eBay tips

[sousaphone68]

I have just done a search of the forum and did not see this covered so hopefully I am not going over old ground.
Having bought several instruments over the years from sellers on eBay and came to TubeNet through researching my most recent purchase I was wondering if it would be worthwhile to share our tips on ebay trawling. Out of 5 purchases only one was really satisfactory in the end the rest ended up being donated to the local band. Thankfully the most expensive one was the good one my Conn 26k. So to start the ball rolling here are the rules of thumb that I follow.

1. If the photo is a catalogue one and not the actual item I never bid

2. I avoid any sellers that claim not know what they are selling unless it is an instrument model that I know well I also avoid ones being sold for a" Friend"

3. I always google both the item and the seller to see if there is any back story.

4. Try before I buy (I have not followed my own advice here yet due to distance from seller) so I ask for a youTube post.

5. For big ticket items I search the forums for peer reviews.

6. Low feedback scores or very few transactions I tend to avoid

7. I always look at their other items bizarrely some of them have listed the item multiple times with different descriptions and conditions.

8. I set a max limit and always stick to it.

9. I now never bid from views only on an iphone have been burned by p&p due to small screen or wap version not presenting all the terms and conditions.

10. If it looks to good to be true its not.

11. Just because I can respond instantly does not mean I have to.

12. I now never bid on more than one item at time unless I want to win both wife got two watches one year for birthday through not following this one

12a. If I dont need it or can not play it dont buy it.

14. I always ask a leading question to test knowledge if I am serious about a listing as no reply or wrong reply or a snippy reply tells me alot.

Apologies if this is all either common sense or covered ground but I learned these the hard expensive way

[TheHatTuba]

Another thing, don't complete transactions outside of eBay (ex: instruments on ebay with a set "Buy it Now" through them (email/PayPal), not eBay)

[Michael Bush]

If you seriously want it, you've got to snipe it. I aim to confirm my bid in the last five seconds. Some people bellyache about this, but that's like complaining about gravity. Sniping is the way auctions are won.

[TubaRay]

1/ Be sure you talk up an item that you're interested in all over the internet, to get as many people as possible bidding against you.

2/ Only buy from "professional dealers", so you will pay the highest possible prices from someone who was already the highest bidder on another eBay auction for the same item.

3/ Depend on others' opinions, since (after all) it will be them - rather than yourself - who will own and use the item once you pay for and receive it.

4/ Avoid auctions offering great items which are poorly labeled or which have not-particularly-great pictures, because those are not "fair" to other bidders who have not stumbled across these auctions. Otherwise, refer to "1/" above.

5/ Never pay too little for something, because it just isn't right.

I believe there is an opening in the President's economic team. It sounds to me like you are probably OVER qualified.

[Michael Bush]

I've won some items that normally would go for 3-4 times the price. I got most of them because either (A) the listing wasn't properly labeled, e.g. "old camera lens" that turned out to be a mint condition fuji EBC from the 70's; (B) the pictures were lousy (been bitten by this, too); (C) it was in the wrong category; (D) the seller had little or no history. I also believe in divine providence. I've won stuff that frankly should have sold for much more according to previous auctions, and I don't know why. My horn is one of those.

Yes, I've had such experiences as well. But you can't count on it. That's why I say, "If you seriously want it." All it takes is one other person who's willing to take a chance and you can end up losing by one bid increment, which I at least probably wouldn't have boggled at if I had known (and you never know until it's over). You can still lose when you're sniping of course, I did just last week on a beater tuba. But it happens less often.