Before buying anything, always check the seller's feedback. Make sure
they have a reputable track record with feedback in the upper 90%.
A simple check on their "My World" page will give you this info. But never take positive feedback
as a license to buy. We discuss the potential deception behind positive feedback
in our tutorial Online Buying tips.
Read the seller's "terms of sale" in their listings. Make sure they offer a
fair return policy with a full money back guarantee,
at the very least if the item turns out to be not authentic.
Some sellers only allow store credits.
Some sellers charge a re-stocking fee (some are as high as 25%) for a return.
Meaning if you pay $100, and want to return the item, they will only refund you $75.
An example of this re-stocking policy can be found in our
Case Study Four tutorial.
Buying tips for auctions: (Using eBay as an example)
[01/29/10]
eBay countdown: (This is a Flash-based applet still in beta.) What it will do is countdown the time
to the end of the auction of your watched items. This eliminates the need to refresh your browser window over
and over to get the updated auction end time. The applet also supports the 1-click bid feature.
It may take roughly 8 seconds to place a regular bid (as opposed to 1-click bids) so
this should give ebay enough
processing time but not enough for you competitors to overbid you.
Often times when an item is not a super hot rare treasure, one bid will usually take it home.
So on items with a modest demand, bid early in the auction. Be the first bidder.
Mark your territory. Stake your claim and “box out" the competition. Other potential bidders will not fight over a
typical item with modest demand, they know another one is right around the corner.
Some Bidding methods:
For items with moderate to high demand:
2. The "Proxy bid":
A proxy bid is a bid that is higher than the current minimum bid.
Why would you put in a much higher bid than required? Simple.
A proxy bid is not an over bid, it is simply the maximum amount you are willing to pay for the item.
Once a proxy bid is entered, you do not have to hang around and wait for the auction
to close, eBay will continue to place bids for you up to that maximum
dollar amount you entered.
For example:The opening bid for a hat is $25 and you are willing to pay $40.
So you enter
$40 into the enter bid text box. Now if another buyer makes a bid for say $25.25,
eBay will automatically place a bid for you in the next bid increment of say $25.50.
And so on, until the bidding hits $40. Then eBay stops placing bids on you behalf.
This is an especially useful strategy if you know you will be unable to catch the
end of the auction.
Power proxy bid tip: Utilize "Penny Power." Pennies can add
explosive power to your bidding arsenal. Utilizing pennies correctly can gain
you a free final bid, and it works like this:
Always place a proxy bid for a strange amount. Do not use ordinary whole numbers like
$40.
Why?
Because everyone else is using them.
For example: In the earlier example we placed a $40 proxy bid on a hat.
A more optimal bid would have been something like $40.04. Now if the bidding hits $40
at the close of the auction, which is a fair, common, old fashioned round number
another bidder would be likely to enter, eBay will fire out that final .04¢, and
you will win the hat by only going 4 pennies over. Kaboom! Your opponent never
saw that coming.
To recap: Use proxy bids on items that are in moderate demand and/or when you will
be absent at the auction's close. Bid in odd increments. Buyers usually bid in
round numbers, so add some "Penny Power" to your bid and you just might win that
Prada handbag by just 1¢.
Some non auction buying tips:
Now that you have a complete bidding arsenal,
here are some tips for
winning on eBay when the seller is using a different listing format called
Best Offer.
Best offer is a listing option that allows the buyer and seller to negotiate
on the final price of the item.
Once an offer is made, the seller can accept, decline or make a counter offer.
The buyer can then counter the sellers counter offer. Three counter offers are
allowed each. Many sellers use the make an offer option as a last resort, when
the auction and the Buy it now (BIN) option has failed to generate a sale.
(Not every seller fits that mold, but many do.)
This is good news for buyers.
Loading...
Coach Auctions[ebay]livefeed3. Best offer tips:
Most sellers place the starting price around twice what they normally
would in an auction format.
So make your first offer around 30-40% of the starting price.
If after some bartering you and the seller cannot
come to an agreement, click on the watch this item option at the top of the
listing. Often times these best offer items tend to sit on eBay for long periods of
time. So in the upcoming weeks, monitor the listing. You may see the starting
price come down, and if not, go ahead and make another offer. Chances are,
the more time that has gone by, the more likely the buyer will be to accept your offer.
Any successful seller knows that at some point they have to cut thier losses and
move foreword. Dead inventory takes up space and freezes up much needed capitol.
Most sellers understand it's better to take a small loss if it means freeing up money that
they can later use to turn a big profit.
So take advantage of these items, tremendous amounts of dead inventory can be found
sitting hopelessly in many of these "best offer" listings.
Bonus tip:
When doing an item search on eBay, try punching in a common misspelling of the item
or brand you are looking for. Like "Dolce gabanna" or "Salvatore Feragamo." Or even a typo like
Christain Dior.
Why?
Because an item that is misspelled will not be found by the search engines.
Anyone using the correct keyword spelling will never see the listing, which means no bids.
No competition. So try messing around with different spellings on different items,
you may get lucky. And if you stumble upon a quality
item that is misspelled, one that normally is in high demand, it is yours. And for the
minimum asking price. No penny power or proxy bid needed.
Congratulations. You are now armed and ready to score huge savings on eBay.
[01/29/10]
eBay countdown: (This is a Flash-based applet still in beta.) What it will do is countdown the time
to the end of the auction of your watched items. This eliminates the need to refresh your browser window over
and over to get the updated auction end time. The applet also supports the 1-click bid feature.
