I love ebay

Janer If you look at your purchase on eBay, it should show "original listing". Check that and see what it says! I had the same experience a few months ago. The seller had sneakily changed the listing, but either didn't know that the original would still show up or thought that I wouldn't know! Good luck

number's query on her thread asking about the potential alteration of an episode of Eggheads reminded me of what happened to me on Ebay last week. A lovely Phase Eight cowl neck top came up for sale, in black. So I watched it, it would be excellent for choir. Then the same one came up in navy blue, a week later but I thought it would be useful and so watched that one too.

I won the black one. The parcel arrived - and it was navy blue. I thought, I must have won the navy one and it arrived faster than the black (It has been a very busy week or two on ebay so it wasn't surprising I got muddled!). I checked, and no, it was for a black top, and the navy had still another three days to go, so I contacted the seller. She got back to me a day later, and said I was wrong, it was navy on her site. I went to have another look - and miracle of miracles, talk about turn wine to water - it now says Dark Navy!

I wanted a navy anyway, and got it at a reasonable price, but didn't leave a good star rating by way of revenge. It's the first time I have been sure that someone has altered their site, but how can you prove it? I could have asked for my money back, but then I would have had all the faff of returning it.

I haven't bought anything from E bay but DH just bought a new Calloway golf driver from there for £17.99 almost new - they cost nearer £200 when new. I must have a look at it.

Anya..... I won't bother swopping.
Though I'm sure I'd find a use for it somewhere.

I like the buy now option, especially on vintage jewellry. If it's something I like and a good price then it's nice to know you've secured it.
I too forgot to bid on something yesterday afternoon. A bit annoyed with myself! x

Well done when and coolgran - I've been out all night at a family do, just logged on to find I'm the proud owner of 5x25m rolls of green plastic coated galvanised wire fencing at 6' high.

Want to swop?

I also watch and bid at about 12 seconds. This week I got a lovely full length quality cotton nightie and robe for £5.49.

I also bought a beautiful new Alain Weiz dress for £15. It was too big and so I listed it for £20, to recoup cost and postage. Within an hour it had a bid.

This week I've had a bit of a clear out of my wardrobe and tomorrow will post 8 sold items. This way I manage to fund my wardrobe and also move on my mistakes.

I've just done ok. Won the bidding on two new Boden cardigans for £25. That'll do very nicely

Sunday is a dreadful day for buying, but excellent for selling. The whole world seems to spend their day looking for impulse purchases on quiet Sunday afternoons.

I suspect that the best time for male purchases is during sports events on tv.

After 9pm - I'm not surprised. That's when the children have gone to bed, dinner cleared away, house tidied. As a non-tv watcher, that's when I tend to go looking.

jr there are supposed to be days which are better for winning bids than others according to those who use it often,and my friend said her items that finish just after 9pm on a Thursday/Friday always sell best I find it very strange sometimes.

It's still a bit of a gamble - especially if your broadband decides to do a Go Slow. I have clicked and watched the blasted thing whirl round and round and round.... and find I was too late. I have also forgotten I was meant to be watching and left to poke the fire, and come back with 8 seconds and still managed to get my bid in, so it works both ways I suppose.

Yes, I have some lovely old kitchen things too. I really want some huge flour bins, as I make almost all our bread and have flour stored all over the place, but bakers snap them all up for £100s. I found one that would fit under a counter, it went for almost £400.

Soop I use the same process as you and don't confirm my bid until the last few seconds I always go up to the max I will pay (sometimes more) if I really want something and most times I have been lucky,a couple of months ago I was looking for the Midnight series cups & saucers from a discontinued Denby range and found 4 starting at £28.00 (finished at £42.00) but then a couple of days later found 2 x sets of 2 for £5.00 & £6.00 a set from different sellers I was lucky to get both sets for £19.00 and was very pleased,a GNer kindly told me to check ebay for my collection I hadn't thought of it before and then you told me to check for wedding hats etc which again proved successful.

I love Ebay. I'm watching several new cardis and jumpers at the moment, all around £40 from the various stores, but if I get them for less than £10 I'll be happy. I do like vintage kitchen stuff and recently picked up a cream coloured 50s flour bin, French, for £15. It's like brand new and identical to one my mum had when I was small. My best bargain is a 100+ year old Victorian Violets teapot from the USA for £8 plus postage about £10. It matches my collection and there was another one that sold for £79 in the UK at the same time. I've managed to hone my bids down to between 10 and 15 seconds and often get lucky.

I know! But I suppose it's a combination of - how desperate is the seller to lose the items? (as in, DBH would only part with a few of his grandfather's items for a VERY good price, way beyond their worth) and lack of knowledge on both sides as to the real value?

MiL was selling her very good dinner service on Ebay and couldn't understand why no-one else wanted it. I had to point out that it wasn't at all fashionable at the moment (in fact it's hideous, IMO) not even as 'Retro'. I found someone else selling the same service for a fifth of what she was asking, they have been relisting it for a year now and still no luck.

I like vintage stuff, and the house is full of it. Yesterday, I picked up a set of fruit bowls from a charity shop. They are of the 'Empire range' (Crinoline Lady) and date from 1941. They are all perfect, apart from a bit of 'rubbing' on the base of the large bowl. The whole lot came to £3.25. When I was faffing about on eBay last night, I had a look to see if there were any for sale and what was being asked for them. There was a set of 6 small bowls which were being sold singly for £8.50 each...... This is just a silly price, I do think.

I use eBay all the time to buy things, but I'm very strict with myself if it's a bidding auction rather than Buy It Now. I've noticed, on numerous occasions, that people have bid more for an item than it would have cost in the shops. Either they don't know the 'real' cost or they've become caught up in the excitement of the bidding itself. You do have to be careful

Good for you Marelli

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!

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

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.

...is not a queue...

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.)

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!

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.....!

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.