Sunday, January 14, 2007

Teen Money Tips - Online Auction Tips - Buying

For those of you who like to buy items from online auctions here are some tips you can use. Who knows, maybe you might even be able to buy items on the cheap and then resell them for more, all on the same website.

Search for misspellings (e.g. compoter instead of computer) as you will sometimes find good quality items with no or very few bids because the title was spelt wrong.

Use specific keywords when searching for items - use specific brand names, model types etc. This reduces your chance of finding items that you are not interested in and saves you time. It could also save you money by finding listings that have very specific titles, and therefore have missed out on bidders because most people don't use specific keywords.

Set yourself a bidding limit and stick to it! Remember, for most items there'll be more than one listing.

Wait until the last possible minute to bid so you don't have to pay as much. You may like to use sniper bidding software for this (links to sniper bidding software can be found in the links section of this site) If the auction has auto-extend make sure you know how it (auto-extend) works (this information can usually be found in the help section of most online auction sites) However, some sites do not support auto-extend.

Check the seller's feedback and make sure you buy from a seller with mostly good feedback.

Don't get caught up in bidding wars (where you and one or more bidders constantly beat the other's bid amounts) as you may end up paying more than you had to. In some cases I have seen people pay more than what the item is worth in a physical store!

Make sure the seller's return policy is fair and that you understand it.

Ask questions if necessary - don't leave anything to chance.
If the listing has a photo inspect it and try and see if it has been digitally edited in any way.

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