If there's some sort of rehab program for people addicted to eBay, I think someone needs to sign me up.
My addiction started in high school when I created an account to try to find a cheap cell phone battery, and I've been rolling downhill like a bidding-crazed snowball ever since. It's something about the victory of the "You've won!" e-mail followed by the package arriving in the mail with my name on it a few days later that just gets me pumped.
The items I've won range from the awesome (a GPS that I got for hundreds less than the retail value), to the not-so-awesome (a misses size M zebra print dress from Japan which was actually a kids' size 10), to the downright bizarre (a one-cent grab-bag of estate jewelry, the centerpiece of which was a pink plastic rosary -- I'm Baptist).
Through much trial and error, however, I have earned a 100% positive feedback rating and my blue star (which, all you eBay novices, means 75+ people have left feedback for me), all of which have taken my credibility on the online bidding site to new highs, but my bank account to new lows.
Another consequence of my little bidding problem has been that it's made me the biggest cheapskate within my circle of friends. If I find something I love in a retail store, I always think, "I could find it cheaper on eBay." And I'm usually right.
My question is, with the economy in its current state of disarray, is an addiction to a Web site that can offer us quality items at drastically discounted rates really a bad thing?
Paying $2500 for an authentic pair of Chanel sunglasses? It's practically un-American NOT to look for a better deal.
Half my wardrobe came from eBay (that is not an exaggeration -- and the other half is sorority T-shirts), and I like to think that I dress pretty well. Trying to have some semblance of style on a college budget is just not easy. And I'm willing to bet that lots of fathers out there agree with mine that $15 is a perfectly reasonable amount of money to spend on jeans, and thus are unwilling to open their wallet any further for their trend-conscious children.
That said, I would love to share the secrets of my infinite eBay wisdom with you, the average Auburn student scraping quarters out of the console of your car just to have enough money for cover at Skybar. After all, what's the point in going out if you can't look like a million bucks (even if you only paid three bucks plus shipping).
1) Get in the right midset. That $75 bottle of tanning lotion you just bought? You could have gotten it for $15 on eBay. Retailers mark up their products sometimes by 100% or more. On eBay you can often buy those products wholesale.
2) List items by price -- lowest first. Many the items I've bought on eBay were $5 or less.
3) For your max bid, enter the highest price you would be willing to pay. The site doesn't automatically bid that much at first. It bids in tiny increments until your max bid is reached. You may end up paying much less than you thought!
The economy will recover from this slump, but I will never pay full price for a designer handbag again. And if you're smart, you'll check out how much you can save.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
