Founded in 1995, eBay originally started when a Bay area programmer wanted a way to help his wife sell her candy dispenser collection. This little hobby project quickly grew into a multibillion dollar empire. Mention the name “eBay” and you are mentioning one of the most popular brands online. On a daily basis, millions of consumers over the world come to eBay to either buy or sell. It is a great place to buy collectors’ items, rare items, or heavily discounted products. Ebay has become quite an Internet mainstay. If you are looking to shop at eBay, invest a few minutes reading the eBay shopping guide below to boost your chances of eBay success.
1. Get a clear idea of what you want to buy before browsing eBay
Many disappointing purchases or outright rip-offs at eBay are made possible when the buyer is quite fuzzy regarding the product that he or she wishes to buy. The purchase was made strictly on impulse. While there is space for impulse buying online and in the offline world, you have to have the right information in mind regarding the product you are buying before you shop for it. Most of the time, disappointed buyers only had a vague idea regarding the item that they wish to buy. They are unclear regarding the model. They are unclear regarding the manufacturer and this could result in buying something that they “thought that they needed.” In actuality that product was slightly off regarding the product that they actually had in mind. There is no recourse for the buyer in this type of situation if the seller posted an accurate description of the product.
One-sided mistakes don’t cancel a sale
In most jurisdictions, unilateral mistake is not a legal defense to a contract. You cannot negate a contract because you made a mistake. In most jurisdictions, both the seller and the buyer must make some sort of mutual material mistake for the contract to be null and void. If it was just you who failed to be clear or was under the wrong impression when you bought and that impression was not given to you by the seller, but was purely a product of your lack of information, then you lose out. Invest in a few minutes researching online as to the particular make and model of the product that you are interested in. Be careful of series products. There are many products that are part of a series. One part of the series might be completely different from another member of that same product series. Be aware of the difference. It is not the seller’s fault if they sell you an accurately described product of one series and you thought it was another member of that same series. A few minutes invested into product research can translate into avoiding several days of lost time, productivity and peace of mind trying to resolve your dispute with an eBay seller.
2. Read the whole ad carefully
You would be surprise by how many people go on eBay and participate in bidding wars or buy a product outright without fully reading the ad. Most people just read the catchy title and proceed to click on the bid or buy button. This could be a costly mistake in terms of your personal finance. Do not just go by the title or by the top part of the ad. Read the whole ad at least twice. Research the product and as mentioned in tip #1, look at the description, research the exact product name online and figure out if it is similar enough to the product that you are interested in. If you are searching for a particular specific product, make sure that the product advertised is the one you are looking for.
Many merchants use similar titles to advertise differing products
Just because differing merchants use the same title does not mean the descriptions are the same. Some titles may apply to a wide range of product series or product types. Read the description to be sure that you are buying that particular product. One common example of this is in regard to accessories. For example, many laptop accessories are advertised showing the laptop because the nature of the accessory requires it to be pictured along with the laptop so you know how it fits the laptop or works with the laptop. The predicament is many people who are not paying attention would look at the laptop and they would see the low price and wrongly think that the laptop is for sale. It is actually for that small device or accessory connected to the laptop that is for sale. Avoid letting greed take over because you only see the low price and fail to pay attention to the actual product being sold, and read the details.
3. Pay careful attention to the terms and conditions
Many sellers use the same title for differing products. For this reason, many buyers would assume that just because the titles, initial description or top part of the description is the same that these ads are all basically the same. This is a serious mistake. Sellers are within their rights to impose conditions in their ads. It is not their problem if you buy a product and fail to read the conditions because you thought that their ad was the same as a previous seller’s who did not have those conditions. That unilateral mistake is your mistake and you have to pay. Read the ad carefully.
Terms and Conditions can greatly impact the value of the offer
There are common terms and conditions added that might impact whether the purchase is a good idea or not. Common conditions include used or refurbished. It also includes who pays for shipping and for customs and other key things to keep in mind that might impact the final price of the product. Indeed, most people are on eBay because they are looking to pay a lower amount than at their local retailer. If there is a condition involved that might impact the price, you might end up paying more on eBay than your local retailer. It really pays to take a few minutes to read the whole ad. Do not just read the features, do not just read the title and do not just look at the pretty pictures but read the whole ad. Get a clear idea as to what is expected of you and what is expected of the seller. This can save you a lot of headache, lost time and peace of mind down the road.
4. Never be afraid to ask questions
EBay is simply a platform for mature buyers and sellers. This means people must be responsible enough to have all the information that they need to buy or sell. There is little hand holding here. If you read the ad and do not have enough information to buy, do not buy. Instead, contact the seller. Do not buy on impulse if the information you are getting is incomplete. A key part of being a responsible consumer is making informed decisions. Make sure that you have all the information that you need so you can make the right decision.
Just one missing piece of information can greatly change a deal’s value
Key information might be missing that can grossly impact the value proposition of the ad. What this means is if this condition or detail is made clear, your cost might go up dramatically so much that it is cheaper to buy the product locally as opposed to buying it through eBay. Do not be embarrassed or ashamed of asking the seller questions. Do not be intimated. Asking questions does not make you dumb. Buying products with incomplete information does make you dumb. Think about it and list out all your questions. No question is basic. Do not assume. Many people get burned because they assumed certain things regarding the product or deal. Do not assume. If something is not clear or something is left out, spell out your questions and ask away.
5. Always remember that online transactions are always stacked against the buyer
Let us face it, when it comes to buying online the whole system is stacked against the buyer. Why? You cannot physically inspect the product. You cannot physically size up the trustworthiness of the seller by looking at their face, looking at their facial expressions, checking out their demeanor when they talk, looking at their gestures, figuring out their body language and sizing them up and getting that intuitive feel as to whether you can trust that person or not. Since you cannot handle the product with your hands, look at it, smell it, touch it and listen to it and also gauge the seller personally, you are at a strategic disadvantage. EBay and other online shopping platforms basically force you to rely on numbers and words.
Use your strategic disadvantage to work in your favor
While you are at a strategic disadvantage, this situation forces you, as a responsible buyer, to become more analytical. Since you are being forced to rely solely on numbers and words given by the seller, filter this material very carefully. Be very proactive in analyzing information given to you. Look for contradiction. Does the seller contradict himself? Are there details that are fuzzy? Is there information given that contradicts information that you find online? Are explanations deep and substantive enough? The key part to keeping in mind your strategic disadvantage is making sure that you are not shy about asking questions. Demand answers. If you are unsure or something seems slightly off, do not be afraid to walk away. There are many other sellers out there. There are many other deals out there. Do not be afraid to walk away. The price is too high in terms of lost time, lost money and lost peace of mind to hassle with a seller that cannot give you the information that will allow you to make an informed choice. The stakes are just too high.
6. Be careful of illegal products
Just because it is on sale on eBay does not mean it is legal in your jurisdiction. There are many products that are of dubious legality depending on where you live. The most common examples of these types of products are products that violate copyright laws, violate patent laws, food and drug laws, local product safety rules, and a whole host of other regulations. There are certain products that may be deemed by your local authorities as weapons-stay away from those. The bottom line with this tip is ignorance of the law is not an excuse. Make sure that the laws in your local jurisdiction accommodate or allow the product that you wish to buy online.
The worst case that can happen is when the product is confiscated in transit due to your failure to check the product’s legality. In this situation, you are out of money. You cannot cry to eBay and you cannot definitely cry to the seller. If the materials are legal in their jurisdiction and they sell to you and you are at a jurisdiction that bans the product, you are out of luck.
Be aware of shipping restrictions
On a related note, make sure that the way you agreed to ship the product is also legal in your jurisdiction. Some jurisdictions ban certain shipping practices like pressurization of certain products or labeling of certain products. Make certain that you get information regarding local shipping rules in that whatever shipping arrangement that you make with the seller conforms to these rules. Again, ignorance of the law is not an excuse. If the shipper fails to ship or the item is confiscated or you are fined, you have no recourse.
7. Avoid products banned by eBay
Believe it or not, there are still quite a few sellers that manage to evade, one way or another, prohibitions by eBay on certain products. Just because a product is legal in the seller’s jurisdiction and in your jurisdiction does not mean that buying it on eBay is okay. If the product is banned by eBay, you might be looking at a void transaction. You have no right to expect that your product will be shipped to you. In fact, you might find yourself getting banned from eBay. Spend some time looking at the banned products list at eBay to familiarize yourself with products that can legitimately be bought and sold at that e-commerce platform. If not, you are looking at some lost time and possibly some lost money especially if your item is confiscated.
8. Always bid at the last minute
If you ask any auction veteran at eBay what their secret is in getting highly sought after products at steep discounts, they would tell you they always bid in the last few minutes of an auction. The reason for this is if there are few bidders and the bid is quite low and you come in bidding quite highly but still below what the local cost is, the chances are high that you would catch your competitors by surprise or they would just be discouraged by the steep jump in the bid prices and back off. Regardless of the situation, this has been a winning strategy for many eBay buyers the world over.
Due to eBay’s huge size, last minute bidding still works
Do not think that this technique’s effectiveness has gone down with time. Quite the contrary-because there are so many products, so many categories and so many deals happening at all times at eBay, there are more than enough deals for this technique to work. What competitors would do is if they see a steep jump, they would just move on to the other deal that has not been bid up yet. Take full advantage of this advice and get that price that you have been looking for.
9. Diversify your bids
Do not put all your eggs in one basket. There are many deals happening for the same type of product all over eBay. If you get outbid at one deal, if you spread yourself out enough or tracking enough deals, you might still be able to score that same product at even better terms by bidding at the last minute at a similar but separate ad. Always have your list of similar ads and monitor them closely waiting for the final minutes to tick by and then just drop that nice bid surge and hopefully scare off your competitors and swoop in for that great deal. The name of the game is patience. You cannot be impulsive and give up. You just have to be systematic about it and as the saying goes, all good things come to those who wait.
10. Always read sellers’ feedback
As mentioned above, you are at a key strategic disadvantage when using eBay. Unlike the offline world, when you are dealing with a flesh and blood sales man, you can figure out what they are trying to pull off. Can they be trusted? Is this product a really good value? Is this person giving me all the information that I need? Is this person trying to hide something? What are other holistic indications of trustworthiness and value? You do not have these online. You are just dependent on the information posted and the numbers posted. You can counteract the strategic disadvantage by reading the feedback and ratings of the seller. There is no better way to vouch for trustworthiness to get an idea of trustworthiness by looking at the feedback of past people that the seller has done business with. Read them all.
Detecting fake or suspect reviews from genuine feedback
Spend a lot of time trying to detect a pattern. There are quite a few shady sellers that would try to get their friends and family to issue a positive feedback. They would then use this long list of good feedback to rip off unsuspecting people. Thankfully eBay has certain mechanisms in place to cut down on this. However, this does not mean that it no longer happens. Do not become a victim. Read all the rankings and feedback carefully. Look for any discrepancies. Look for any inconsistencies and look for any patterns of fowl shady dealings. If something is not right or looks a little bit off, walk away. It is all about trust and you have to trust your instincts. You are at a key strategic disadvantage when it comes to buying things online, and if something is telling you that something is not what it appears, walk away.
11. Do not bid impulsively
If an ad looks like a great deal, do not bid impulsively. Look at the bidding pattern first to see where it is going. Compare this deal with similar deals and look at their bidding patterns. You should look at the bidding patterns, read the listings more than twice, read everything together, look at the feedback and then in your mind, rank all these deals from top to bottom. The ones that you have the highest chance of winning plus the most trustworthy seeming seller should get your bid. The rest should be on a completely wait-and-see basis. One of your biggest enemies on eBay is impulsive buying. Do not buy on impulse and do not buy as a reflex.
The Bottom Line
Getting a good deal or getting a bum deal at eBay oftentimes boils down to a few pieces of information. Use the tips above to turn yourself into a rational, well-informed and responsible online shopper. With these tips, you can turn eBay into a great source of high-value products at competitive prices. Who knows, you can then flip these products and sell it locally and make quite a bit of money. Turn eBay into your friend and not your tormentor.
