Most people come to Ebay to get great deals on the auctions, but many rarely or never use the buy it now feature that many sellers offer.  This is a huge mistake because by using the buy it now feature, many buyers are able to get items at prices far below the prices of ending auctions.  Here's what to look for and what to do:

The most important principle to know when looking for a buy it now "bargain" is that buy it now "bargains" are going to sell quickly.  Buy it now bargains are items listed with a buy it now price that is lower than the average selling price of similar items up for auction.  These bargains are rare, but they do exist.  Most buyers list a buy it now price that is much higher than the average selling price in hopes that someone will be too impatient to wait for an auction to end and pay extra to get it now.  But some buyers don't do their homework and don't really know what the going rate is for the item they are listing.  The result is that they list their item with a buy it now price lower (and sometimes much much lower) than the going rate.  Now obviously, there are millions of buyers on ebay and those buyers with a keen eye will pick up these under-priced items quickly.  So here's what to do:

After you have searched for the item you are looking for, make some adjustments to the search results.  On the left hand side, mark the box that says show buy it now items only.  Then list the items in order of time listed (you do this by clicking on the top of the time left column).  This will show the items most recently posted on ebay at the top of the list.  The bargains (if any exist) will appear within the first page or two of these filtered results.   If you still are looking at a huge list, try filtering the price a little bit to narrow things down. 

If you don't see any bargains at first, don't get frustrated.  Be patient.  Bargains often go quickly after they are listed, sometimes within a matter of minutes, but usually in a matter of hours.  Keep looking and eventually something will turn up.  By using this method of buying instead of bidding on auctions, you are sure to save lots of money in many cases.  Give it a try and have some fun!

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