How To Win Big & Pay Little On eBay

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Set of 3 rings - $1.68 with free shipping!

I've always been a huge freak for jewelry, I just never wanted to pay a lot of money for it (mainly because I don't have a lot of money to spend on jewelry). I recently made friends with a customer of ours at the bike shop (West River Cycles) and she often tells me stories of scoring amazing jewelry deals on eBay and that certainly caught my interest.

I always set a maximum price when searching for items so I'm never tempted to over spend!

First of all, I downloaded the eBay app on my iPhone.  It has allowed me to browse while I have a little down time.  My favorite time to browse eBay is right before I fall asleep at night (or it helps ease my mind if I'm feeling extra stressed out!).  eBay is perfect for those of us shopping on a budget - mainly because whether you're on the app on your phone or not, you can refine your search down to a science.

$7.00 with free shipping!

Here are a few tips to manage your search results.  Make sure you filter your search options - to make the sorting process easier I always sort the results by price + shipping: lowest first.  That way you view the best deals first and it saves a ton of time!  Next, I always set my maximum price range to ensure I don't overspend.  We've all had those dreaded bidding wars that just simply get way out of hand, it's the heat of the moment and you just have to have that necklace and end up spending double plus shipping. My absolute must is turn on the free shipping option.  Many eBay sellers suck you in with a cheap price tag and you don't notice the hefty shipping cost until it's too late.

4 sets of earrings & necklace - combined total of $4.77 with free shipping!

I personally don't mind waiting for international shipping, just as long as it's free.  If you're paying $1.50 for a ring you can most likely wait a week and a half for it to arrive.  So far I've found amazing deals on jewelry and I'll certainly start expanding my search to other home goods.  If you find items that are auction only, the trick to those is finding auctions that end late at night/early in the morning while others are typically in bed.  Set your alarm to go off minutes before the auction ends and only place a bid with under 30 seconds to go - preferably under 10 seconds.

If you have any tried and tested rules of eBay shopping - share them in the comments!