and the rest fall somewhere in between. With this as a guide decide what you are prepared to pay and don't bid more!.
It's very easy to get too enthusiastic as an auction closes, and keep increasing your bid, remember there's always another one.
Check the shipping cost, Check that the seller will ship to your location, Check that the seller will accept the payment type you prefer.
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- If it seems too good to be true then it probably is!
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For high value items it makes sense to take extra care. If it seems very cheap you might be tempted not to take as much care as you otherwise would.
Beware of sellers who only accept payment methods like BidPay, it's like instant money, once you've sent it it's gone! Always check seller feedback,
do they accept escrow?
Make sure you understand the auction terms, sometimes it can initially appear that the auction is for a particular item, but it may just be for information about
how to buy the item cheaply.
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For low value items the shipping cost can be a significant part of the price, even exceeding the price.
For instance comonly available items like CDs, DVDs, videos and books can go very cheaply but different
sellers may have considerably different shipping costs.
If the seller doesn't specify the shipping cost to your location then ask before bidding, if you don't, and you win the item,
then the seller has you over a barrel and can quote any amount he likes!
Be particularly careful of apparently very cheap items from locations like China, Some sellers list the items with a very low starting price
but a very high shipping cost. SO you might win an auction at 1 cent but pay 10 dollars shipping, often this is OK, and the total is reasonable as long as you are
aware of it before you bid.
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- Check that the seller will ship to your location
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I have occasionally been searching for an item and in the heat of the moment bid on something where the seller has indicated he won't ship to my location.
It's easily done if you suddenly notice something you want going soon.
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- Check the seller's payment preferences
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Make sure that you can pay for the item if you win it! Personally I'm reluctant to bid on items that don't accept PayPal.
I can't be bothered to write out a cheque for a small amount, find an envelope, find a stamp, find a post box, uugh! Life's too short.
PayPal is quick secure and easy, all done without leaving your armchair.
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Always bid a little over an even amount, say 5.25 rather than 5.00, many buyers will bid in even amounts, and it's annoying to loose something for a few pence
( of course you can go-on forever why not bid 6.25 or 7.25....)
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Sniping refers to the practice of bidding at the last possible moment before the end of the auction.
You can do this with a stopwatch and a quick finger,
or you can use an automated bidding tool like BidSlayer.
Some people think that there is something 'dishonorable' about sniping and
there are some heated discussions around.
Generally speaking if you snipe you are more likely to be sucessful at winning at a good price.
If you study the bidding history of auctions with many bids you will see that almost always there are multiple bids from the same users.
Someone makes a bid, someone else sees the bid and makes a counter bid but is immediately outbid because the proxy system bids from the original
high bidder, so he bids again, gets outbid, bids again... This is very common and generally pushes prices up, perhaps good for sellers but not for
buyers!
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If you bid regularly on particular sorts of item, you will probably notice other users who regularly bid on items that you are bidding on.
On most eBay sites you can do an Advanced Search to search for items that a particular user has bid-on, if he often bids on items you are interested in then
it's likely that he may have bid on other items that you might be interested in.
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Many people can't spell, and make many mistookes, even if they can spell they may easily mis-type.
If there is a spelling mistake in the title for an item it may not be found by searches.
So, if you regularly search for something, try searching with a mis-spelling, you never know what you might find.
Try out the SearchGnome mispell search, you will be surprised, or try this online misspelled search!
eBay Misspelled Search
Enter a keyword and we will search for mis-spelled items on eBay
(the search results will be displayed in a new window)
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For some people eBay is a business and they need to be serious, but it can also be a recreation, and you can probably find a bargain,
but don't be too serious, don't get mad, it's rarely that important, just Enjoy!
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