In my time on Ebay, I've learned many things. A few I thought I'd share with my fellow Ebayers looking for good deals and to make the most money off the items they list. In this little guide, I will discuss the following: The best time to bid, the best time to sell, how to sell and the best time to place your bid and best technique for bidding and WINNING. I hope these tips help you to become a more proficient bidder as well as a more reputable seller and ultimately an asset to the Ebay community.

Best time to bid.

    I've found out that on the evenings of Fri/Sat is a good time to bid. I say this because people are out and about on those nights, enjoying themselves. But not you, because your home getting good deals on teh Ebay :) I've found items seem to sell for less during those times. At least in my experience. Actual figured from Ebay may say different, but all I can do is relate what I've seen. By no means am I saying Friday and Sat. are the ONLY times to bid. Their are ALWAYS good deals to be FOUND. You just have to search.

Best time to sell.

    A while back, I was watching 2gb mem cars for my PSP. I would watch several at a time, from varying different time periods, wanting to figure out how much they are selling on avgerage and what I can expect to pay. I began to notice a pattern in why some memory cards would sell for more than others. Granted, feedback is sometimes the culprit of this as well as shipping charges and location/time of delivery. I noticed that some sellers would both have 99+% feedback, have comparable shipping charges and delivery times and yet, they would sell at considerably different prices, sometimes varying $10-$30+. I questioned this and relized the difference: The ones selling for more were ending at and around lunch time.
    I figure they sell higher because everybody's at work, on a computer (a good majority of people anyway) or they have easy access to a computer around lunchtime. Thus, perhaps some who wouldn't normally be able to bid were able to do so. Also, people who work on a computer (myself included) , but who are perhaps limited to the amount of time they can be on the internet (definetly not myself), are able to do so on their lunch break.
Again, Ebay stats may show differently, but this is what I've experienced.

How to sell.

    I've always had good success on selling items for the price I'm looking for. I believe in honesty and I think that comes through in my auctions. I don't try and hide anything in the description and I let my fellow Ebayers know my stand on feedback and how serious I take my auctions. I don't want any troubles, I don't want any deadbeat bidders, just like everybody else,and I vocalize this, plainly stating I will not tolerate this in my auction and that steps will be taken against someone who's playing around.
    I always try to have my item already packaged and ready to ship as well. That allows me, at times, to ship the same day I recieve payment! I buy more than I sell on Ebay and personally  I always appreciate when the seller ships same day as I pay. Thus why I do it. I also include a tracking # and notify them buyer that I have shipped and the approximate delivery of their item/s.

Tips on bidding and how to WIN :)

    This is a lil technique that I use in my biddings and I have had EXCELLANT success. First, I always research on how much any given item I'm interested in buying, sells for. So, I know about what my ceiling of bidding should be, so as not to pay too much. Second, after I have found and item I'm interested in around a Friday or Saturday evening, I make sure the seller is in good standing w/the Ebay community, via feedback. This drives the point home of how important it is to indeed LEAVE feedback when you buy/sell yourself.
Then, I wait. I don't bid with 3 days left in the auction, nor 2 days, nor 1 day, nor an hour, not even a minute..I wait untill 3-5 seconds before the auction ends. Here's my secret, which isn't much of a secret at all really...

    During the last few minutes, I make sure my DSL connection is good. Using firefox with tabbed browsing, I open two tabs with the item's auction. One one tab, I go ahead and click on bid. I set the highest amount I will pay. I click OK. That takes me to the last page where you confirm your bid. With that page ready, I check back with the original auction page and refresh. I continue refreshing BOTH pages untill there is about 5 seconds left. I then click on the other tabalready on the confirmation page  and hit confirm. My bid goes through and 9/10 times I win at a considerably lower price than if I had also entered the frantic bidding in the last minute. This can also be used without tabbed browing, just by having two different web pages open. Also, if you have dial up, I would bid with 7-10 seconds left.

    In conclusion, I would again like to emphasize that the above statements are obviously my opinions and are backed up by only my experience and nothing else. Ebay may indeed have documentation on when items sell for more/less and their may be better approaches to bidding. But I hope you are able to use this guide, even if for only one thing, to make your Ebay experience fun and exciting and to help you become a better member of the Ebay community.
    Thank you and Happy Bidding!

 Terrance