I am doomed. Utterly doomed.

[gerisullivan]

I just became a registered eBay user. It's my first time. Yes, of course I did so to bid on something. It's a very low-cost item. Yeah, right.

I am doomed.

I am not, however, going to increase my bid. Either I'll get it or I won't.

It's not even what I went looking for.

Of course it isn't.

Doomed. Doomed. Doomed.

I am suspiciously cheerful and confident for someone who has successfully avoided this fate for the last decade and more.

Film at 11. In the meantime, advice for an eBay neo would be very welcome. What mistakes should I endeavor to avoid? Well, beside the mistake of registering in the first place?

Comments

[bohemiancoast.livejournal.com]

I am amazed that you've never previously been on eBay, given eBay's origins as a PEZ trading network.

Mistakes to avoid:

Paying more for something than it's worth to you.

Failing to spot excessive postage or mandatory insurance charges, so you end up paying more than the thing is worth to you.

Not reading descriptions carefully so the thing you buy isn't what you thought you were getting (I'm not talking about scams here, just about things that turn out to be less cool than they looked in the auction).

Buying from scammers, especially if you're buying high-end electronics or computers (though I should say I have bought two Mac laptops and a Nintendo DS on eBay without trouble).

And if you're selling:

Failing to pay attention to the cost of postage so you don't charge as much as it costs you to pack and post.

Selling something for 99p that takes you half an hour to pack up!

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

For years (and years), I've been saying that not having an eBay account has saved me thousands of dollars. Tens of thousands by this point, most likely. I've watched auctions now and again, and searched for desired items. I was bummed when eBay changed things around so only registered users could search completed auctions -- I find that information to be very useful!

Yes, I've of course followed eBay prices on PEZ dispensers. I even have the special eBay dispensers PEZ made a few years back, though not the glow-in-the-dark version that were only given to eBay employees. It was an exceptionally clever employee premium -- it not only commemorated eBay's history, it gave employees something they could easily auction off on eBay -- then or later -- most recently, one sold for $41.

Thanks for all of the tips! Very useful.