Time for an eBay Refresher!
Some eBay Tips For Last-Minute Holiday Shopping
If you're anything like me you still have at least one or two people to buy for this holiday season. Believe it or not, eBay might be just the place to do your last-minute shopping. Each year I get great deals on the eBay site, but it's because I know how to "play the game". If you want to pick up a few great last-minute deals, here are some eBay tips to keep in mind.
Avoid Bidding Wars
Whether you want to admit it or not, you're ego can cost you money -- especially if you don't see it coming. Imagine this...
You're at the eBay website and you've found the perfect gift at an amazing price of $5. The item sells for $50 in the store so you jump on it. Five minutes later you get a notice that someone just outbid you. They bid $10, you decide to bid $15.
Now, in a perfect world you'd win that eBay auction for $15. However, that nasty bidder is intent on wrecking your holiday and bids $20. You bid $25. They bid $30, you bid $40 just to spite them. They bid $50 to spite you and you bid $60 in retaliation. Starting to see a pattern?
You've just bid $60 for an item that retails for $50 and you haven't even calculated shipping costs yet.
Do yourself a favor. Don't get involved in bidding wars. When it comes to good deals eBay is ripe for the picking, but not if you let your emotions get the better of you.
Use Bid Sniping Tools
Want to know the best way to avoid a bidding war? Use a bid sniping tool. I personally use AuctionSniper for my eBay auctions. I log into my auction sniper account, set the amount I'm willing to bid and the software places my bid in the last seconds of the auction. This means no one has time to outbid me and I don't get wrapped up in ego bidding.
Watch Those Shipping Prices
One more thing I want to point out to you last-minute eBay deal grabbers... Don't be in such a rush that you forget to look at shipping rates. If you bid $5 for a $20 item, wonderful -- unless you pay $25 for shipping.
Haste makes waste -- literally. If you don't want to succumb to unexpected (and sometimes unreasonable) shipping prices, make sure you know the details before placing your bid.