eBay has a funny way of turning buyers into comparison shoppers gone mad. It's understandable in a way—after all, there are remarkable deals to be had on eBay, and it's fun to see goods of all kinds from around the world.
At the same time, however, eBay can be very time consuming, particularly for those who don't realize just how much of their time eBay is consuming. I've known friends and family to spend many hours searching or browsing eBay, adding listings to their watchlist, bidding with carefully constructed systems and limits, and emailing back and forth with sellers—all to save just a few dollars on an item.
There's always room for smart shopping in the world, but no one is a smart shopper simply because they're also a critical shopper or a comparison shopper. Smart shopping takes something more—a solid cost-benefit analysis, even if just a basic one.
What To Do Instead
Know how much your time is worth. Sometimes, making this calculation is as easy as asking yourself how much money you normally earn in an hour. When you spend two extra hours browsing on eBay just to knock $5.00 off the price of a CD, or spend two full saturdays comparison shopping on eBay just to save an additional $80.00 on a laptop, are you selling yourself and the value of your time short?Take these real steps to ensure that you don't spend more time on eBay than might be reasonably justified:
- Don't always rush to eBay first to make your purchases. Try one or two local outlets before you run your eBay search. If eBay is much cheaper, fine, but if you can get the same deal or nearly the same deal locally, you can save a lot of time and headache buying that way.
- Limit yourself to a certain amount of eBay time. When you're focused on searching through the eBay listings to find a good deal, it's easy to lose track of time. Decide how much time you want to spend when you first sit down to shop. Set an alarm to tell you when to stop, and do it—you don't want to miss out on your life because you were busy shopping online.
- Make use of the eBay proxy bidding and listing watch services. For the most part, once you've found a listing you're interested in or would like to win, there's no need for you to watch it like a hawk until it's done. eBay's bidding system makes it possible for you to place a bid now and win the item later even if others bid after you. eBay's listing watch functionality lets you save the listings you'd like to visit again later, so that you don't have to spend time finding them all over again.
Remember, even if the dollars and cents work out, there's more to life than pocket change. It may sound silly to to have to say it, but unless you run a business on eBay, there is no reason to make eBay the focal point of your days or evenings. Most people work for a living and have a limited amount of personal time. eBay should help to facilitate enjoyment of that time rather than monopolize it.
