Tips on E-bay

[Woody]

Not everyone has used E-bay, although most everyone has heard of it.  So I thought I'd start a post giving out some tips I've learned along the way.  Some will be blatantly obvious, others may not  be.

When looking for something on e-bay, I've found it's best to use the search box in the upper right of the E-bay home page.   (Not everyone puts their item for sale under a specific category)

Generalize the search subject.  For example; say you are looking for a Marcum LX-5 flasher.  Type in "Marcum" in the search box, it will then take you to the next page with the results.  There you'll see Marcum in many different categories - Crafts, Shop, Home & Garden, Sporting Goods, etc.  Obviously you want Marcum in Sporting Goods.

Here you'll see all the Marcum flashers on e-bay at that particular moment.   At other times (typically in the fall) there may be many more units to chose from, then you'd specify "Marcum LX-5". 

Now when looking at a particular auction, you may see one going for an extremely good price.  Buyer BEWARE!!!  Check the following things:

Shipping Not everything can be shipped to a P.O. Box.  I run into this alot.  Where I live I don't have mail delivery-only a P.O. Box  Sometimes I can get around this by using my house number-but only if it is being shipped by someone other than the postal service. 

Shipping cost some will have the sale price low, but nail you on shipping costs-  (I've seen new computers for $100, only to see the shipping cost around $2,000.00! )

Feedback scores after the name of the seller is how much feedback the seller has.  I prefer to chose someone with at least 100.  Also be sure to check their feedback score-what percentage reported a positive experience with this seller.  Here I tend to stick with people with a 90% positive or better feedback score.  I almost always read their feedback to see why they got a neg. rating.  Many times it will be due to a "deadbeat" bidder or someone with a gripe. 

Payment form Check to see what type of payment the seller will accept.  Not everyone has a paypal account-although it is a safe, secure way to pay.  Some will not accept check cards-but will accept a Major credit card.  Most will not accept a personal check.  Personally if I can't use paypal, I'll get a postal money order.  They can be cashed nearly anywhere. 

Research  Research the item you want to buy.  Look around in stores, and on line to see what the "going price" is.  Too many times I'll see items on e-bay going for much more than retail cost-and they sell!  I check the stores for what I am looking to buy, then go on line-usually Google the item name and look over a couple of sites to see what they sell it at.  Also, make sure the item is the exact same in stores/on line/e-bay!  Some items may not include accessories-cords, adapters etc. , so be sure you are getting everything you would if you bought in a store.  For example-some Pods although new may not be new in box (N.I.B.) therefore may not have the cables, original box included.  If you have to buy the cables/adapters elsewhere-it can get expensive!

Also beware that some products claim to be "NEW" on e-bay, but once you read through the description-you find it is "used once-only to try it out".  Well then it isn't new!  The seal is broken and who knows what you are getting!  Most of the time people are honest about the item they are selling, but some are not. 

Read the item Descriptions!  Most items are pretty well described in the title.  But occasionally when reading the item description, it will be a little different from the title.  (They do this to attract you).  If you have ANY questions on an item, "ask the seller" the question!  Typically they'll respond within a day or so.  Except on weekends-many sellers do this as a full time job, or on the side job. 

Item Location  Unfortunately in todays world, most things are made overseas.   >:(  Well some items for sale also are overseas-depending on the item shipping costs could be expensive and not worth the purchase!  Personally I don't buy from overseas, for the shipping, and I'd rather buy from someone more "local"

Some other tips-

Check on the auction often!  I've lost numerous auctions (when I first started) due to being overbid at the last second.  So I try to time it, so I'll be at the ready until the auction ends.  I've had to "battle" others to win my auction mostly within the last minute of the auction. 

What I'll typically do is find the item I want,  and after doing the research on it,  reading the item description carefully, checking the shipping costs,  seller feedback, etc. I'll then click on "watch this item".  This way I can keep tabs on it, without bidding on it.  By bidding on it, it can at times drive the price sky high.  So I watch and wait.  Then within the last few minutes (usually 3 or less) I'll place my bid.  It's always wise to place your top dollar you are willing to spend right away, e-bay will adjust the bid to your top dollar.  Sometimes winning or losing the bid can be over as little as a penny. 

Scams  E-Bay and PayPal will not send an email asking you for personal information!  They will not send you an e-mail asking for your passward/login information!  If either E-Bay or PayPal wants information from you, they will ask you once you have logged in to their sites.  Also look for the little padlock in the bottom right of your screen (or upper right if using the newest version of Internet Explorer) You will also see "HTTP" in the address bar vs "http".  The added "s" stands for secure.  This applies for E-bay, PayPal, and any on line banking you may do. 

I've gotten numerous e-mails claiming to be from either E-bay or PayPal saying my account is under review, or may be closed, or suspicious activity-whatever.  It isn't from E-bay or PayPal!  The e-mail may look "official" and from them, but it isn't!  What I'll do is close out the e-mail, log in to the site (E-bay or PayPal) and look for a message there-if they want something from me, or have info. for me, this is where they'll tell me.  If I don't see any messages, then I'll return to the "hoax" e-mail and forward it off to E-bay or PayPal (whoever it "says" it is from) to their spoof department.  You'll find that address on their websites-under security.  Then I'll delete the e-mail, and mark it as spam never to hear from them again-until they change something in their address.  (All it takes is to change one letter, or character). 

When I first started using E-bay I somehow became subject to "Identity Theft".  It was probably the worst experience I've ever had-next to a doctor doing a rectal exam!  The thief managed to buy an allotment of server time, a rolex, and numerous other "luxury" items I could only dream of buying.  Needless to say I had to put a freeze on my bank account.  At first I was in debt for over $3,000.00, not including overdraft charges, etc.  I got nailed with some of the overdraft charges-the bank wouldn't budge.  But the rest was taken care of by E-bay/PayPal investigating along with the FBI Internet crimes bureau.  It was a very stressful time, very messy trying to pay bills when you have nothing left.  But within a month I was back to "normal".   This was some time ago, but it still weighs heavily on my mind when I buy anything on line.  And I just thought I'd share some of the things I  know, so this doesn't happen to anyone else.  I'll try to answer any questions anyone has regarding all of this.  ~Woody

[Spinach]

Thanks Woody.

[walleyechasers3]

Woody, you got off cheap for $3000.00. I had the same thing happen and the person bought over $150,000.00 worth of items overnight. But I was lucky, they didn't get the info for my paypal account. Ebay contacted all the sellers, some got nasty and left me negative feedback, but after contacting ebay, they erased all the negs from my feedback due to the ID theft.

Not fun dealing with it. Never reply from your email. If it is lagit from ebay, it will be in yout "Messages" in your "My Ebay" and you can reply to questions there.

[redneck rambo]

Thanks guys for the "experienced" advice.  You have probably saved many others from making so called "stupid" or "rookie" mistakes.