If you don’t include Store Inventory Items in your eBay search YOU ARE ONLY SEEING 17%* OF AVAILABLE ITEMS!  You could be missing out on great deals, especially since Store Inventory Items are often priced lower than Auction and Fixed Price Listings because eBay Store Inventory Fees are lower!  And who wants to battle with other bidders and wait for auction end when Buy It Now is so much more convenient and offers instant gratification?

Use eBay’s “Advanced Search” to lead you directly to what you’re looking for at the best price - just a few extra search option clicks and pay attention to shipping and handling charges.

For example:  Let’s say you want a Tinkerbell Cell Charm (or Biwa Pearl Necklace, or Mineral Elixir, or whatever IT is).  If you simply type TINKERBELL CELL CHARM into the “Search” field at the top of your screen and click the “Search” button, you will be presented with about 31 Auction and Fixed Price Listings (based on the search I just did).

Now let’s try it by clicking the “Advanced Search” hyperlink located to the right of the “Search” button...

This will bring you to the “Search: Find Items” screen.  Type TINKERBELL CELL CHARM into the “Enter keyword or item number” field.  You may also want to click the ” Search title and description” checkbox, especially if your searching for something obscure like a model number that is likely to be in the item description and not the item title.

But wait!  There’s more!  You want to be sure to click the “More Buying Options” checkbox (you may need to click on “More Search Options” and/or scroll down the search screen to see this checkbox).  This checkbox is located about 3/4 down the screen (yep, you really have to hunt for it!).  And THEN select "All items including Store Inventory Format" from the adjacent pull down (they don't make it easy, do they?).

Now click the “Search” button and you will get every possible match available - in eBay Auctions, Fixed Price, and Store Inventory Items!  I just tried it and got 118 matches - 87 more chances to find exactly what I'm looking for (and probably at better prices)!

Now to really find the best price you have to pay attention to shipping charges!  If there are only a few results and all the seller’s shipping charges are published then it is pretty easy to see who has the best overall deal in your results list.  If not, you have to click on each item to see the shipping charges.  Then what I do is click the “Watch this item” on all the items I like.  Then I go back to my “My eBay” “All Buying” “Watching” list and I “Add Note” to each listing with the total selling price plus shipping charges.  It is a few extra steps, but it makes it very clear to me who has the best deal and many times I can SAVE A LOT OF MONEY this way!  For example, I just bought a replacement battery for my cell phone – I found prices (including shipping) ranging from $22.98 to $7.50 for the EXACT SAME ITEM!  Kind of makes it worth the extra effort, doesn’t it?

If this has been helpful please vote below (I’m trying to get my score up!).  If not, please email me and let me know what I can do to improve this guide (I’m always happy to receive suggestions and constructive criticism!)

I wish you happy shopping!

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PS  To ensure the best deal AND the best shopping experience, my advice is to always check the Seller's feedback before you buy!

PPS  Sometimes the Search Results list doesn’t show Gallery Photos for Store Inventory Items and sometimes it does – I don’t know why but it is definitely a system flaw.  It certainly makes shopping a lot more difficult, so if you don’t like it you might want to consider contacting eBay and asking them to fix this!

*According to “A Message from Bill Cobb: Resetting the Balance of the eBay Marketplace” dated July 19, 2006 “Store Inventory listings now comprise about 83% of active eBay.com listings on average.”