I can’t claim to be either a professional eBay user, or even a semi-professional eBay user, but I have used it quite a lot, both as a buyer, and to a lesser extent as a seller, but maybe, just maybe there’s some advice in here that novices might find useful.
I’ll also touch upon Paypal, which, although it is another organisation, being a payment processor not an auction site, just so happens to be part of the same parent company as eBay, and so the two are inexorably linked, seemingly.
WHAT IS eBAY?
Well, it’s nowt but a damned-great car-boot sale on the internet with all that this implies. You can buy things there or sell things. Some sellers are traders, others are private. I’d imagine that a larger proportion of buyers are private, unless a crafty trader sees a bargain they can sell for more later!
It carries with it, just like a car boot sale, one huge caveat -
KNOW YOUR PRICES…..AND KEEP YOUR HANDS IN YOUR POCKETS
…err, that’s TWO HUGE caveats, sorry, I didn’t expect the Spanish Inquisition.
It’s very easy to assume that an open air market is cheaper than conventional retail, and the same applies here. Time and time again, people buy at markets, only to find they’ve paid the bog-standard High Street price.
So many times I’ve checked the Amazon price for something on eBay to find that it’s only a little higher than buying a possibly second-hand version of it, say a camera, on eBay.
I put this down to the fact that amateurs selling used electronics sometimes have an inflated view of the item’s current worth; let’s say half of what they paid for it.
To be fair, this rule-of-thumb works fine for most inanimate objects with the notable exception of modern technology.
For example, the Casio 3.4 mega-pixel camera I paid £700 for, 5 years ago, is now virtually worthless, having been surpassed by even the most ‘entry level’ digital cameras, some with 5 mega-pixels and price tags of £70. You need to be realistic about these things, and agree never to be an ‘early-adopter’ again if you don’t want to get caught like this.
Then again, if an electronic item works and you have no use for it, don’t wait for it to go faulty, sell it; just don’t expect to get a lot for it!
In the same way as it’s possible to get carried away on the spur of the moment (heh, it’s a market, it has to be cheaper, hasn’t it?), don’t get caught up in the thrill of the chase and bid more than you intended just to get one up on the second highest bidder, who may, very sensibly have stuck at a level they’ve researched as being worth paying.
Quite often, you, as the second highest bidder will be offered the goods at your price just because you’ve met some invisible ceiling price that the seller had in mind, and they’ve got more than one of whatever it was you were bidding for. Anyway, it saves them the expense of re-advertising - I’ll come to fees later.
This happened to me a while back. I was prepared to pay £150 and no more for a Canon Ixus 750 from the official ‘Canon Refurbished’ site where shop-returns are repacked as new and guaranteed by Canon for a full year. I was outbid at the last moment by someone prepared to pay £165 but I still got the camera, warranty and all for my price because they had nine of them for sale. In this case, I was also aware that I was buying a superseded model (now the Ixus 900 Titanium), but someone buying on a whim could feel cheated when they find it’s not the latest item.
Don’t just know your prices; know your product variants too!
I have left some auction prices below for Nikon Fieldscope 82mm ED Angled Body and other items you may be interested in.
Click Picture Below to see great prices for Nikon Fieldscope 82mm ED Angled Body on Ebay:
Product Details:
Nikon Fieldscope 82mm ED Angled Body:
Nikon is a precision optical company with worldwide manufacturing, research and marketing capabilities. The Nikon name is equated with extraordinary photographic performance, innovation, precision and optical quality.PRODUCT FEATURES:100% Waterproof/ Fogproof;High grade optics and multicoating technology;Extra-low dispersion glass for the ultimate in resolution;Super high-resolution;Includes Vue-Thru case;Eyepieces sold separately;Sliding sunshade;All metal construction.
Here are some current Ebay auctions just like I got my deal on:
Check out similar products on www.Amazon.com as well:
