I use straight-to-the-point format to list out all the things that you, as a buyer, should be aware of before you bid or buy any item in ebay.  No lengthy text but just simple language.  Below are all the areas which a buyer should be 100% beware of.

1/ Time to Bid

Don't restrict yourself on bidding items at your local time.  Majority of buyers only bid items after they get back home at night time.  Why not try early in the morning, lunch time or tea & snack time?  This is because there are so many good items ending at such period of time (because the sellers of such good items are living in a different time zone as you do)  You will be surprised to discover so many unbidded items ending with its first start bid price at such time period.

2/ Actual Sales Price VS Start Bid Price

To get an idea of how much the item you want should eventually cost in ebay before you bid, you can do the following.

• check the same seller's feedback profile and find out its current transactions with its recent buyers on the item which you want to buy.  Just double click on the item number at the end of the row of feedback left by the seller's recent buyers and then you will see how much that buyer has paid. That will be your first reference point.
• follow the aforesaid procedure but on the different sellers who also sell the exact item you want to bid.
• check for the exact same item (in ebay) which has Buy-It-Now option and you will see the final sale price expected by the seller.
• average all the prices you get from all the above-mentioned methods and you will get a realized sales price of such item.  Set the maximum bid price of such item 10 to 15% below that researched price.  If you can get it, that will be a good deal to you!

3/ Shipping And Handling Cost

Take a thorough look at the shipping cost section of a listing.  Note how much it will cost you to ship the item to your location and also the time it takes for you to receive the item.  The best way to benchmark whether or not a seller is overcharging you at shipping cost is to compare with another seller who is selling the exact same item.  It should be an apple-to-apple comparison.  Nothing more or less!

4/ Buy Items With Actual Product Pictures

Seeing is believing.  Although you cannot see the actual product first before you buy in ebay, one or more pictures of such product in a listing is definitely helpful to your buying decision.  Don't be fooled by irresponsible seller's exaggerated description.  The seller(s) who is/are willing to list pictures in ebay is a responsible and serious seller.

5/ Online Payment

Only paypal payment and nothing else.  Sign up with paypal is easy and free.  Paypal is backed up by ebay and ebay is publicly listed in Nasdaq.  Using other payment formats like Western Union is risky because you cannot easily revert your money back if something happens in between the transaction.  Paypal is a mature online payment platform and has been doing well to protect people paying and receiving funds via the internet medium. 

6/ Ask Questions Before You Buy

Don't be shy nor feel obligated to ask.  The more questions you ask the seller, the clearer picture you get before you buy.  I personally like to interact with my customers because the questions raised by my customers help me better finetune my selling models and tell me more of what my customer exactly needs.

7/ Don't Do Impulsive Bidding

Set your maximum bid price on the item and that is it!  Don't be impulsive on auction bidding and try to bid over others at the end of the auction as you will eventually find out that you are paying more than it should be.  Some bad sellers even use other ebay IDs to boost up the bid price at the closing of their auctions.  Don't be trapped.  However, don't be upset if you cannot get the item you want just because of being bidded over by others by a tiny amount like USD0.50 or less.  Smart sellers will never let you go and will later make a second-chance offer to you unless you are bidding a super-rare collectible item.  In this ocean of online auctions, I believe you can get the item you want later as long as you keep your eyes close to the market.

Hope this tiny guide helps you a bit!  Please be kind enough to vote this article as a helpful guide to you so as to recognize my deed and to further encourage me to write more for the community.

Good luck in your auction bidding!  Thanks!

PEGGYSEVEN

Click HERE to visit my ebay store