Technology Toolkit

EBay isn’t simply an online marketplace or auction, often times than not, it can feel quite a lot like a game. Like with any game played well, you can get ahead if you think tactically and strategically, using your brain to outdo the other buyers and get the best possible price, here are a few things that you might like to try.

Shop in the summer

This idea is very simple, but at the same time most effective. The summer season is generally a fairly quiet season on eBay; almost everything goes for less than it would during other seasons. While everyone else is out on holidays enjoying the sun, why don’t you invest some time in finding the best bargains?

Beat Them by a Few Cents

Try to focus on outbidding your opponents by a few cents rather than a few dollars; if they don’t make the necessary amendments before the auction ends, then the product goes to you. Try to prevent other individuals from deploying such tactics on you, though, it’s always best practice to bid strange amounts rather than round numbers to keep them guessing.

Play Dirty

If you know when the auction ends, you can get in there at the very last second and outbid your rivals. The chances are that they won’t have the time to sit in front of the auction waiting for it to end – as a rule, he who stays wins. If someone else does retaliate at the end of the auction, though, try not to get carried away in those last few seconds and end up paying too much!

Take Risks

This is a method reserved only for the brave eBay buyers. All the advice that you are likely to receive as a eBay newcomer will point to purchasing items that have good clear pictures, excellent descriptions and trustworthy sellers etc. If you’re a brave individual, why not do the exact opposite of what you’re taught?

Many buyers won’t want that item from the seller with a feedback rating of 5, no picture and a one-line description. If you take a calculated risk and bid anyway, you might be able to make a tiny bid and win by default. There are people on eBay who make their living from winning auctions like these, taking good pictures of the item, writing a good description and then reselling it at a huge profit. Be careful, though: do this for long enough, and you will inevitably lose your money at some point. It’s especially unwise to try it with very high-value items.

Avoid Bidding Wars

There only a few things on eBay that are so rare that you are likely only to seem then once and never again after that. There are usually numerous sellers on eBay that will have a specific product. What’s most noteworthy is that they will usually have more than one available to sell even if they haven’t put them all up for auction. Always check the history of a seller to see whether they sell that specific product you want to buy a lot, that way, if they do, you can wait for them to list the next product avoiding a possible bidding war.