40+ eBay buying tips Tricks & tools to help you hunt hidden bargains

Find super-cheap local bargains

Whether they're designer sofas, dishwashers, Wiis or children's books, sellers on eBay often specify items must be collected in person. As this often means fewer bids, there are bargains to be had.

Our free tool locates them for you. Tell the Local eBay Deals Mapper your postcode, how far you're prepared to schlep and it maps gems nearby.

Plus, you wanted it, so we built an Android Local eBay Deals app. Let it pinpoint your location, tell it how far you'll travel and it shows nearby gems.

use Spelling mistayke spotters

Many people can't spell, so they mistype their eBay entries. This English teacher's nightmare is a bargain hunter's dream. Wrongly-spelled products attract fewer bids because many people miss them.

A few specialist search sites take advantage of this. They trawl eBay for all possible spelling mistake combinations. These include Fatfingers, Baycrazy, Goofbid and BargainChecker.

tool to bag no-bid items

Often sellers start auctions at 99p, hoping a bidding war will erupt. Many items go unspotted, staying at this super-low price. Lastminute Auction hunts for eBay auctions due to finish within an hour but which still cost under £1. Tick the Union Jack for UK sales.

Double-check delivery charges, as some sellers hope to recoup costs by charging a little extra (though eBay's now set maximum delivery charges for many categories).

set alerts for rare items

If you want something very specific or hard to track down, set a 'favourite search' and eBay will email each time a seller lists your desired item. This is fab if you like buying on eBay, but don't spend your life hunched over the site.

Simply type a product in eBay's search bar, such as "Star Wars Lego Millennium Falcon", and click 'save search'. Be as specific as possible for the most accurate results. Then, when someone clears out the loft and lists one, an email pops into your inbox.

Don't assume ebay's cheapest

Many people assume that if it's on eBay*, it's automatically cheap, but this isn't always the case. With a few basic checks, it's easy to spot if you're really getting a bargain.

Use shopbots (shopping robots) that whizz to scores of internet retailers to find the cheapest price. Our MegaShopBot.com tool auto-searches the best of these for each category.

The same rule applies when buying second-hand gear. Check the used marketplace on Amazon* - you may even get it for free on Freecycle or Freegle.

Check the eBay going rate

There's a quick way to glean an eBay product's market value. Fill in the search box and tick 'completed items' on the left-hand grey bar. It'll come up with a list of prices similar auctions have already fetched. Then sort by "Price: lowest first".

If the price is red, it means no one bought it. Green means it sold – don't pay more than the average.

don't pay for info

Since August 2005, eBay has banned the selling of intangible items, including recipes, dieting advice and, bizarrely, spells and spirits. Yet some Del Boy types still sell web addresses as "exclusive info/tools of great interest".

Other sellers flog mobile phone Sim unlocking codes for as much as £10, when you can do this for nowt (see Mobile Phone Unlocking).

To our great distaste, links to this site have been 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.

Use Google to check exactly what you're bidding for. If it's just 'information', you'll usually find the same elsewhere for free.

Win auctions with sniping tools

Spotted something you want to buy? The last thing you should do is bid on it. Bid early and competing buyers will bid back, forcing the price upwards. Instead, sneakily win auctions by swooping in and delivering a killer bid about 10 seconds before the deadline, leaving no time for others to fight back.

Sniping websites automatically bid on your behalf, usually in the last 10ish seconds. Simply sign up, enter an eBay* item number and the maximum price you're willing to pay. This also stops you getting carried away in the heat of a last minute bidding war.

For a free auction sniper, try Goofbid.com (formerly known as Goofbay) though it can be temperamental – some MoneySavers have missed out on items.

A BIG warning...

You need to give sniping sites your eBay password for them to work, which is a serious security concern.

While feedback has generally been good from MoneySavers, there's little protection from eBay if things ever do go wrong, as you have willingly given your password to a third party. If you do sign up, never use the same password for eBay as you do for other accounts, such as banks or email.

Haggling on eBay pays off

There's nothing wrong with asking for a discount, even if the listing doesn't show the 'make offer' logo. Haggling works best on buy-it-now listings, or auctions with a high start price and no bids.

To contact the seller, click 'ask a question'. If you're polite and charming, you'll get further. Blunt requests such as "hi, will u take 50p" are usually a mistake. They annoy the seller, and a discount is at their discretion.

Once you've clinched the deal, keep the transaction within eBay – just ask the seller to add (or change) a buy-it-now price. For 20 haggling tips for success beyond the web, see the High Street Haggling guide.

Factor in delivery charges

For a true picture of the total cost, do a search, then sort items by 'Price + P&P;: lowest first'. Of course, auction listings' prices could still rise, but on buy-it-now items this instantly shows the cheapest.

Always double-check postage charges before bidding. Some sellers try to supplement their income by charging higher delivery rates, though eBay is cracking down on this by specifying a maximum postage amount for many categories.

sneaky tricks to exploit sellers' slip-ups

Some sellers make basic mistakes, leaving goods going for bargain money (read the eBay Selling Tricks guide to avoid these blunders).

As well as spelling howlers, another beginner's error is leaving out key details: shoe size, wardrobe dimensions, saying a console's an Xbox when the photo shows a PS2. At this point, many buyers give it up as “too much hassle”.

So contact the seller to fill in gaps, but don't ask the question via the item's listing page. That way, when the seller replies, eBay lets them add their reply to the main listing with one click. So all buyers will know the pertinent facts.

Instead, ask the question via the seller's profile (make it clear which item you're on about). They probably won't bother with the extra faff of adding it to the listing, so you'll be the only one in the know.

Spotted a Faberge egg listed as "nice metal egg decorated with enamel"? It's worth knowing eBay only lets sellers do major edits to their listings before anyone bids.

Once bidding starts, they can only add small updates. So if the start price is low, say 99p, bid before the seller cottons on. It will be too late to properly fix it.

tool to track down crazy end times

Listings that finish at anti-social times often get fewer bids, so sell for less. To locate auctions that finish in the dead of night, use BayCrazy's Night Time Bargain search.

Don't fancy burning the midnight oil? Combine this trick with auto-bidding tools to seal deals cheaply. Other BayCrazy tools include 'unwanted gift' and 'ending now' searches.

Buy something small first

In its essence, eBay's just a marketplace. While it's easy to snap up a scorcher, it's just as easy to get burnt.

Thus it's a good idea for newbies to learn the ropes by bidding on a few small items such as books or CDs. This way, they learn how the bidding system works, before graduating to more costly wares.

Want to check if an item's legit? Why not post it on the forum's eBay board? Experts in there will tell you whether it looks dodgy.

Search titles and descriptions

eBay automatically searches for results with your specified words in their title. If you're not getting the results you want, try searching the item's description too. Just tick 'Include description' under the search button.

For example, imagine you were searching for a North Face jacket. The seller may have just put 'ski jacket' in the title, but mentioned North Face in the description.

boost your search skills

As sellers can describe an item in several ways, you can make eBay search for several terms at once. Just place (( at the beginning and enter different phrases within quotation marks, followed by a commas.

So for example, type...

(( "cabinet", "bookshelf", "dresser"

...and it will bring up listings that contain the words cabinet, bookshelf or dresser.

Take feedback with a dose of scepticism

eBay sellers have a feedback rating that acts as a useful guide to whether they've dealt fairly in the past. As a guideline, look for a seller with more than 98% positive feedback, and a high feedback score of at least 30.

Think twice before purchasing expensive items from a seller with zero feedback. Also ensure you read their feedback from selling, not just buying (click on their username, then the 'feedback as a seller' tab).

Remember feedback's useful but not infallible. One thing to watch for is traders flogging a few tiny things for 10p each to build their feedback, and suddenly listing 10 iPhones at £400 a pop.

bid a few extra pence

When bidding, you enter a “maximum bid”, and eBay makes automatic bids on your behalf up to your limit.

Don't enter a round number. For example, if a Downton Abbey box set is currently selling for £7, and the most you are willing to pay is £17, enter a maximum bid of £17.07. If someone tries to outbid you by entering £17, they will receive an outbid notice.

eBay will favour your bid, even though it's just 7p more.

It's worth being aware of bid increments, the steps by which prices rise. It varies from 5p to £100, depending on the current price. For a list, see eBay's Bid Increments guide.

Check you're bidding on the actual item

Sometimes it seems you're bidding for an object on eBay*, when all that's actually up for grabs is a link to a site selling it. For example, it only takes a few minutes after logging onto eBay to find a link to a £200 laptop sale where inspection of the small print reveals it's actually selling a box.

Always read the whole description in detail before bidding. Often the catch is hidden in the text at the end – an attempt to protect the seller from any comeback.

what if it's got a reserve?

Sellers occasionally list goods at a rock-bottom figure, but set a reserve, a hidden minimum price. These listings say "reserve not yet met". The seller hopes the low price will attract bidders, but don't want to part with it for that amount.

Avoid wasting your time by asking the seller what the reserve is. They may tell you where to go, but it's always worth a shot. If you do bid and your maximum amount meets the reserve, eBay automatically increases your bid to that figure (usually other buyers need to bid it up).

sneakily find underpriced buy-it-nows

Nowadays, bidding wars break out over many auctions thanks to eBay's size. So try hunting for buy-it-now bargains instead. Often sellers don't realise they're sitting on treasure, and list goods at a fixed price below market value.

These steals are snapped up quickly. The trick's to select a category you're clued up on, filter it to show buy-it-now items only (left-hand grey bar) and sort the results by "Time: newly listed". Scan through until you see underpriced goodies, and swoop in.

Know your consumer rights

Buy from a trader – a person who makes or sells goods bought with the intention of resale – and you have the same statutory rights as when buying from a shop. This means your goods must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose, and as described. See the Consumer Rights guide for more info.

This applies to both new and second-hand items. It should be easy to tell if someone's a trader - look for 'Registered as a business seller' on their profile.

With private sellers it's caveat emptor, or 'let the buyer beware'. Buyers' only rights under law are that the product is fairly described and the owner has the right to sell it. There's little legal comeback.

Though under eBay's own Buyer Protection rules, buyers are eligible for a refund if the item's "not as described", ie, it doesn't match the seller's description.

Distance selling regulations

Buy from a business seller using the buy-it-now button, rather than just a standard auction format, and distance selling regulations apply.

Under the regulations, buyers have seven working days after the date of delivery to get their money back, including the original postage and packing charges. Read eBay's distance selling regulations guide for more help.

Always complain within 45 days

We want to sear a number onto your brain... 45. This is the number of days you have to to open a case if you're are unhappy with your purchase, under eBay's buyer protection scheme.

Pay by Paypal

Avoid sending cheques and never use money orders. It's much harder for scammers to vanish with your cash when you use eBay's online payment system, PayPal.

Paying this way costs the same as paying by cheque, but means you're covered by eBay's Buyer Protection scheme. If an item is faulty, counterfeit or non-existent, you are far more likely to see a refund.

Outbid? Don't write it off

Missed out on a desired item by pennies? Don't give up hope. As every seller knows, sales sometimes fall through when buyers change their minds. So send a friendly message such as: "Hi, I've been after this limited edition Call of Duty game for ages, but just missed out. Please let me know if the sale falls through."

They may send a second-chance offer, which are sent out by sellers to unsuccessful bidders if the winner fails to pay up. If you forgot to bid and the item didn't sell, ask them to relist at an agreed buy-it-now price.

Don't be duped by fakes

While eBay has a 'flag and remove' policy to help identify fakes, it's hard for it to stay on top of all knock-offs. Some of the most commonly faked goods include GHD hair stylers, Mulberry handbags, Gameboy Advances, Ray-Ban sunglasses, branded golf clubs, celebrity autographs, Ugg boots and Montblanc pens.

If you're buying these or other big-name brands, do your research first. Carefully check sellers' feedback and post on the forum's eBay board to garner others' opinions. Be especially wary of overseas sellers or branded items that seem especially cheap.

The more unprofessional the photos, the better. Scammers often lift professional photos from brands' sites – legit sellers usually take photos of the item at home. For a full guide to spotting fake Ugg boots, see the Cheap Uggs deals note.

think before you 'neg' a seller

Of course, much negative feedback is justified. Yet don't leave negative and neutral feedback - to 'neg' someone in eBay parlance - without trying to sort the issue with the seller first. Most are decent people who will try to help.

Bear in mind that other eBay users can view the feedback you've left for others, and some sellers even go so far as blocking buyers who repeatedly leave cranky feedback.

watch it!

Want to keep track of an item without bidding on it? eBay lets you add items to a “watch list”, so you can relax knowing you'll get an email reminder within 36 hours of the auction ending. To watch an item, just click the “add to watch list” link.

Don't do private deals

Sellers may suggest you do a deal outside eBay for a cheaper price. But buy this way and you'll have less protection if things go pear-shaped.

Another common ploy is for a seller to say 'before bidding, contact me' and request a money transfer. Scammers who hijack bona fide eBay accounts often use this tactic.

Alarm bells should ring if you're asked to pay by an instant money transfer service such as Western Union or MoneyGram. Instant money transfer payments cannot be traced at all in cases of fraud, and are highly popular with scammers.

Stay safe when picking up

If you're picking up in person, there are simple precautions you can take to make sure the transaction is a safe one. Go with a friend, or failing that, tell someone exactly where you are going and arrange to contact them afterwards.

Take a mobile phone, and stay on the doorstep if possible. If a listing or email looks dodgy, trust your gut and walk away.

go global!

There are bargains to be had on overseas eBay sites, particularly the USA for clothes and gadgets.

China has a roaring dressmaking industry - strike it right and you can get a made-to-measure wedding dress for around the £100 mark (see Cheap Weddings).

To include foreign auctions in search results, click 'worldwide' for location, in the left hand bar.

Can't find what you want? Another option is buying direct from international eBay sites. The main ones are USA, Australia, Canada, France, Germany and Spain - there's a full list at the bottom of eBay's homepage. Though check that it says "Shipping to: worldwide" before bidding - some sellers only do business with local buyers.

Always factor in postage fees. If a seller hasn't listed shipping charges to the UK, get them to confirm them via the 'ask seller a question' button before bidding. Otherwise you could be subjected to to sky-high charges.

Plus remember that if the item's not for you, return postage fees could be hefty.

Factor in customs bills

Overseas goodies can look cheap, until you add VAT, customs duty and Royal Mail handling fees. There's usually no VAT/customs to pay on items costing £15 or under, but above this level, it can cost large.

When buying £15+ items from outside the EU by post, you have to pay import VAT and (if it's £135+) customs duty. If you have to pay a charge, Royal Mail adds an £8 handling fee. Double-check this on HMRC's site or call its Excise and Customs helpline on 0845 010 9000. For a rough estimate, use the DutyCalculator tool (10 free searches allowed).

Only buy from abroad if it still beats the UK price after you've factored in these charges.

Paypal purchases aren't covered by section 75

Section 75 laws mean pay, even partly, on a credit card for £100-£30,000 items and the card company's jointly liable for the whole amount. So if something else goes wrong, you can get redress from it instead. See the Section 75 guide for more.

But if you pay by credit card via PayPal, Section 75 protection won't apply. Technically you're not using the card to buy the goods or services, but to charge a PayPal account. You're often still protected by eBay and PayPal's buyer protections, but it's worth bearing in mind if an item costs £1,000s.

If you do pay by PayPal and use a Visa, Amex or Mastercard, one possible route to get your money back is the card networks' chargeback schemes. Full details in the Visa & Mastercard Chargeback guide.

Try your luck on classified ads

The power-puncher of local classified sites is Gumtree, which covers 50 big UK cities and sells everything from bikes to beds.

Interestingly, Gumtree is owned by eBay. It was bought in May 2005, probably as eBay started to identify it as competition. Thankfully it hasn't impacted its free community-based operations. Also try Preloved, Loot and your local paper.

Harness Facebook's power

Facebook Marketplace has rocketed. You may be able to pick up items in a couple of hours, and sellers are often open to haggling. Just log on to Facebook and search for "Marketplace" to see what's on offer. It's also worth searching for bustling local Facebook selling groups in your area.

Anyone can post so be careful. If someone asks you to pay by MoneyGram or Western Union, be highly suspicious. Never pay this way.

Check other auction sites

While eBay is massively dominant, eBid and CQout* are also sizeable auction sites. They charge sellers less than eBay, which means some prefer it.

If you're searching for something specific, it's worth adding it to your search. Auction LotWatch is a useful shopbot for online auctions. Search for an item and it trawls the four big auction sites for you.

Alternative second-hand marketplaces

Holding a candle to eBay's size, Amazon* and Play* have second-hand marketplaces for most of the products they sell new.

Search for something on the site, and if there's a used version available, it's listed. These operate as a fixed price rather than an auction, making it an easy alternative.

sell to fund your purchases

Got the eBay bug? Our 40+ eBay Selling Tricks guide is a crash course, from cutting eBay fees by tweaking start prices and using no-charge listing weekends, to adding extra pics with special tools. Plus there are tools to create multiple listings in advance and upload them in bulk.

Why not make it a rule that you'll never spend more on eBay each month than you've earned? eBay profiles list a recent purchase and sold history, so it's easy to keep track.

Free sofas, beds, TVs, bikes and more

Hundreds of top-quality goodies are available daily for free. It's all about web communities, and the big names are Freecycle and Freegle.

What's the catch? There isn't one. Instead of dumping goods or eBaying them, people harness the web's power to offer them to their local communities. So as well as kitting up for nowt, the environment benefits as unwanted items aren't flung into landfills.

Of course there is some moth-bitten tat. But there's also top-quality stuff people just don't use anymore. Bagging the best is all about the etiquette - you need to give yourself and keep your eyes peeled. For a full step-by-step guide, see Freecycle & Freegle Tips.

Buy stolen goods... legally

Pssst... wanna buy some stolen goods? Don't worry, it's all legit. Many police forces in England and Wales use eBay-style site Bumblebee Auctions to sell lost property or goods seized from criminals when they are unable to find the rightful owners.

You can pick them up in person from local nicks or get them delivered (except for bikes and large items) – and big bargains are possible.

What's up for grabs?

Unsurprisingly, the most common categories are those most likely to be stolen – bicycles, cameras, jewellery and TVs.

Some of the tasty bargains we found included a high-spec Specialized mountain bike for £50 (similar ones go for about £200 on eBay) and a Wii drum set for £3.50 (£26).

To get an idea of deals on offer, pick a category and click 'closed' to see a list of completed auctions, including sale prices.

This is much more limited than eBay – there are usually only about 250 lots up for auction at any one time. So this is all about timing.

How it works

To sign up to Bumblee auctions, you must first set up an account for online payment system Nochex, which can take up to four days. Do note when you register a card, Nochex takes a random £1.99 or less admin charge from the card to check it's yours.

After that, you can register to bid on Bumblebee – you need to use the same email address for both.

Always check if delivery's offered – the listing will say. Most larger items must be collected in person from whichever police station's flogging it. Do check the delivery charge, as sometimes it can be pricey.

You won't find every force on the site - police in London, Scotland and Northern Ireland aren't there - but you can get items delivered anywhere in the UK.

What to watch out for?

On eBay, you can sneakily win auctions by swooping in and delivering a killer bid seconds before the deadline. Bumblebee works differently. If someone bids in the last 10 minutes, it automatically extends the auction by 10 minutes, giving others a chance to fight back.

Occasionally, auctions get cancelled when the rightful owner spots their property and claims it back. Of course, you'll get your cash back if you've already paid.

Never assume it's cheap just because it's on Bumblebee. Always use our MegaShopBot.com tool and try eBay* to check if it's cheaper anywhere else.

If you've tried the site, please feed back on the police auctions forum thread.

Spotted something that belongs to you?

The police say they make every effort to trace the rightful owner of the property before they sell it. If you spot something that's yours, email service@bumblebeeauctions.co.uk and hopefully it will reunite you with your property.

The site says you should be prepared to substantiate this with a detailed description of the item, including any damage or identifying marks.

Airport lost baggage auctions

It’s a huge headache when your suitcase goes missing. Yet it happens so often, it’s generated a hidden mini-industry of auction houses selling airlines’ unclaimed suitcases.

The catch is, you won’t always know what's inside them. But pick a winner and profits are possible from flogging it on.

How it works

To bid, you need to go to an auction house on the day. While some let you see what’s inside before you buy, others don’t.

Auction houses usually remove valuables like jewellery first, but contents could still be floggable. Bags' sale prices varies widely, but expect to pay about £10 - £60. Remember, they could be from after a holiday, so expect to give ‘em a good wash.

What you can get

Forumites report it may yield pants (literally), but equally you may get lucky with designer togs. If you try it, please feed back in the Airport auctions forum thread.

“Sometimes good, sometimes pants. I got a pair of Olympus eyetrek glasses for about £25 which I sold on eBay for over £100. You also get loads of clothes still with the tags on.”306NOTOUT

“Most suitcases are locked. You take pot luck when you bid. Could be full of designer gear and electronic kit or someone’s very soiled smalls!”seftonsun

Where to find them

Not all auction houses sell unclaimed luggage. So don’t just turn up – phone round local auctioneers to ask.

Top ones include Greasbys in Tooting, London; Wellers in Chertsey, Surrey; Hertfordshire Auctions in St Albans and BCVA in Bristol. If you find more, share them in the baggage buying forum thread.

How to bag a bargain

Most auction houses only give a brief description of contents, eg, "mixed women's clothes", so it’s a gamble. They usually have advance viewings, often a day or even an hour before bidding starts. So go along and note the make and model of the suitcase, then benchmark the case’s value (they're often worth more than the contents).

Search completed listings on eBay to see what similar cases have sold for. For example, Trunki suitcases can fetch £20ish on eBay, but Tumi suitcases can fetch £100+. Posh cases may be more likely to have pricier goodies inside.

If you buy, you’ll pay a "buyer's premium" – the auction house’s fee of about 15-20%, plus 20% VAT on top, so ALWAYS factor this in. Some auction houses also ask for a refundable deposit of £100 to bid.

This is a bit of fun rather than a guaranteed money-maker. If you’re going to give it a try, don’t get blinded by bidding fever – set a maximum and don’t be pushed past it.