There are lots of ways to find out if a seller
is trustworthy.
Feedback:
Feedback is the best place to start. It is very
hard to keep a 100% feedback on ebay when you sell lots because
there are people out there who are just never happy so please
do not get too hung up on the seller having 100%.
Just read through the sellers feedback and it’s
usually pretty easy to see who is in the wrong.
Remember Ask Quetions:
If I am unsure of the seller I always email them
with some questions and if they do not get back to me or if they
get back to me with a few words answers then I would not bid,
it’s an indication on what their services will be like!
Read Everything:
One of the worst things on eBay is people selling
what looks to be a high value item at a reasonably low price but
in fact when you read their listing, what they are selling is
nothing more than a link to a site.
Don’t not be fooled in to buying these.
These links are nothing more that pyramid scam.
Check out the Seller:
You can check your seller out and see what he/she
has been bidding on. You do this by going to Advanced
Search in the top right of ebay. In there you can search what
the sellers bid on in the last 30 days or check through his feedback
items.
To do this click items bid on by bidder and completed
lists last 30 days. You may find that the seller bought a job
lot of faulty items which he/she is now selling as working.
Now here is a few ways to help find how much to
bid.
Look Around:
You should know before bidding on anything on
eBay how much it is worth.
Lots of things sold on ebay are available from
other sites for less, so do your research. Use shopping robots
such as www.pricerunner.co.uk
, www.kelkoo.co.uk.
Knowing your Enemy:
If you are looking to bid on something and it
already has a few bids. Use Advanced
Search and search the bidder’s usernames. Chances are
this will not be the 1st item of this type they have bid on.
You will be able to use this information to give
you an idea of their maximum bid.
Snipe it and win it:
Using all the tips above you should know what
the item should go for and have a idea of the maximum bids of
the other bidders. Now there is no point bidding early and giving
your fellow bidders the chance to push up the price. The best
tactic is to bid as late as you can.
There is software out there that will do this
for you. Bidding late with the last few seconds of a listing has
a name, sniping.
I have used many sniping tools but I find auction-sentry
to be the best.
