Ebay Buying Secrets Feedback/Discussion

MSE_Jenny

This discussion relates to the new

Ebay Buying Secrets article

Please click reply to discuss

frivolous_fay

'Some Del Boy types try and sell web-addresses as ‘exclusive info/tools of great interest'. Yet often they're available free elsewhere. To my great distaste, links to this site are constantly sold to the highest bidder. In the past, people have sold bank charge reclaiming template letters and links to the Flightchecker, as well as other tools from the site.'

FYI, it's now against ebay rules to sell intangible info such as this. Items may no longer be emailled - they must be physically posted.

A.Jones

frivolous_fay wrote: »

'Some Del Boy types try and sell web-addresses as ‘exclusive info/tools of great interest'. Yet often they're available free elsewhere. To my great distaste, links to this site are constantly sold to the highest bidder. In the past, people have sold bank charge reclaiming template letters and links to the Flightchecker, as well as other tools from the site.'

FYI, it's now against ebay rules to sell intangible info such as this. Items may no longer be emailled - they must be physically posted.

It is not against the rules to sell digital downloaded products on eBay. This change does not come in until the end of the month.

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/uk/200804.shtml#2008-04-01140756

From 29th April, we’ll be banning all goods that can be digitally downloaded or transferred electronically from being listed in any format on eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie.

frivolous_fay

I stand corrected. But the author of the article was obviously not aware of the pending change

collie_27

Favourite search emails are only sent out once a day so if an item was listed with a "Buy It Now" a few minutes after your daily email was sent you won't see it till next day when it may have sold already. It also only gives you (I think) the top ten results for your search when the one you want might be the 11th one listed today.

However, if you use a news reader like Google Reader you can set up an RSS feeds from the radar button that appears at the bottom of every search results page. The feeds publish auction listing every 3 hours giving you up to a 21 hour head start on those waiting for their email to tell them the listing is up.

Also saves your bandwidth because GReader viewed in list mode will just download the auction title rather viewing the full email with header and thumbnails so you can quickly scan as many auction results as the feed sends you not just 'Top Ten'. Additionally 'heavy' search users aren't limited to just the 100 "Favourite searches" you can save in My Ebay, you can have as many as you like.

Combining GReader with RSS feeds AND Ebays advanced search commands like wildcards will let you cast your net as wide or as narrow as you like and get the results to you ASAP.

chris0241

Great eBay tips article guys, thanks for that! :-)

However, you failled to include 2 of my favourite tools - while you rightly suggested last minute bidding and suggested 2 tools, I prefer to use UK based services as I know exactly what I'm paying.

My two favourites are:
http://www.bidbullet.co.uk
http://www.lastsnipe.com

Both have the same PER WIN charging structure (from 25p depending how many credits you buy in advance) and both give you 3 free credits upon sign up.

Regards,

Chris

frivolous_fay

Why pay to snipe?

StaffsSW

chris0241 wrote: »

Great eBay tips article guys, thanks for that! :-)

However, you failled to include 2 of my favourite tools - while you rightly suggested last minute bidding and suggested 2 tools, I prefer to use UK based services as I know exactly what I'm paying.

My two favourites are:
http://www.bidbullet.co.uk
http://www.lastsnipe.com

Both have the same PER WIN charging structure (from 25p depending how many credits you buy in advance) and both give you 3 free credits upon sign up.

Goofbay is mentioned on the article, and that one is free! It's also a british company, based in Tyneside.

Given that the snipers also earn an affiliate commission, it's a bit greedy for them to charge users as well!

codger

Nice article -- PayPal information's wrong though (the max is not £150).

As to the new policy on flogging 'intangibles' -- I'll believe it when I see it (which may not happen as I don't use eBay any more.)

Reason for my lack of interest in the site is its self-serving mendacity. . . or perhaps all the listings that added on VAT after the sale, and which were supposed to be being banned by eBay from mid-February, are now, finally, being prohibited?

As to newbies reading eBay listings to suss out what is and what is not for sale: a lot of the scammers who used to be flogging everything from empty boxes to meaningless links and even photographs of an item have gone.

But one way to save a hell of a lot of time ploughing through a listing in the interest of self protection is still valid and simple:

once a listing's on screen, just hit Ctrl + F and the "find" box wll come up; enter search words such as photo, photograph, link, box (or whatever comes to mind) and if it's in the listing, even if carefully buried, it'll immediately be highlighted.

frivolous_fay

codger wrote: »

As to newbies reading eBay listings to suss out what is and what is not for sale: a lot of the scammers who used to be flogging everything from empty boxes to meaningless links and even photographs of an item have gone.

Still a few that continue unmolested:

http://forums.ebay.co.uk/thread.jspa?threadID=1200203920&tstart=0&mod=1207152233707

codger

Thanks FF.

Loved the forum post about "my friend bought an X Box and when it came it was a box with an X on it so he's never been back to eBay since."



I stll it's apocryphal.