I love ebay

I've never had any problems with ebay or Paypal. The one time something I'd ordered didn't turn up, ebay customer service department dealt with it and I got a refund within days (had to give the seller time to respond).

I don't usually bother with auction-only items though - don't think my nerves could stand it!

I've put in a bid for a cardi I really want. BNWT. I've got to wait six days to see if I get it. Now I've put the bid in I want it even more.

I have a choice here on german e-bay. Either paypal or normal private money transfer. I have never had any trouble either buying or selling.

I only buy on auction as I enjoy it, and you can get some bargains. It is a buyers market.

Last week I looked on ebay for a book I got from the library in 1960. Couldn't remember the author, but I could remember the title. I found one copy for sale at £80! But it did tell me the author's name - I googled him and found that it had recently been republished under a different title and eventually tracked a copy down on Amazon. Without ebay I'd have been stuck because I'd never have remembered the author.

The other life saver is YouTube. If I ever want to know how to do something somebody somewhere will have made a video of it.

I hang on till the last 10 seconds or so before making my bid. That way there's less chance that anyone can outbid me. Of course, there's always the chance that someone has put their maximum bid in a lot higher than that which I've bid, but that way, I'm not tempted to keep bidding more than I mean to! I haven't ever had any problems with eBay or Paypal, either.

I just stick a maximum bid on and then try to forget about it. Never manage too. Once the bid's on I find I really ^really want it!

I didn't know I wanted an olive green cardigan until this morning.

! That's the power of eBay, jingl! I'm watching a pair of shoes for DH just now. I have to either put a maximum bid in before I go to sleep tonight, or remember to wake up early and bid for them before 7.30 am.....!

I bought a Boden Breton top a few weeks ago, it was such a good fit that I now have almost every colour of stripey top they have ever produced! I never wear anything else these days.
If I am not going to be around when the auction finishes I make my maximum bid, always with an odd 7p on the end, but if I am watching I leave my bid until 10 seconds to go.

I use auctionstealer.co.uk, which places your bid for you at a time you specify. It is free for a limited service or you can pay for unlimited bids to be placed the second before the auction finishes.

I love buying and selling on eBay. I have just sold a bathroom sink and radiator which would have ended up in a skip otherwise. It's a great way of de cluttering. Even if you only make a few ££s it is better than taking up space in my house. I've never had any problems.

! That's cheating...

Oh is that a sniper? I used to use those when I was desperate to get a collection of playmobile Knights for DGS. Used to work too. I can't remember how to do it now though. It's amazing what you can do when you have something (someone? ) spurring you on.

(to Pittcity)

Yes. My daughter used to tell me off about it. I won't do it now though. Only did it for the little feller.

I've bid on that cardi too Jingle

And me.

This evening I have bought Whittard mugs for the GCS. I would have loved them to be non gender-specific, but they would only get cross, so there is a fairy, a fireman, a cowboy and a butterfly. They cost an arm and a leg new, and the whole lot cost me £16, which is all that I would want to pay for mugs anyway!

And a woollen Phase Eight dress for £12. If we don't go out on a Saturday night, I spend the money on Ebay instead. I think that's fair. I have to find something to do until Spirale starts, after all.

I`ve just sold an over bed/chair table on Preloved, almost new, never used, for a lot, lot less than was paid for it, but we wanted it out of the way. I`m hoping to sell a rise and recline chair, also nearly new and hardly used, but my daughter says I`m asking too much, looks like it too will have to be very drastically reduced. Preloved is a lot easier than Ebay.

Well, I won the shoes for DH! He's now the proud owner of a pair of Jones the Bootmaker brown leather shoes in 'excellent condtion'. He didn't want me to go any higher than a tenner for them....but you can't get quality without paying just a wee bit more for it, can you, after all.....!

Not now, no. People do tend more now to put on a starting price that reflects their minimum, rather then a 99p starter, so there aren't as many bargains to be had from those who are more experienced. Only the beginners at selling seem to use 99p, to get their stars up. Or the sellers who are real gamblers at heart!

People really should check the actual prices of things more, though. I am collecting a set of china. It was discontinued years ago, but has been revived under a new name and very slightly different style, from the original makers. Tureens that are being sold for £65 or more on ebay could be bought new for £45 from the manufacturer. I have seen boots that cost £100 new being sold for £89 on Ebay - secondhand. Okay, £10 off, but really when you get up to that price, and have to consider fit and possible returns (faff if not cost) why aren't they buying from new?

I set a limit of £20 in all my searches. Otherwise we would be paupers!

I have purchased almost all of my existing wardrobe on eBay, and have always been delighted with my purchases. If I really want an item I do not place a bid in the early stages. I watch and wait. Approx 12 seconds to the close of bidding (that close) I put in an amount that I'm prepared to go up to. For example...the bidding starts at say £5 which will gradually increase as the days go by. Say that the latest bid at 13 seconds to go is £9.99 (and suppose that there are not a queue of would-be purchasers loitering in the wings) I will pop in £12.34. Invariably I get the item for £9.99. So jings my advice is...watch and wait...and be brave enough to strike at the eleventh hour (so to speak.)

...is not a queue...

I do exactly the same, soop. You have just given away our masterplan!

I am sometimes astonished by how much money people are prepared to pay for something. I think that as people higher up the economic chain started to feel the pinch, the prices went up.

jane You're very clever to know what it is that I'm wittering on about.

Me too, soop and janerowena. I submitted my bid at 10 seconds from the end this morning and confirmed it just about 5 seconds away. Success!

Good for you Marelli