General Chat

It is always worth considering the scores of the other bidders. If their score is under 20 and even under 100 chances are they are still learning the ropes. Just lurk ( "watch" ) as they edge the price slowly upwards. Chances are that you can snipe the auction in its dying seconds. When doing this remember you only get one shot and it needs to be late enough and high enough to block out any other sniper.

ALWAYS look carefully at the P&P. Some sellers fatten up the price in the P&P and others, especially Americans, try and hide expensive shipping by posing as UK sellers.

ALWAYS check for items using the "nearest" feature. For bulky and fragile items buying stuff near enough to be collected can save shipping charges and damage. Most sellers will allow collection but ask first if no indication.

EVERY now and again somebody lists something expensive without a reserve and it remains unsold at ZERO when it could have been bought for 99p. You can find these using "ending soon" and some guile and a script or buy an addin.

eBay is also a good way to find family history stuff. Just enter the surname or placename of interest and see what the tide brings in. I won an embroidary sampler made by an ancestor back in the 1860s!

eBay is also an excellent place to find old maps. Old maps with railways in place, no motorways, post offices and pubs, coal mines and steel works, barracks and ship yards are a great way of understanding just how your ancestors lives fitted together. btw the OS 7th series is free on line.

good hunting
:-D

Yeah seen "D" done several times............

sorry for the bloke? who has bid all along and then loses it in the last seconds, though

:-(

So you got it then??? Well done!

i only ever buy things on there cheap, so nothing i get is absurdly high lol im to tight to pay more when i can get it cheaper elsewere ;-)

Well Rollo - I did do a. and c. and definitely refused to link to bank. No way Jose.

I am happy with purchase and had already thought of beginning to bid in last 10 mins or so.

I have bid on line but that was linked in to auction house so a bit different on bidding.

When I buy on line I never use a debit card.

Thanks everyone for tips - by the way - the item was a barometer!!!!!

Buy it now prices are often - tho not always - absurdly high. They are the eBay equivalent of buying a used car from a used car biz rather than the auction. Same result but one is cheaper.

what you need to do is to "snipe"

a. check out the feedback of the seller and that the item is located in the UK - low feedback, -ve feedback not in uk don't bother

b. if there is some time to go enter a low bid just to test the water and hopefully flush out other lurkers ( optional )

c. option 1 - enter your top poss bid an hour at most before end of auction and let eBay autobidding look after the rest

d. option 2 - "sniping" - a lot of people think this is unfair. Too bad.
Enter yr bid in the box, wait until there is 8 secs to go and then bid - u need to be lively and have a good connexion.
Chances r u will win having "sniped" all the others.

It usually takes beginners ages to work out (d). You don't need any special software.

e. if you are looking for something just enter it in the general box. Quite often stuff is not entered in the correct category and u can pick up stuff for a song.

Never ever ever link PayPal to your bank debit card. Never.

good luck

(purple star)

i try n find the buy it now pages as ya garanteed it then with no bidding lol,

good luck tho i found it very addictive at forst

Mersey and Stray - thanks for advice - I have been in advance for past 30 mins soooo hoping. Actually if I do not get it found one I like also!!!!

wily coyote fails to catch road runner
- nothing new here, move along please

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cgGfz-YO5g

Last 30 seconds for me.....Im on pins but a great feeling when I win !! Good luck Chris :-D

oh keep watching the last 5 minutes, is when people go mad bidding, x

You're a braver person than most Chris.

Hope you manage to get it without breaking your budget.
If you don't - well, something better will be along another time

I am bidding on Ebay - it finishes about 5.45pm today. Fingers crossed.