How to Know Whether to Bid or Not on eBay

Don’t you hate it when you win something on eBay, and then when it comes in the mail it’s not what you thought it was? Learn how to decide when to bid on an eBay item!

1. Always contact the seller before you bid. This helps you get a good idea of what kind of a seller they are. This also allows you to ask questions about the object. They don’t always include every detail. Whether it is a mistake or not, the listings should be very accurate, so if there’s any question about what something includes or doesn’t, if it has a return policy or not, or anything you might not understand, email the seller. If they do not email you back, do not bid on the item unless your question wasn’t going to affect your bidding. If anything should go wrong, and you have a good explanation, you can retract your bid if it’s before the auction ends.
2 Read the description very carefully. If you made a mistake, misread, didn’t read the whole description, etc., you can’t blame the seller. If you won an item that you don’t want because you made a mistake, it’s yours. The only way to send it back is if the seller has a return policy. Then again, you could refuse to accept it, but you would have to deal with eBay. If the description isn’t clear, don’t bid on it. Email the seller and ask in detail about what you don’t understand.
3. Take a look at the seller’s feedback. If they have good feedback, you can probably trust them. Also, look at some of the comments they’ve received. Sometimes a seller will get pretty bad comments. Depending on what the comment is about, you can probably determine whether you should bid on the item. Also, look at the type of items the seller usually sells. If the item you’re looking at is unlike anything they usually sell, it could be cause for suspicion.
4. Make sure you know how they would make you pay. Some sellers use PayPal, which is very helpful when it comes time to pay. If they want your credit card number and you don’t want to give it to them, use an alternative way to pay. If there are no other alternative ways, you will have to give him your card number, although most sellers use PayPal or another type of payment system.
5. Always total up the cost of the item and the shipping cost, and the insurance cost should you choose to put insurance on it. Sometimes the item will sell for a pretty low price, until you look at the shipping cost. You could end up paying much, much more than you had planned because you didn’t look at the shipping price.
6. Shop around to find the best deal. Sometimes you’ll have your eye on a certain item, when another auction might have fewer bidders, less time, and be going for a lower price. Always have more than one option, if possible.
7. Take note where the seller lives. The farther a seller lives from you, the more the shipping cost will be. If he lives close to you, you might be able to save the money and pick it up personally.
8. Look for ‘Buy It Now’ items. Sometimes these items are better than the auction items. Even though some of them might be a little or a lot more expensive than the auctions, you can ensure that you will get the item and that somebody else can’t pull it right out from under you.
9. Make sure you know how long it will take for the item to get to you. If the item is for a birthday, Christmas, or any other type of present, make sure that the item will reach you within enough time. In reality, you can’t find out what day, hour, minute, or second it will arrive, but you should get an approximation. If it doesn’t reach you in the approximated time, contact the seller. Do not contact Ebay. It might not have arrived when you expected for a number of reasons: the seller didn’t send it soon enough, there were problems with the mail, etc. If the seller sent it, then it’s neither you nor the seller’s fault. The seller should then contact the mail service. If the problem is with the seller, such as he changed his mind and doesn’t want to sell, then contact eBay. They will take care of the matter. You might not get your item but you will get your money back, and most likely the seller will be banned from eBay for a while.
10. Always note the item number. This is the best way to keep track of an item you have won, bid on, or are planning to bid on. Sometimes the auction will be taken off of eBay for certain reasons. If you need to email the seller about an item not arriving to you, and the auction has been removed from eBay because it’s over, you can type in the item number and get all the information you need from the auction page.
11. Check if a return policy is offered. Sellers that stand behind their products will offer a return policy. Be sure to read the terms and conditions as most return policies expire very quickly.