Anybody who can see my feedback profile will notice that I have a special interest in buying gift cards, especially from iTunes store.

Why? Because gift certificates provide anyone who owns one with a great chance to save big on purchases with anything and anywhere.

Here are my personal tips for making wonderful deals on eBay by purchasing gift certificates. Some of them may be obvious even for the less experienced eBayer, but it is worth reminding.

There are three things which makes up the Buyer Essential Behavior: Price Goal, Availability and Patience for Research. The first purchases and the hurried ones can never - ever - be called your best deal, even if you have achieved good savings. The more you browse through the listings, the more you will find that if only you'd wait a little more longer, you could get the same item for much less. So don't panic about the last minute competition: if the bidding offer surpassed your price goal, just let it go and look for the next upcoming auction. There are a lot of gift certificates around eBay and if there is no other available at the moment you are looking for, soon it will be.

Having a reasonable goal is essential. My goal is to always save at least 35% on my gift certificate purchases. For instance, if I am going to buy a $100.00 worth gift certificate, I plan to spend no more than $65.00 on it. If the current bid is at $66.00, then I will stop bidding because it is no longer a deal for me. Each person has its own perceptions on what is a good deal or not, so you should set your own target based exclusively on how much you would like to save, and not on how bad you want to win the auction or get the certificate. Think with your pocket and do not allow yourself to take exceptions on your own goal, even if the difference is a minor thing. Self-discipline is a must on eBay, or otherwise, you will be fooling yourself.

Availability is necessary because competition exists and you will have to be in the right time at the right place to give your last shot. Most of times you won't be alone and then the dispute will heat up in the last seconds, but...did you ever feel that you lost something because you thought you would lose it anyway, but actually you could win? So if you choose to bid on an item, do whatever it takes to be there and to avoid feeling sorry for yourself later.

When I talk about availability, I also talk about money availability. Most people will pay for a gift certificate almost the same amount of its face value, typically when this certificate is in the range of $50.00. Is paying $40.00 for a $50.00 certificate a great deal? Not for me...

Based on my experience with iTunes certificates here on eBay, the saving potential is much higher when such certificate is worth $100.00. One can buy a $100.00 certificate paying a little more than $50.00 with some patience and research. Needless to say which of the two presented situations is the best. So if you don't have now what is called "bidding power", wait until you do so and then have fun with the biggest saver auctions around here.

I hope that my personal guide was useful to you. Feel free to contact me if you have interest on discussing further this subject, and I will be glad to hear from you.