- Search for items with gift services available. If you're having an item shipped directly to a gift recipient (and perhaps even if you're not), think about searching for items with features like expedited shipping and direct-to-recipient shipping available. You can search for such items exclusively by using the advanced search tool accessible from eBay's front page (click “Advanced Search” next to the search box, then “Advanced Search” once again on the page that follows) or the search options to the left of results on any search results page.
Note that if you're using eBay's new search system you won't see the gift features search options unless you first click the “Opt out of the new search experience” link at the upper-right of any eBay search results page.
- Have eBay help with your price ranges. Don't waste time on pages and pages of search results that are outside your price range. Go straight to the stuff you can afford by having eBay help you to exclude items outside of your price range. Again, use the advanced search tool or the search options box to enter the minimum and maximum prices you're willing to pay for the item in question.
- Shop only fixed price and Buy It Now listings. Remember that bidding auctions can't be ended early, and more to the point, you may find yourself on the losing side when outbid by someone that is simply willing to pay more for the item than you are—and people tend to be willing to pay a lot, sometimes even more than is reasonable, when they're bidding on a last-minute gift.
For true last-minute shopping, just search for Buy It Now or Fixed Price listings alone. This can be done by clicking the “Buy it Now only” (new search) or “Buy It Now” (original search) tab above your search results on any search results page. Also visit eBay Stores and search for the items you're interested in, since a much larger quanitity of stores items are fixed-price listings and often don't turn up in regular search results.
- Be strict about feedback; shop established sellers. The holiday shopping season is not the time to give problem sellers another chance, especially when time is of the essence. Evaluate feedback carefully and stick to only the best sellers for your gift shopping—sellers with feedback well above a 99 percent positive rating.
At the same time, the holiday season is no time to be dealing with inexperienced sellers who may or may not be savvy enough to pack items carefully, apply addresses clearly, ship promptly, and/or handle problems efficiently. Stick to sellers with feedback scores in the hundreds or thousands and avoid using sellers with only a few transactions on record for gift shopping.
- Verify shipping times, methods. Double-check shipping methods and times for the listings you're considering and plan accordingly—and be sure to check detailed seller ratings with regard to shipping performance. If no shipping times are make clear, slow shipping methods are used, or the seller has a history of dragging their feet when shipping, look elsewhere.
- Allow for additional shipping time.
Don't forget, too, that shippers get clogged and backlogged during the holiday season under the weight of so much additional shipping activity. Take shipping times with a grain of salt and allow for an extra couple of days in each case—allow 2-3 days for next day shipping, 4-5 days for second day shipping, and so on, because as we get closer and closer to zero hour, carriers will get slower and slower to meet their commitments.
- Shop for nearby items if possible. Finally, remember that items located near you geographically are likely to be more quickly shippable than items that are distant from you—cross-country shipping during the holiday season can at times impose surprising delays. You can ship for items with a specific radius (in terms of miles) of your postal code using the advanced search tool or the “Search Options” box of either the old or new eBay searches (though you'll have to click “Choose more...” in the search options area if you're using the new search to see the distance option).
The most important thing to remember about last-minute eBay holiday shopping is simply that eBay isn't your only option, and in some cases may not be your best. Keep an open mind and know when to draw the line—at some point each year there's a moment when it's too late for last-minute eBay shopping entirely, but not too late for shopping in your own neighborhood. Know when this moment is and you'll be in great shape come gift-giving time.
