Eating Cake

I am absolutely and utterly addicted to eBay. The ability to shop for bargains 24 hours a day is my raison d’être; it’s not just the ‘buying’ (or the ‘winning’ as they cleverly phrase it, to appeal to our innate competitive spirits), it’s also the ‘selling’. I have never been a natural ‘saver’ and would rather beg/borrow/steal/use-credit-card-with-the-horrendous-interest-charges. With eBay, I can realise the cash from less dubious sources.

Of course, the big negative is that my ‘barely worn Diane Von Furstenberg dress’ would have previously been dispatched to the local charity shop. However, I have heard tales of less-than-scrupulous staff creaming the better items to eBay themselves. It seems that it is far better to donate from my (husband’s) bank account or Charities Aid Foundation cheque book, so that my (our) chosen cause also receives Gift Aid.

There are tomes dedicated to successful eBaying. I’ve never read any of these, mostly because I am one of those lazy people who don’t read instructions. However, I do have my own tips that I have learnt from personal trial and error.

eBay Buying

	Search out of season. If you can, look for garden furniture in October and winter coat in June.
	Search misspelt words. A ‘mui mui dress’ will invariably sell for less than a ‘miu miu dress’.
	Search less popular brands. I once bought a brand new Pringle handbag for £36, which saved me £563. I can’t imagine having the same success with more widely-searched brands like Mulberry and Chloe, which are also more susceptible to counterfeiting – check the seller’s feedback and use PayPal to aid any eventual compensation claim.
	www.ebay.com With the dollar exchange rate, many items are cheaper from across the Atlantic – even with international shipping and the lottery that is UK customs. Delivery times do, however, average around 2 weeks.
	Bid at the last minute (or 15 seconds). Bidding on an item early just means that more people bid against you and inflate the final price. Remember to keep ‘refreshing’ once your bid has been placed, in case someone is sneakily employing the same strategy! If your broadband is unreliable, there are websites that will bid on your behalf at specified times, e.g. www.auctionsniper.com
	Market research. As much as I love eBay, there are sometimes cheaper retailers (same applies to Amazon and other destination e-tailers). Google searches ensure that the same item isn’t for sale elsewhere for less.
	Postage costs. Always remember to check the total price with P&P. Some items look very attractive with 99p starts but are netted out by their £10 postage fees.

eBay Selling

	Title. Make sure your title is spelt correctly and use as many key words as possible.
	Photos. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. Make sure these are the most flattering and detailed words possible. Listing items on www.auctiva.com allows you to add more photos for the flat eBay fee and do pay that extra 15p for it to be displayed in the gallery – I am often too lazy to click on a listing if there is no mini image to tempt me.
	Be Honest. I know that this is a bit obvious but the holy grail of being a good eBayer is 100% feedback. eBay is a community, treat your other eBayers well.
	Price to sell. The question is whether to start your auction at 99p to garner lots of interest or to start it at a price you’re happy to sell at. I think that if it’s a hot (desirable not stolen) item – like a brand new iPhone – it will sell regardless, so the 99p start keeps listing fees down. However, if it’s something more esoteric, it’s better to start the auction at the price you’re willing to sell at. I think that this is better than putting a ‘reserve’ on the item – the lure of eBay is ‘the bargain’, reserve prices negate this thrill.
	Choose a popular finishing time. With many seasoned eBayers waiting for the last 15 seconds, you want those 15 seconds to happen at a statistically opportune time. Sunday/Monday evenings (7pm-10pm) tend to be successful as people are normally awake and at home.
	Make sure you have the time. Selling on eBay is time consuming. Once you have gone through the rigmarole of listing your item, you will have questions to answer (best to do this promptly and politely) and the posting and packaging to deal with. If you don’t have the time, there are some excellent professional sellers who will sell on your behalf.