Ey Bay Bay!

I recently made my first-ever purchase of eBay, and it was quite a pleasant experience. Many of my friends had told me that eBay is a great place to get items a lot cheaper and you can in a store, and I really wanted to test that out. Plus, I rationalized it would be great having the item shipped to my house rather than having to waste money getting to the store I would normally purchase the item.

After browsing the items on eBay.ca, I found exactly what I was looking for. After reviewing the shipping details, I purchased the item, and lo-and-behold; it arrived at my door just four days later! Considering the shipper lives in another country, I was rightly impressed when the item arrived in perfect condition, just as he had described it. With that I continued shopping, and have since purchased several other products on eBay.ca.

Here are some eight things I've picked up in my first two weeks of using eBay:

1. Know exactly what you're looking for. This should be really obvious, actually - have a clear idea in your mind what kind of item your looking for, whether you want it new or used and whether that item is very common or more rare. Knowing beforehand will help you sift through the endless listings of stuff that will surely show up on your first search.
2. Have a budget. This is another obvious one - know how much you're willing to spend, and stick to it. I would suggest contacting local store owners who sell the same item and ask how much it is locally. This way, you can make the most out of your shopping experience by getting the same item shipped to your house for cheaper than it would cost for you to drive out and buy it yourself!
3. Be open-minded. The first couple times I went shopping on eBay, I totally ignored those items that didn't have a "Buy it now" sign next to them; those were all auction items and I decided I would rather get the final price up front at the beginning of the sale. However, after going through a successful auction and winning the item (for several dollars less than the lowest "Buy it now" price), I always look at the auctions and the non-auction items. Many times you will be able to get yourself something for much cheaper if you look at both types of listing instead of just one.
4. Read the fine print. When buying an item, it's absolutely necessary to read the fine print closely. What do I mean by this? My friend Adrian recently asked me to bid on an item on his behalf - a set of four playing identical cards, or so he thought. The card is quite uncommon, and so the price was high - about four dollars each. Upon closer inspection of the listing however, I realized that the listing - which included a picture of four of the card in question - was only for one card, not four! Imagine if I had taken the picture at face value and not looked closely at the actual item description; I would be out sixteen dollars cash, with no one to blame but myself. Also, it would be wise to take a close look at the shipping details; you don't want to purchase an item only to realize that the shipper does not ship to your country.
5. Only bid when you are certain you are going to buy the item. Don't bid for fun - ever. This may seem a bit strict, but it's really not a nice (or legal) thing to do at all. When you bid on an item, you enter into a legally binding agreement to purchase that item if you are the highest bidder come listing's end. If you bid and win, but decide not to pay up, you could have strikes placed on your account, or worse, an account suspension. Although you may never be sued for not paying up, it's really not nice to put the seller in that sort of situation anyways. If however you bid and realize later it was an honest mistake, explain your situation to the seller, and they may be gracious and cancel your bid for you, though this is up to their sole discretion.
6. Keep in mind currency differences. Most items on eBay are listed in USD, and so it would be more than wise to visit a site like xe.com to convert the listed price into your local currency. Otherwise you may find yourself paying more than you might have to - even more than you would have to pay at a local store if you fail to take this into account.
7. Get a PayPal account. Most sellers prefer PayPal (indeed, many only accept PayPal), and so it is a good idea to go get an account. Of course you can link your PayPal account with your bank account to transfer funds back and forth, although you don't necessarily have to. However paying for eBay purchases with PayPal is fast, easy and safe, and will make your eBay experience much more pleasant.
8. Leave feedback. Did the seller refund you the value of a discount after you had already paid? Did the seller go the extra mile to make your transaction a pleasant one? If you feel your transaction was a pleasant experience and are satsified with your purchase, leave feedback! All eBay members have a "feedback score", based on ratings left for them by other people that have either bought their items of sold them items. The higher your score, the better - people will be assured that you will pay when you purchase an item. So, when you've had a nice experience with someone, repay them in kind with positive feedback.

Hopefully this was helpful and you will find your eBay experience as enjoyable as I have found mine.

Cheers!

Kamster