Fancy a Dorito shaped like the Pope's Hat? (Ebay Addiction)

Member Name: LittleEwok

Product:	Ebay Addiction
Date:	13/04/05 (305 review reads)
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Advantages: The choice

Disadvantages: The choice

There are three things I’m addicted to in life…partying, Ebay and Lush…one of these habits will kill me and honestly sometimes I don’t know which. Ebay started as a bit of a hobby for me, I pride myself on having an unusual and eclectic wardrobe and scouring Ebay for unusual items has the same fun qualities as charity shop shopping…only with less exercise and much more choice. Unfortunately rather swiftly this occasional shopping habit has blown into a full grown habit of looking for crazy patterned tights, wristbands and of course, my perennial fave, non-leather Doc Martens (I now have no less than nine pairs of these in all sorts of insane colours). Another fave is those Converse style baseball boots…which I have eight pairs of.

There are just so many things Ebay is better for than anywhere else. You tend to find cheap DVDs and CDs here, often they will be lower than the Amazon marketplace. I managed to get hold of every season of Buffy for little over £20 a series, typically you’d pay at least £10 more on Ebay. Ebay is also great for consumer electrics, mobile phones and the like. You do need to be careful to check the feedback of sellers on these items, in case you end up with a dud object, but all in all it’s a great way to get hold of stuff like this…I got a fantastic eight track for next to nothing on this site. There are some great electronic bargains to be picked up on Ebay if your handy with a soldering iron, and if you know how to fix Playstations you can pick up broken ones for a tenner and make forty or fifty profit on them!

On the other hand, there are idiots who will sell anything on Ebay. Many sellers will sell an item saying it’s the actual item, then in a tiny disclaimer mention its just a link to “buy” the item. This happened to me. A seller said he was selling 20 o2 Genie cards for £20, but in actual fact he was selling a link, a link that’s available elsewhere on Ebay for 99p! He was nice and gave me my money back, but there are many more sellers who wouldn’t do that. I’ve seen people selling links on how to get Glastonbury tickets for this year, which must be a rip-off as there’s only one legit site selling these tickets.

All in all however, Ebay is a fantastic site, the biggest downside is the Ebay addiction…once you buy one item you want more and more and become completely hooked. All jokes aside, its quite easy to become psychologically addicted to Ebay, and it can be both bad for your health (I.e., spending hours in front of a computer screen and the stress of buying more than you can pay for, which is very easy if you don’t keep tabs on your outgoings) and your pocket book. So here’s some tips to avoid overspending. Ebay addiction itself is a more complicated matter, which I wont comment on (I would want to suggest cold turkey, as it might send you off the deep end!)



Some tips on avoiding overspending on Ebay

Make a list of things you normally buy from the shops that might be found on Ebay but you might not normally think to look for. Examples might be cosmetics or body care products, household items like batteries and the like. Have a look on Ebay and see if you can find them cheaper there than in the shops. If they aren’t less expensive don’t bid on them, simple as that.

Make a list of items you need or really really want and stick to it. Also ask yourself if you really need those items or just want them. “Need” might cover a new car, “Want” would probably cover a par of pink and white two tone Doc Martens…don’t fall in to that trap (I have and I’m still stuck in it).

Shop around. Don’t bid on the first auction you see for the item you want, see what sellers are offering it at what price. Also consider using shopping comparison sites like Kelkoo to see if Amazon or other sites are selling the item cheaper.

Search for those vital items only, and be specific. For example, searching for a “Squier Fender Stratocaster” will find you items in your price range, type in electric guitar and you may come up with a £2000 Les Paul you fall in love with and decide to sell your house just so you can have it.

Buying from sellers with low feedback is a bit of a gamble. Less people will bid on their item because of the lack of feedback, so it will be going cheap, but there’s always the chance your going to get done. On the other hand you may get a good item for pennies! Use your judgment.

Avoid looking at sellers other items. If a seller has something you really want, the chances are they will have other things along the same lines that you will really want if you see them. Try to ignore cross-promotions and DON’T view other items for the seller. Unless of course that seller is me, in which case you are allowed to look and bid to your hearts content ;-).

Decide the absolute maximum you will pay for an item, and DON’T go above it. There are very few true one-offs on Ebay and you might be better to wait than overspend. Bid near the close of the auction.

Remember to take postage into account BEFORE you bid. Many sellers sell items cheap but tack ridiculous postage prices on top to make up the money they are losing. The glut of o2 Genie Cards being sold at 99p with £4.00 postage is an excellent example of this. Don’t be tricked by this sort of low-down behaviour.

If you buy multiple items from one seller, ask that they combine postage. Even if it isn’t mentioned in their postage information, most sellers should be happy to do this.

If you are spending more than a fiver on the item, ask the seller to send it recorded. Even if its not mentioned in postage information, if you ask nicely and offer to pay the extra sellers will often do this. Recorded delivery is pretty cheap considering, and worth it for your peace of mind.

Be careful with items that say “postage to be calculated at sale”. I bought a poster from one seller at £3.99, and he told me this was far too cheap and said I’d have to add £20 postage!!! Of course I flatly refused and got negative feedback because of it. There is often no reason why a seller cant estimate a postage cost or perhaps check with the post office before selling the item, and if they cant you should ask why, and they should give a legit reason.

Check feedback thoroughly. Negative feedback is often a lot more telling than positive feedback, as it lets you know how a seller behaves when something does go wrong, whether they are helpful not. Rude or insolent replies to negative feedback are a good indicator of what the seller is like. Remember they are in the business of selling, and people who sell should always do their very best to make sure the customer is happy. Of course you get many customers who are a pain in the behind, but still, they should try to be courteous and solve reasonable problems.

Keep a list of your outgoings on Ebay, so you can determine whether you are spending too much. A fiver here and there adds up very quickly. If you sell, match your incomings to your outgoings…its not uncommon for a seller to spend all the money they make on Ebay!

Naughty as it is, snipe bidding can be a buyers best friend. If you can bid at the last minute, you can prevent a bidding war and sometimes win yourself an item for less. If a person is sure they are going to win an auction, they are often unprepared for a snipe bid. If you cant be online when the auction is closing, there are several snipe web programmes you can use, just have a Google to find them.

If you are addicted to buying non-essential items like clothes or kitsch item, make a list of things you would really like to spend your money on that you have to save for…a holiday, a guitar, a new PC, and tack a picture that reminds you of that thing on your computer. Every time you find yourself on the bidding page, hopefully that little picture will discourage you from frivolous spending.

If you sell and have a Paypal account, be patient and wait until your account reaches at least £50 before you withdraw cash from it, this way there are less in the way of charges. Consider not using Paypal and switching to Nochex. Nochex don’t charge for their service, and customers don’t need to go through an awkward verification process before paying as they do with Paypal. If you explain Nochex thoroughly in your listing, customers should be happy to use it.

Listing in two categories is only worth it for more expensive items. If you’re selling something small like an item of clothing, it isn’t really worth it.

Likewise, be careful of the options you use when selling your item. Listing designers are an unnecessary expense. If you want an attractive auction page learn HTML, but try not to go to extremes. Clogged listings take ages to load, are hard to read and irritating and just detract from the item your selling…especially listings which make noises or play music or have little designs following the cursor of your mouse. DON’T BOTHER! Bold and featured options should really only be used when selling expensive items, when they will be worth the extra publicity.


I am now trying to transfer my Ebay addiction to selling rather than buying. I have promised myself I will buy NOTHING more from Ebay (after I get hold of that pair of pink two-tone Doc Martens and that yoga video I wanted, of course) and instead transfer those addictive qualities to MAKING money. At the moment I’m just getting rid of old clothes and stuff I have lying around the house, however I have found a few sources of goods to sell once I run out. I figure this way I can live the proper student lifestyle…not have a job, occasional show up to my college classes and make enough money to party four nights a week. Problem solved!

Edit: This is the weirdest item I have EVER seen for sale on Ebay…check it out…One cheesy Dorito shaped like the Pope's Hat! I kid you not! Go and search for it!

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