Like many others, I find eBay a very handy way to buy
things I can't get elsewhere. In the eight odd years I've been eBaying,
I've stocked my office with eBayed equipment, sold obsolete and even
broken electronics (which some chop shops are happy to use for parts),
and on one happy occasion, had an entirely recycled Christmas, in which
I turned around the previous year's unused presents and bought new ones.
Now, that's creative regifting for you.
But eBay can be a
powerful comparison-shopping tool. It's a great source for obscure
items, or for package deals of complementary items. When you need a
fancy-pants camera, for example, searching on a brand name is a great
way to compare what bricks-and-mortar camera stores offer in terms of
bundles (lenses, camera bags, memory cards, and so on).
But
there's a trick to dealing with eBay that many people don't get. Many of
the lots seem to go for exorbitant prices and not all the dealers are as
service-oriented as other sources. So if you intend to go the eBay way,
do yourself a favor and run through my shopping
checklist.
Reality check
If you have a
particular item in mind, scope out pricing and availability elsewhere.
Is it available on Amazon.com or Buy.com or eCost or any of the other
one-stop shops online? Can it be found cheaper at comparison shopping
sources such as my old favorite metasearch tool Copernic Agent
www.computerjobs.com or the relative newcomer the Dealiotoolbar.
What about Google's price search tool Froogle? It gets tricky to compare
and contrast bundles of goods--when you're camera shopping, what value
do you place on a bendy-legged five-inch tripod or starburst filter that
you will probably never use? But one thing's for sure: With eBay, you
can comparison shop on a few thousand results that you can sort in price
order at the click of a mouse, so how can you go wrong?
Don't bid before you're ready. Most men I know
tend to shop fast and indiscriminately because they hate shopping. The
advantage to eBaying is that you buy time by avoiding mall traffic--and
you should use that time to hone your buying skills. Don't bid on the
first result you see that looks right. Hold back on bidding until
you've gone through all the following items on the checklist:
Buy It Now when you can. Look for the Buy It Now flash
when you're shopping. If you can find goods in the right price range in
a Buy It Now auction, click on the link at the top of that auction that
saves it in your Watch list. Don't bid yet!
Don't get excited.
Don't allow yourself to get carried away with the auction process.
The thrill of the chase is no excuse for bidding up and up on an item.
If you need the item and it's unique, you may have to go higher, but
otherwise, move on to items that are priced right.
Set your
price. Set yourself a price range and place a bid up to the top of
that range. If you bid $50 on a lot that's opening at $19.95, the bid
will be for $19.95, but each subsequent bidder will find himself outbid
until he bids $51. But don't bid until you've evaluated the person who's
selling the goods.
Check handling costs. Make sure the
vendor isn't padding the price with exorbitant shipping/handling
charges. Some people lowball their auction price and stick a $20 charge
for a $4 shipping bill. It's a marketing trick that's neither good nor
bad unless you're not expecting it, though it does cut down on the
seller fees due to eBay.
Evaluate the source. In general,
you want to deal with established vendors for business-related items.
How many positive feedbacks does this vendor have? How many negative
feedbacks? A rash of negative feedbacks isn't necessarily a bad sign:
Sometimes a vendor who was a bit slow delivering goods one month is
trying all the harder to do it right this month. And some buyers are
never satisfied: Check out the content of some recent negative feedbacks
and ask yourself, "If this happened to me, would it bother me as much as
it bothered the guy who's complaining?" Click the link to the
complainant and see if he has a history of bad feedbacks himself. Some
people just attract ill will!
Cash or charge? Make sure
you're comfortable with the vendor's preferred method of payment. Some
people want checks, Western Union, or BidPay only. Some larger vendors
provide toll-free numbers or Web-based checkout systems for credit card
purchase. Don't bid anywhere without checking the payment method.
Shorten the shortlist. In the end, you'll have a shortlist of
auctions and some idea of the vendors' reputations. Rule out any vendor
you don't feel comfortable with and go with the auction you like. Then
go with the flow.
square trading
One very
handy feature to look for is Square
Tradecertification. Go to Square Trade and enter a seller's
eBay ID to ensure that they deal with Square Trade. If they do, you can
use the services of a Square Trade mediator to handle any serious issues
with a transaction, such as non-delivery or unwarranted negative
feedback. I recently went through a mediation to handle some problems
with partial order delivery, back-ordering, and negative feedback. The
buyer and seller get a chance to kvetch about each other to the
mediator, and the mediator keeps the peace by repeating the issues in
non-inflammatory ways.
Square Trade mediation turned around the
one bad experience I've had in eight years of eBay buying and selling.
I'll not insist on any seller I deal with being Square Trade certified
(I'm not myself), but if I have to choose between two similar lots from
high-volume eBay suppliers, the Square Trade one will get my money.
Contributing Editor Matt Lake writes SOHO Advisor
monthly for ComputerUser.
