Top Ten Mistakes Made by Beginning eBay Shoppers

Though years have passed since eBay's rise to prominence as an online trading platform, new eBay shoppers continue to struggle with many of the same mistakes that have haunted previous generations of first-time-eBayers.

Though the "basics of not getting a raw deal" in the world of buying and selling are often common sense rules that are valid beyond eBay, eBay's unique website, rules, and format can often create unique wrinkles on old fashioned common sense that can be ironed out with a few eBay-specific pointers.

Here are some of the most common mistakes made by new eBay shoppers and the best ways to avoid them.

1. Buying the first item in search results. For several years now, eBay's search system has been configured to show you the item(s) or seller(s) that eBay would like you to patronize, rather than those that may offer the widest variety of options or those that might have the best prices. Most of the time this means that you're seeing the sellers that move the most goods, which can be a good sign. But it also means that you may be paying more than you need to pay, since there may be other item(s) or seller(s) buried deeply in search results that are both perfectly good in their own right and that meet your needs more closely, on price or otherwise.
    
   Avoid this mistake by: Using advanced search options and/or sorting your search results by price and/or other criteria after you click the "Search" button for the first time.
    
2. Bidding on the lowest-priced auction-format item. There are a lot of auction items on eBay whose "current price" is just pennies on the dollar in relation to the item's real value. This state of affairs doesn't last. These kinds of items are actually auctions, and while they may be priced low now, by the time the auction is over they won't be. Too many beginners spend a lot of time on eBay trying to get a car, a guitar, a laptop, or anything else for just a dollar or two—then get frustrated and give up on eBay because they imagine it to be dishonest or always end up getting outbid.
    
   Avoid this mistake by: Bidding what you think the item is actually worth and/or what you are actually willing to pay for it in the real world using eBay's proxy bid system, or buying only items that do not involve bidding.
    
3. Buying without checking seller feedback. eBay's feedback system remains much more critical to shopping safety on eBay than seller ratings systems on other buying and selling sites like Amazon.com. eBay sellers offer a much wider variety of goods and are subject to much more lax controls than are sellers on many other sites. Buying from a seller whose feedback isn't particularly good is a sure recipe for dissatisfaction and disaster.
    
   Avoid this mistake by: Always checking seller feedback and detailed seller ratings before placing a bid or making a purchase.
    
4. Getting caught in bidding wars and/or overbid for an item. eBay's proxy bidding system and the anonymity of eBay bidding can conspire to cause many new eBay shoppers to develop a bad case of auction brain, bidding much more for items than they otherwise would in the heat of the moment. Don't do this. There's no point in dealing with the extra complexity and risk of eBay buying (versus traditional retail) if you're going to pay just as much thanks to a bidding war. Don't imagine that because eBay is "just a website auction," you're not obligated to honor your winning bid or can just retract it easily. You are obligated to complete the transaction if you've won—and too many buyers have discovered this only afterward.
    
   Avoid this mistake by: Setting a limit on your purchase price before placing any bids, preferably in writing on a pad of paper or post-it note by your desk, to remind you that the sky is NOT the limit, even if a competing bidder is Really Making You Angry.
    
5. Failing to read item descriptions thoroughly. Unlike other retail sites like Amazon.com, every single item on eBay has its very own description page for that particular item (i.e. not one description that gives information on all of the iPhone 4s sold on eBay, but an individual description for every single, individual iPhone 4 that is for sale on eBay). eBay allows sellers to sell incomplete, broken, modified, and other non-retail-condition items, so failing to read all the information that a seller has given about the item being sold can easily lead to surprises and dissatisfaction once your purchase arrives.
    
   Avoid this mistake by: Carefully reading the description of the item entered by the seller, looking for details about item condition, functionality, included parts and accessories, legal constraints/conditions that attach to it, and anything else related to its value.
    
6. Paying by e-check or instant bank transfer. Yes, nearly every transaction that you complete on eBay will use PayPal as its payment processor, but many new eBay shoppers don't realize that PayPal enables you to pay in several different ways—and that the default way is much less safe than some of the others. PayPal encourages you to pay using an instant funds transfer, but if a deal goes sour and eBay's buyer protection doesn't cover you (something that happens in a small but important percentage of cases), you're out of luck if you've paid this way.
    
   Avoid this mistake by: Always using plastic on PayPal—any credit card or debit card on the Visa, Mastercard, American Express, or Discover networks, for example—since any item(s) that you purchase this way will also be covered by your card issuer.
    
7. Ignoring shipping costs or shipping and handling times. Changes in eBay policy have made what used to be a problem with massive overcharging for shipping on eBay into a mere annoyance—but far too many new buyers continue to make the mistake of failing to account for shipping costs in their bidding or purchasing decisions, then complaining about high shipping costs or disputing purchases later once the shipping costs become apparent. Just as many new buyers fail to note the handling times (delay before shipment) and shipping times (duration of shipment) specified by sellers—times that can stretch into weeks (yes, weeks) for many international sellers.
    
   Avoid this mistake by: Reading the item listing carefully to understand the costs that the seller charges for shipping, in addition to the actual fixed price or winning bid for the item, and the shipping method, distance, and estimated time for the item to be delivered to your location.
    
8. Avoiding overseas item(s) or seller(s) simply because they're overseas. This is the era of globalization, and of the biggest benefits to shopping on eBay is that you can often buy many kinds of consumer goods in small quantities (even quantities of one) direct from manufacturers overseas, often for pennies on the dollar relative to retail prices in the U.S. Still, many consumers refuse to do business with overseas sellers, simply because they are foreign. In most cases, however, the "Proudly American" eBay sellers are selling the same goods, having simply imported them and marked them up, leaving you to pay 50-500 percent more for what amounts to a few days less in shipping time.
    
   Avoid this mistake by: Judging international sellers on their feedback record and item listings, rather than on the fact of their being overseas.
    
9. Handling disputes or dissatisfaction poorly. Every eBay shopper will likely have a negative buying experience at some point, and too many handle their first negative experience in ways that don't help them to maximize their chances of becoming satisfied. eBay feedback is a useful system, but shouldn't be your first thought if you haven't received the deal you thought you were getting. Your goal isn't to make someone else look bad, but to get what you paid for. There are specific ways of trying to get what you paid for after all, but very few of them involve contacting eBay, something that often surprises new eBay shoppers. And finally, when all is said and done, buyers that haven't been made whole and are left completely unsatisfied too often fail to leave appropriate feedback that might help other buyers in the future.
    
   Avoid this mistake by: Contacting your seller if you're not satisfied, then filing a dispute using eBay's dispute system, disputing with a credit card company if necessary, and ultimately leaving appropriate feedback at the end, rather than at the beginning, of your search for satisfaction.
    
10. Falling prey to eBay scams. Unfortunately, eBay is an online company and like the rest of the online world, has its share of nefarious activity going on. eBay scams run the gamut from phishes and spoofs to junk and gimmick listings to too-good-to-be-true pricing on big-ticket items that don't exist to requests for wire transfers from sellers that belong to organized crime.
     
    Avoid this mistake by: Keeping basics in mind. Never pay by wire transfer, always pay by credit card, never click on a link in an email message (even if it appears to be from eBay), and anything that appears too good to be true probably is too good to be true.

If you've already made one or more of these mistakes, take heart—the most hardened eBay veterans were once also beginners. More to the point, take a look at those that you haven't yet made and resolve never to make them so that your eBay shopping experiences will always be positive ones.