How To Save Money with EBay
When people think of saving money, they generally don’t think of EBay. After all, EBay is a place to get rid of stuff, right?
EBay actually can save you money on items that you know you want, but don’t want to pay full price for.
What You Need To Look For
To use EBay as a bargain hunting place, you have to know what you are looking for, specifically. This means model numbers, parts, and formats, as examples. You can get this information shopping through other websites, or through looking at items in stores. You must also consider if you want a new or used item. Most used items do not have manufacturer warranties; in other cases, a new item would be considered a collector’s item, and priced higher accordingly.
Here is how I have used EBay recently to save money:
Things I Found On EBay
Toys
My daughter loves the Fischer-Price Sweet Street dollhouses. Unfortunately, they were discontinued about two years ago. She has asked for two specific dollhouses: the pet salon and the schoolhouse. When I did the search, I turned up new items, but both were over the $50 mark. I did look at the items, though, to see what came with the new dollhouses. This turned out to be important, because many of the houses for sale on EBay do not come with the accessories that were originally packaged with them, or are missing some.
I was able to bid on a dollhouse pet salon with all original parts in very good condition. I paid, with shipping, less than $20. I am still searching for the schoolhouse.
Movies
We don’t own many movies, but the ones we do buy are watched often. A family favorite director is Hayao Miyazaki. His films on Amazon are very expensive, usually around $30. I have been cautious about buying used movies since one movie I ordered a few years ago was delivered scratched beyond use. Going to EBay, I was able to pick up a new and sealed copy of “Castle In the Sky” for $4.00 plus shipping.
Note: If you buy DVDs on EBay, make sure you are not getting a different region, particularly with foreign films.
DVD Player
The latest item has been a portable DVD player for my daughter to use on long trips. I researched the features I wanted, then went to EBay to find a model. I lost out on three auctions, but bought a new one from a store with a very high rating for less than I would have paid in any of the auctions. Again, I made sure this was a US company (because of DVD compatibility issues) and a US player.
With a little bit of knowledge and some research, you can pick up some great bargains on EBay.
Photo by Tracy O
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