Musica Viva: Internet tips : eBay tips

eBay tips

Are you afraid of Ebay and other internet auction sites?
You should be. Auction shopping has always been a high risk activity, and it is even more so when it's on the internet.

But that doesn't mean you should avoid it completely. There are some real bargains out there! And there are things offered at eBay you simply wouldn't find anywhere else.
Just remember some very basic precautionary rules:

Read eBay's help files

There are lots of more useful tips there. The list on this page only covers the most basic ones.

Read the item descriptions carefully

If you're not satisfied, you can return the item on the seller's expenxe and get a full refund, but only if it clearly doesn't match the description.

Research

A basic Google search can give you lots of information the seller won't tell you or doesn't know.

Wait and watch

Unless you're going for something really unique: hold on a bit. Add similar items to you watch list and see how the fare. Then - when you have a reasonable idea what that kind of stuff usually goes for at eBay - you can start bidding.

Beware of "hyped" brands

I don't know what you are looking for, but let me use guitars as an example:
  Guitar brands like Harmony, Kay and Silvertone (to name but a few) usually fetches quite high prices at eBay. They do so because "everybody" has heard of them (at least in the USA) so "everybody" figures they must be good, famous brands.
  Not so! These brands are well-known because they mass-produced budget priced instruments everybody could afford! Although these brands also sold quality-instruments, these are rare to find at eBay.
  Speaking of guitars, there's at least one special case when it comes to highly priced cheapos: the Stella. Stella guitars was originally priced even lower than Harmony etc., but the brand's strong connections to the early blues masters make them serious collectors' items. A pre-war Stella twelvestring guitar with a trapeze tailpiece may not be a player, but what a conversation piece it would be!

Check the seller's feedback reviews

But don't let a negative review or two scare you off. Some people are never satisfied. ;-)
Don't just count the reviews, btw, read them!

Contact the seller

MAke sure any questions are resolved before you buy.

Get a PayPal account

PayPal is by far the easiest and safest way to pay for things you buy at eBay.

Don't give eBay your main email address

Ebay does its best to protect your email address to fall into the hand of spammers, but there is no way they can make their security system completely waterproof. So get yourself a special email address for eBay mail only. At least that keeps all the extra spam separated from the main bulk of your emails.

Bid late, but not too late

Last minute bids are not just a nuisance for the seller and for other bidders, it's also risky for you. On the other hand, bidding too early are almost certain to drive the price up. There are no absolute rules here, you have to trust your own judgement.

Think

Don't rush in where angels fear to thread. Ask yourself a few basic questions like:

Do I really need this?
Can I really afford it?
Is it likely a better offer will come up soon?
If things go wrong: can I repair it, or do I know somebody who can?