The Secret to Winning On eBay…
September 26th, 2006 by Grant in: Frugal LivingI’m in search of a drivers side sun visor for my wife’s ‘95 Honda Accord. Our local Honda dealer wants naming rights to our first born, and the local salvage yard wants naming rights to Honda. Get my drift?
I’ve found that a great place to find old auto parts is, none other than eBay. But there’s a trick to not only finding the parts, but getting a good deal on them as well.
I found the parts I need with a few days left to go in the bidding process. The one and only bid was for $0.99 for both the drivers and passengers side visors. A heck of a deal, even if you double the bid!
I figured that paying $10 for the pair wasn’t too bad of a price either, considering what the dealer wanted, so I entered my maximum bid as $10.
So, naturally, today I received the email a day later: You have been outbid.
I’ve learned through this experience that, as in many sports, clock management is crucial to the outcome of the game. By placing a bid with three days to go in the auction, I gave my worthy opponent ample time to outbid me and in effect, I raised the price on myself.
Lesson learned: if you’re opposed to paying top dollar for used parts (or anything else 
for that matter) on eBay, wait till the last possible second to place your bid. Cancel your appointments, hold your calls, close your email…
What Mr. $0.99 doesn’t know is that I’m completely free when the bidding ends…
…and I have a twitchy bidding finger!
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September 26th, 2006 at 10:00 am
You’re obviously a noob to ebaying. I’ll give you one word of advice: Snipe. Google ebay sniping and good luck!
Andy
September 26th, 2006 at 11:56 am
Yep, you could say I’m a “noob” to ebay. I’ve bought a few things on eBay, but I’ve found there is definitely an art to getting a “great deal” on eBay (or any other auction service for that matter).
I’ll check out Snipe, for sure.
Got any other useful “tricks of the trade” you’d like to share?
Thanks for the tip!
-Grant
September 29th, 2006 at 8:49 pm
[…] Andy posted a comment on my recent eBay shopping experience revealing to me that there is more to eBay than just entering a maximum bid value and hoping no one comes along at the last minute and beats you by mere pennies. […]