eBay tricks to get the most from buying and selling

ONLINE auctioneer eBay is celebrating its 20th birthday this week, marking two decades since it revolutionised the way unwanted Christmas presents and other second-hand goods lying around the home are offloaded.

Most people understand the basics of the site, which involves simply listing an item and waiting for online bidders to offer the best price. 

But there are a few little-known tricks to get the most out of the auction site as a buyer or seller.

Here's what you need to know:

Save on misspelt goods

Shoppers can make significant savings by bidding on items that are are listed on eBay with typos, which puts them under the radar of buyers searching on specific words. 

There are secondary sites that will help you weed out the goods that you are looking for, including missing-auctions.com and fatfingers.com. 

For instance, searching on such sites for goods by designer Mary Katrantzou brings up six sellers who have accidentally dropped the 't' from the spelling and listed items by 'Mary Katranzou'. 

These items are less likely to reach their target audience, cutting down bidder competition for buyers who do come across them. 

On the other hand, sellers looking to get the best possible price should double-check key search terms on their item are spelt correctly!

Buy local for better prices

Another way to reduce bidder competitions is by looking for local goods that are listed as collection-only. 

Simply put in your postcode and search by radius. 

List items in the run-up to Christmas 

With shoppers hitting the site looking for gifts, the lead-up to Christmas is a great time to list unwanted belongings and make a little extra money to see you through December. 

In January you may be looking to offload unwanted gifts but as people are typically cash-strapped it's not the best time to list items if you want to get the best price for - wait a until later in the year if you can.

Search outside of peak times

Sellers achieve the best price by timing auctions to end when the most people are online, typically in the evenings and particularly on a Sunday. 

Buyers can therefore secure lower prices by looking for items when fewer people are free to outbid you. 

Try looking during the day if you're able to or on a spare Saturday evening. 

For serious bargain hunters, website Lastminute Auction lists all items ending in an hour less priced at a £1 or lower. 

Bid out of season 

You can also cut down competition for an item by buying when others are not in the market. 

For instance, bidding on a winter coat in summer could bank some big savings. 

Better pictures earn best prices

As a seller, you''ll get the best price and attract the most bidders if items are listed with as much detail as possible. 

Pictures are part of this process. Make sure the lighting is good, and the item can be clearly viewed from all different angles.

Proof of delivery 

Finally, keep your guard up against scammers. 

Always make sure you get a proof of postage when sending off your items to fight any claims of sellers not receiving goods.

UK Express