eBay Tips and Tricks for Buyers

Nearly all of us PEZ collectors troll eBay looking for the elusive find.  We each have our own favorite methods we use to help tip the odds in our favor or just make the eBay experience better.  

Below are some of my eBay tips and tricks for buyers.  Hopefully you can use one or two of these...

• Use the Weekdays.  During the week there are plenty of good auctions that are ending and they have less competition from other buyers.  You can score some great finds during the week, so don't wait for the weekend.

• 200 Items per Page.  Scroll down to the bottom of the page and select 200 in the "items per page" pull-down menu.  The default seems to be 25, forcing you to click to the next page of auctions a lot more often.  Simplify and eliminate those extra clicks.

• Add to Watch List.  Found something that caught your eye, but you aren't quite ready to put in a bid yet?  Click Add to Watch List so you can monitor it in your Watch List.  If you decide not to put in a bid this time or if you get outbid, the next time the item comes up for auction you can refer to the Ended items in your Watch List to help you decide how much to bid.  I use this method a lot.

• Watch Out for Shipping.  Sometimes a seller will list an item for a very low price, but has an outrageous shipping cost.  Take a breath and always check the shipping cost before placing that bid.

• Visit the eBay PEZ Stores.  We get so caught up in bidding that we sometimes forget about all the great PEZ stores.  These stores are set up so you can Buy It Now without the hassle of bidding.  Occasionally, real gems with good prices turn up in these stores, so visit them once in awhile.

• Combine Shipping.  Before you rush to pay the seller for an auction you just won, click the "See other items" link.  Sellers will typically lower the shipping costs for each additional item, so it pays to see if they have something else on your wish list.

That's all for now.  If you have any tips and tricks you'd like to share, please e-mail me and I'll try to include them next time.  Thanks and have a great weekend.  Oh yeah, and please treat the Dads extra special this weekend for Father's Day.  :-)