I am 80% eBay seller, 20% eBay buyer. eBay is over 10 years old, and still there are people out there who don't quite understand what bargains are available on eBay. As our economy continues to decline, consumers are looking for ways to stretch their dollar. Here is my top 5 list of ways eBay can save the average consumer money when purchasing every day items.
1) Birthday gifts. Yesterday I won the highly coveted Vera Bradley pink elephant tote (new with tags) to give to my daughter for her 14th birthday next week. This particular bag retails for $71 at the Hallmark store. I won it for $42 plus shipping. My cost was 67% of retail for the same exact item.
2) DVDs. Buy them gently used. If you bought it new, it would be used after the first time you played it. Buying used is no different than renting, except you get to keep the movie for as long as you like. Save big on DVDs and build a huge collection for a fraction of the retail cost. Resell them when you are tired of watching them.
3) Children's clothing. Most kids grow so fast that they don't have time to wear their clothes out before outgrowing them. Many moms use eBay to sell their kids' gently used clothing. Get designer labels at a fraction of the new cost.
4) Grocery coupons. Some sellers spend their time clipping and organizing coupons so you can buy the exact coupons for items you buy each week. Buy the coupons you need for a few cents, and redeem at your grocery store. You can actually make money on the deal or get free products if your grocery store doubles coupons.
5) Books, new or gently used. There is not reason to pay $20 or more for a book any more. Search eBay for novels, children's books, the latest celebrity books, cookbooks and audio books. Sell them in a lot or batch when you are finished reading them.
I have found some great deals on furniture on ebay. Because most items have to picked up locally, you don't have as many people bidding against you. I won an auction for a formal dining room table and paid only $40. I have also bought 3 dressers off of ebay and spent $200 or less on each of them.
Posted by: Jennifer | January 24, 2008 9:04 AM | Permalink to Comment