eBay Buying and Selling Tips

eBay is a wonderful marketplace for buyers and sellers alike. With a little bit of knowledge on your side you can enhance that experience greatly. With that in mind we offer these tips gleaned from years of experience.

Buying Tips:

Check Feedback. Before placing a bid, get to know your seller by reading their feedback, does it sound like the same issue over and again from different users? Do they have an excessive amount of recent negative feedback? Are the users leaving the negative feedback constant complainers (also check their feedback)? Generally if your seller's feedback is less than 98% or has excessive recent negative feedback it would be in your best interest to buy from a different seller.

Include Shipping in your bid. Found the item you want? Now look for the shipping costs, it is usually indicated at the top and/or bottom of the eBay item description. The shipping cost is something you are responsible for and to which you agree when you place your bid. Include it in the amount you are willing to bid. For example, if you want to buy an iPod Shuffle, you can buy them at most stores at a regular retail price of about $99.99. If someone on eBay is charging $89.99 for the item and $25 for shipping, then you may be better off going to your favorite local retailer and purchasing the item from them.

Look for items ending at odd or low traffic times such as Saturday evenings or in the middle of the night - sometimes you can get items for lower prices just because fewer people are around to bid at the last minute.

If you are buying on eBay it's a good idea to make sure the seller you are buying from accepts PayPal and pay with this method. PayPal is one of the safest ways to buy on eBay and offers many buyer protections.

When searching, search both the title and description. Sometimes sellers will make the mistake of having a sparse title and all the details (e.g. model #, etc) in the description. Most buyers will just search titles since that's the default search on eBay. If you can find an item listed in this manner you may be able to get it for a better price due to the diminished traffic.

Selling Tips:

Would you pay a quarter for a penny? Silly question, right? But people do it everyday selling on eBay. To list your item at $9.99 on eBay costs .35¢, however to list your item at $10 on eBay costs .60¢. Pay special attention to the listing fees prior to listing your item on eBay - a penny difference may help get you more bids (because $9.99 looks less than $10) plus it's essentially the same starting price - save your quarter.

When selling an item that several other people are also selling try to have your bid start lower than theirs, this works well when your competitors are starting the bidding high or have hidden reserves. Your item will attract all of the attention!

You have 55 characters to use for your title, make the most of them - especially in light of the fact that most people searching on eBay are only searching the auction titles. Make your title as descriptive as possible (brand, model #, type of item, condition) while also using the most pertinent, attention grabbing keywords. Don't fill up a title with nonsense like L@@K!, WOW or similar silliness. Seasoned buyers are known to pass up such items as being beneath their attention and some actually filter out terms like this when searching so that they never see auctions which use them at all.

Another reason to make the most of the title is that many buyers search only the title since that is the default search on eBay. Don't have a 2-word title and everything else in the description. More than likely not too many people will find it and the few that do may get a steal on the item due to the decreased traffic.

If you are a new seller on eBay don't try to sell a high ticket item early on. More than likely you will either give it away or it won't sell at all. Most buyers are wary of a seller with very little or no feedback. Start out selling low dollar items to build up your feedback and your trust level. Once you have an established track record buyers are more willing to spend larger sums of money with you. This is where a service like StopnDrop Auctions really comes in handy. With our high feedback rating and reputation for trustworthiness we are the perfect solution for someone with an expensive item who does not have the time or inclination for this process.

General (Buying and Selling):

Communication is the heart of eBay. If you have a problem during the transaction with a buyer or a seller contact them directly. They are human also and occasionally make mistakes. Most misunderstandings can be resolved by a clear, concise and friendly email or a simple phone call. Never make hostile threats or leave negative feedback until all efforts to resolve an issue have been exhausted.

Spoof emails. Whether you are new to eBay or a veteran you will receive fake eBay and PayPal emails. eBay and PayPal will never request confidential information through an email (information such as a credit card, passwords, social security number, or other private information). To verify that the email actually came from eBay the email will include your full registered name with eBay, along with your email address, and eBay screenname. To take this one step further, if it is really from eBay you will also be able to access the email message in your 'My eBay' homepage.

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