I am one of the biggest and badest bargain shoppers I know. I just LOVE getting great items and an even greater price. So, with this being said, I decided to share with you some of my secrets to help you find the best deals here on eBay.

1. Search for misspelled items: listings that have typo's and misspelled words in the title or description tend to get little or no traffic because their item will not come up in the search query. So, there are a couple of different websites where they look for misspelled listings for you. The first is FatFingers so you will do the web address as fatfingers dot com. The next is MisspelledAuctions so visit misspelledauctions dot com. These do all the work for you and brings up lots of great deals on listings that are misspelled!

2. Make sure to "fine Tune" your searches: The more descriptive you are when looking for something on eBay, the easier it will be to find it. For example, let's say your looking for a Diamond Solitare Ring. If you are more descriptive about what kind of ring you will narrow down the amount of listings that come up, therefore eliminating any items that are just a waste of your time. Example being, if you type in "1 carat genuine diamond solitare engagement ring" your search now eliminates all listings that are less or more than 1 carat; you eliminate listings that may not be genuine diamonds; you eliminate and rings that are more than one stone. So, by being specific you waste less time trying to find what you are looking for. Time is money! So less time spent is less labor looking for that great deal!

3. Compare Prices: Sometimes getting the best deal takes some time. You search for your desired item on eBay, and get a bunch of listings that come up. Do your homework and look through as many listings as you can to compare the prices and materials. Also, look at shipping rates. You may get a great deal on a shirt that costs $5.00 but shipping may be $9.95 which is high. So be sure to look at what the shipping costs are to see that your not paying too much. There are people on eBay who over-inflate the shipping charges to make money on items they have marked down. This is bad business and you should avoid sellers like that.

4. Search for Related Items: This tip comes in real handy if your not quite sure what you are looking for. Let's say it's Christmas and your looking for a gift for your wife. You want to buy her a necklace and search for necklaces on eBay. Lots of listings will come up, but there are sections on the side that show related items-- this is great to get idea's for items you may not have even thought about or considered.

5. Rushed Searches = Potential Waste of $: I know, I know. Time is precious. Time is money. Rushing though can be wasting money if you are not careful. When searching for an item you are wanting on eBay, take your time to make sure you are reading the listing detail in it's entirety and all the applicable information realating to it like tax, shipping, and return policies. Also, if you are in too much of a hurry to get an item and do not take time enough to look at other listings, you may be actually losing money! You may end up buying something that is way over priced or it may not even end up being what you are looking for. You rushed through the listing to buy it and it arrives in the mail. To your disappointment it is not exactly what you expected and your are now discouraged and disappointed. This could have been avoided if you took the time to read and compare like listings. Make sure you are aware of the sizes, colors, shipping costs, return policy, etc before making your purchase. This will save you money and increase your level of satisfaction with your transaction. I cannot tell you how many times I have had people win one of my auctions. They receive my invoice and see that PayPal is my only method of payment and email me asking if I will take a check or money order. No I won't because I only accept PayPal. Had they read that in the listing they would have known that, therefore saving not only their time but mine as well.

6. Potentially Save $$$ on Shipping Costs: When looking at an item you are looking to buy on eBay, remember that you will pay less money for shipping if you buy the item from someone who lives closer to you than farther away. The closer the item is to you, the less you will pay for shipping. For example, I live in Ohio. I want to buy a basketball and see there are several sellers to accomodate my desire. I find a few that are priced well, let's say for $9.99. I automatically sort my searches by "nearest first" so that all the pertainable items will be sorted by items closest to me. This helps me get the overall best deal because if I buy the basketball from someone living in Virgina as opposed to someone living in California, I will get a much better shipping price which saves me $$$!

7. What time an auction ends can sometimes mean better deals: People all over the world and living in different time zones list items at all hours of the day. Great times to look for items ending are during the night and during business days because less people are apt to be on there to bid. This is not always the case, but does work good as a general rule of thumb.

8. Sort Listings by "Ending Soonest: One of my favorite and most ways to sort listings are by "Time: Ending Soonest" because I can see the item I want and the price it is going for. This means less time waiting on a bid to end which is great for people who are impatient and hate waiting several days to win an item.

These are tips that I use myself all the time. These may not work for everyone or all the time to overall give you the best deals, but it does work for most people most of the time. I hope you enjoed this guide and don't forget to vote if you found it useful.