We'll start out with some secrets to help you find items on which to bid. eBay's top buyers are quite adept at finding exactly what they wantand for a reasonable price! Secret #1: Search; Don't BrowseIf you know what you're looking for, don't go through the time-consuming hassle of clicking and loading and clicking and loading to access a particular item category. Using an auction's search function will find what you want a lot quicker. Secret #2: Search SmartSearching for an item on eBay is easy; finding what you really want is hard. You're more likely to find what you're looking for if you can use the auction site's advanced search capabilities to fine-tune your query. Some specific search tips can help you perform more effectiveand efficientsearches:
Secret #3: Search for MisspellingsHere's a good way to take advantage of other users' mistakes. Some eBay sellers aren't great spellersor are just prone to typing errors. This means you'll find some items listed for auction under misspelled titles. It's not hard to find the occasional Dell personal commuter, Apple ipud, or jewel neklace. The problem for these sellersand the opportunity for youis that when you're searching for an item (correctly), listings with misspellings won't appear in the search results. If potential bidders can't find the listings, they can't bid on them, eitherleaving these misspelled listings with few if any bidders. If you can locate these misspelled listings, you can often snap up a real deal without competition from other bidders. The key, of course, is figuring out how an item might be misspelled. Let's say you're looking for a bargain on a camcorder. Instead of searching just for camcorder, you might also search for cam-corder, camcoarder, camcarder, and camcroder. Give it a tryyou'll be surprised what you find. And if you don't want to think up all the possible misspellings yourself, you can use the Fat Fingers website (www.fatfingers.com) to do it automatically. Enter a query into the Fat Fingers search box, and it will search eBay for that phrase and phrases that contain similar misspelled words. It really works! Secret #4: Search for Last-Minute BargainsWhen you search the eBay listings, be sure to display the results with auctions ending today listed first. Scan the list for soon-to-end items with no bids or few bids, and pick off some bargains that have slipped others' attention. Secret #5: Check the Seller's Other Current AuctionsYou'd be surprised how many times a seller has more than one item you're interested in. Click the View Seller's Other Auctions link to see everything else the seller has for auctionand bid accordingly! |