Okay, now you are ready to start searching for and buying items that you actually want on eBay.
I am assuming that you know how to do a search on eBay since we’ve already went through how to do an advanced search.
Just type in the keyword(s) for the item that you’re looking for. If there are many listings for your search, you can add words to it to get more specific and narrow down the listing results that are shown.
Once you are getting the kind of search results you’re looking for, you can check the completed items to get an idea of how much similar items are selling for.
To do so, scroll down the results page and check the box next to “Completed listings” that is shown in the table with the yellowish background on the left-hand side of the page.
Now, click the “show items” button that is toward the bottom of that table.
After you have researched the completed listings, you should have a good idea of what the item is selling for and can now redo your search you can once again see the current listings.
When you see an item that looks promising there are some things that you should check out.
1. Read the item description closely to be sure that you know exactly what you’ll be getting. check to see if the item is brand-new, used, broken, missing pieces, etc.
2. Look for a refund policy. Some items are offered as is, with no refund policy of any kind. In such cases, you have to decide if purchasing the item is worth the risk.
2. Check out the feedback of the seller. If the seller has 100+ total feedbacks, they should hopefully have a 98% or better positive rating. When an eBay member doesn’t have a high number of feedbacks, one negative can really bring down the percentage and the eBay member could actually be an excellent seller/buyer. It is impossible to please everyone and some members leave negative feedback without giving it a second thought. Apparently they don’t understand or don’t care that many members rely on eBay for part or all of their income.
Before you ever leave negative feedback, it would be nice to first contact the buyer/seller to try to work things out. I would guess that 90% of the time or better, when problems arise, they can be worked out to both party’s satisfaction without the need for negative feedback.
If the seller does have some negative feedback, read the comments that accompany them. If there are a few with similar comments, there is probably an issue that the seller has with with a particular part of customer service or describing products.
2. Make sure that the seller is willing to send the item to your location. Normally, this is an issue only when you are in a different country than the seller.
3. Look at the shipping cost.
Sometimes the shipping charge is a flat fee, sometimes it varies according to your location, and sometimes it is free. Also, if the item is very large, it may have to be picked up from the location it’s at by you.
There are usually a couple of choices as far as the shipping services offered. Media mail, Priority shipping, Express, UPS, Federal Express, etc. could all be options depending on the item that is being offered. The faster the delivery, the higher the cost.
Also see if insurance is included in the shipping cost. If not, look to see if insurance is an optional Offering by the seller. If the item is worth purchasing, it is worth purchasing insurance for.
If the seller does not offer shipping insurance, then you should find out if they will refund your money if you do not receive your item.
4. Look to see what forms of payment the seller accepts. As mentioned before, PayPal is the most popular and sometimes the only form of payment accepted. PayPal payments, like credit card payments, are processed very quickly. You can usually receive your item much more quickly when using these payment options.
Money orders and checks are also sometimes accepted. If the seller has a very good reputation and requests either of these forms of payment, it is probably okay. With sellers that have a lower feedback rating and that haven’t been a member of eBay for very long, I wouldn’t be comfortable with using these payment options, a possible scam alert goes off in my head.
In such a case, if you are still very interested in the item, send seller a message and then decide if the response eases your concerns.
I feel the safest both when buying and selling when PayPal is the payment method used.
Also, if everything is not perfectly clear to you, send the seller a message asking for clarification. If you bid on an item without being sure about all of the details, you’re just asking for trouble.
There is a little trick to sending messages to sellers that I will cover in the next article, along with more eBay buying tips.
Keep an eye out for it.
Tags: buy on eBay, buying on eBay, eBay buying, eBay feedback, eBay messages, eBay tips, paying online, PayPal