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Want stuff cheap - read this guide |
sebtek
Joined: Aug 19, 2002
Posts: 34
From: Adelaide, Australia
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Hello……
Well this forum has been of great help to me, and will sure be of more help, when I finally get all my Bluetooth adapters all up and running - making me totally *unwired*
To say thanks, I’ve written this information that hopefully can help a few of you
All this high tech gear that this forum talks about isn’t cheap. As a high school student, who isn’t rolling in money, or have parents that are, I have had to satisfy my hobby of technology without spending the millions of dollars.
I have done all this through eBay.
Now, no doubt some of you have used eBay, and stopped using it, after you weren’t that please at the efficiency that you could get things, or not pleased with what you got – maybe it was a bit scratched etc etc etc….however if you know how it works, you can get things at bargain prices, or things that you never new that you could get.
eBay, for those who don’t know, is an online auction site where people or businesses set their items for auction, and people place bids on them, and the highest bidder gets the item. (except if there is a reserve, which will be stated next to the current auction price).
Now without doing anything special, except bidding, if you are willing to spend the time, carefully looking through auctions, you will no doubt get yourself a good deal.
Fortunately the good prices do not stop there. In the recent 2 years, auction buyers have implemented a new tool called sniping. Sniping, in online auction terms, means placing a bid right at the very last second, in order to get a better price.
What does this do??? Well, placing a bid at the very last minute means that you avoid a bidding war, with someone who is determined to be the leading bidder throughout the auction. Remember it is only important to be the highest bidder, right at the end of the auction. With many auctions I have won this way, I have had angry fellow auction buyers, contact me, saying ‘I was willing to pay more for that’, and all I say is that it is their fault, that they didn’t raise their highest bid. You see, it is easy to forget to raise your highest bid (your highest bid is kept secret), if you are winning the auction at the time.
Another, less technical strategy, which is not condoned by eBay, is to offer the seller an out-of-auction deal. Sellers will pay a fee, based on the end of auction price, to eBay, and they are more than willing to try to avoid it. Sellers have the power to cancel bids, and close auctions if they wish. Browse through the auctions, and look at what you want, and make the seller an offer. When you are browsing through the auction listings, there is an option on the left hand side, which says view completed auctions. The completed auctions section gives a good idea at what prices to offer, and it also gives you the opportunity to make offers to sellers, which placed their reserve prices too high.
eBay, does not only have old bashed up 2nd hand items. You will find a range of extremely new items, to old items. For example, I see that the 7650 has just been released in Europe and likewise here in Australia, however I have seen it selling on eBay, for the last 2-3 months on eBay. I often find items that I have never seen. At the moment I am looking at an auction for a P800.
Basically, here are my recent eBay purchases:
Price are in euros/US$
A t39 for $130 in 100% new condition. They sell for $275 in shops. This seller had put his auction starting at $150, however I eventually convinced him to sell it to me for $130, by tell him he wouldn’t pay eBay fees, and that I would pay him within one hour if he accepted.
A SONY n710c Clie for $210. These don’t sell here in Australia. I think they’re available in Europe and North America. There were many bids on this auction, and I placed my bid within the last 7 seconds, and later received an email from an eBay newbie complaining that he was willing to pay more, but didn’t put his bid in time.
A Sony memory stick Bluetooth adapter for $100. These only sell in Japan, and were only released there about 4 months ago. The beauties of eBay, is that it is international. I have just picked one up in Japan for $100, and I don’t even want to speculate about the price that they will be selling here, maybe 2 years later.
If you’ve read it all – well done! I hope this guide will be of use!
Thanks,
Seb
Questions welcome…..
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GOwin
Joined: Jan 17, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: .uʍop ǝpısdn s&
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Are you for real? That post sounds like a *praise* release for ebay.
This post was posted from a T39 |
sebtek
Joined: Aug 19, 2002
Posts: 34
From: Adelaide, Australia
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i think it might be obvious that i dont work for ebay, when i'm suggesting you stinge them, and try to do out of auction deals!
Seb | |
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Access the forum with a mobile phone via esato.mobi
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Posted: 2002-08-22 12:17
