You Shall Not Pass

Without buying a pair of shoes, or an action figure, or a piece of jewelry, or…

Tip Of The Day:  I have seen the face of evil over-consumption, and its name is eBay.com.  In the last 24 hours, I have succumbed to its promises of one-of-a-kind (OOAK in eBay parlance), hard-to-find, less-expensive-than-retail goods (and occasional services), and I’ve bought two, TWO costuming items.  Sigh.

I’m a lost cause!  Save yourselves!  Avoid the seductive lure of eBay!  But if you can’t, read on for a few of my eBay tips.  Perhaps they can help you BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.

Tip For Tomorrow:  You know me – I like a man with hustle.  As I was filming yesterday, the young electricians started hounding chatting with me about their company, and how I should feature it in my next Cheap Chick segment.  I don’t know if that will happen, but he did tell me about a cool freebie they offer.  Tune in tomorrow for that cheap goodness, and others from enterprising young men.

Further Elucidation Of My Cheap Deal:  Every once in awhile, usually when I’m obsessing over a hard-to-find item, I fall back into the trap of eBay.  Last year’s shopping challenge – spending $20 or less on every single item I bought – kept me safe for a time.  But now I’m back in action, and even the threat of sharing my purchases with the world at large hasn’t prevented me from bidding away on whatever I want.

Case in point, these Steve Madden boots:

Cute, no?  And at $40, they are cheaper than retail.  However, did I really need them?  At all?  Even a tiny little bit?  NO.  But I WANTED them, like Rachel Ray wants to create another annoying catchphrase.

While gazing adoringly at my unnecessary purchase, I got to thinking about how to shop smarter on eBay.  Here’s the outcome of my 30 minutes of pondering:

1.  Try not to bid on something you completely and totally LOVE – especially if it’s a hot ticket item.

This was my second classic blunder (the first would be getting involved in a land war in Asia), I bid on an item I had fallen madly in love with… and that at least two other people had the hots for, too.   One of a kind, hard to find steampunk boots are a must-get to any steampunker, as witnessed by the endless “quest for the perfect boots” posts on the steampunk fashion Live Journal community.  We all want the next best boots, to complete an outfit and show off to other members.  It is our way, don’t mock us.

Instead of hitching my wagon to one pair of boots, I should have waited until I had two or three really good boot choices lined up, and then bid at the last moment on the least expensive pair.  Instead, I got involved in a bidding war (slightly less catastrophic than an Asian land war, but almost as expensive), and ended up paying $20 more for the boots.

And then, as added insult to injury, a pair of super-cute black suede lace-up boots came up for auction mere moments after the Madden Wars, at a fraction of the price of the boots I won.  Sigh.  Next time, I will follow my own good advice.

2.  If you must bid on something you LOVE, make sure you set a cap on how much you’ll spend.

Do this BEFORE you start bidding.  Write down exactly how much you think an item is worth, including the shipping and handling.  Post this dollar amount in a very visible place.  When the bidding war starts, keep your eyes on that limit.  Once the bidding goes over the limit, turn off your computer and walk away.  EBay has nothing, I repeat, NOTHING you need badly enough to justify over-bidding for it.

3.  If the seller has multiples of something, don’t bid on the item if someone else already has.

This is an easy one.  Scope out the seller and see if they have a bunch of the same item for sale.  Many times, sellers will list their wares individually, instead of posting in the auction they have multiples (like they’re supposed to do).  This drives up the bidding on the individual item, as unwary buyers think they only have one shot at the thing, so they’d better win the auction.

Savvy sellers will list the multiples one at a time – as one auction ends, a new auction for the exact same item begins.  Check their selling history on eBay to see if this is their pattern.  Then wait – chances are you’ll be the only bidder on one of those items, thus having no competition, thus ensuring you get said item at a lower price.

I’ve seen this happen with shoes, boots, jewelry, hoop skirts, feathered wings – in other words, many basic costuming items.

4.  Look for the item you want elsewhere.

This handy tip comes from my BFF HaC, otherwise known as “The Girl With More Shoes Than Is Probably Good For Her.”  Seriously – her shoe closet is Herculean.  Massive, as it were.  And most of her purchasing of shoes is done online.

It used to be that HaC would bid on shoes, or search through shoe stores, on eBay.  Until one day, she discovered cutesyshoes.com… and then discovered that many (if not all) of the shoes she was finding on eBay for auction or in the stores were available at cutesy as well.  For a LOT less money, and with free shipping if she spent $50 or more, which HaC could easily do.

The moral of this shoe story?  If you find a stock item for auction, or in an eBay store, before you bid on it or Buy It Now, check to see if it’s available elsewhere on the Web.  You may be able to find it for less, or get a deal on the shipping and handling fees.

Those are just a few of my tips – now let’s ask the group.  How do you save money on eBay?