Welcome to Day 5 in our Month of Savings. I hope that you guys are enjoying it so far and are able to take something away from it. I am surprised how long these entries are taking me, but I really want to cram as much information into them as I can.
Today I want to talk about how much ebay has saved our family. ebay can truly be a frugal family’s best friend and I am interested in hearing what unusual deals you look for on Ebay. I am sure that everyone is searching for something different so I will just share some of the best deals that our family has found…
Coupons- ebay really saved our family a lot of money when we were in the baby food and formula stages because I was able to buy multiple coupons off of the website and use them when I would do our shopping trips. The cost on these is minimal compared to the savings you will find from using them. Keep these coupons in mind when doing your shopping for baby food, formula, diapers, and any other household item that you use frequently. I was able to get our baby food for less than a quarter a jar utilizing coupons that I found on the site.
Magazine Subscriptions- Magazine subscriptions are extremely cheap on ebay and can be bought for less than a quarter of the price of the traditional subscription prices. They are sold by magazine wholesale companies and the savings are huge. These are on of my favorite gifts to get people and it has really saved our family quite a bit of money to buy them through this resource.
Phone Batteries & Accessories- Phone batteries are expensive in the retail stores, but can be bought for less than half the price on ebay. We use this resource frequently when we need an item like this.
iPod Accessories- iPod accessories are extremely inexpensive on ebay and I would highly recommend using ebay for finding these types of items. In a retail store, an iPod adapter for your car costs around sixty to eighty dollars. We purchased ours on ebay for only $14.99. The accessories are not necessarily from the Apple company, but they work just as well and cost a fraction of the price.
Tickets- You can get tickets to theme parks, concerts, and sporting events for a lot less money than buying them online or at the door. Always make sure to go with retailers who have excellent feedback!
Car Parts & Accessories- If you are getting your car repaired, ask what part is needed and the price on it. Sometimes you can find the same exact part on ebay for a lot less money. This is also a great resource for someone who does their own repairs or is trying to make money by selling cars.
Not only can you save a lot of money by buying on ebay, you can also make some money for your family by selling on Ebay. Look around your home at all of the items that are just taking up space, but you are not actually using. Look up the items on ebay and see how much money you could potentially make from the sale and imagine what you could do with this new money in your pocket. You could use this money for a trip or buy a special item that you have been longing for. Check out books from the library on how to present your item and start listing!
Potential Monthly Savings- $40 or more
Sound Off: What do you look for on ebay? What is the best deal that you have gotten on the site?
Seeling and buying coupons is illegal!
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Never buy electronics or computers and computer accessories from eBay unless you are very knowledgeable of the equipment. Buy electronics from reputable sources and make sure the warranty is in tact.
As far as iPod and Cellular accessories are concerned, you can get good buys on those from a number of web-based stores. You may even find goods directly from your cell phone’s manufacturer or from Apple for significant discounts.
Companies are quick to blame third party chargers, batteries, and other accessories if their product malfunctions, so make sure that the accessories and peripherals you buy are of a high quality. If you purchase them on eBay and they stop working correctly, some eBay sellers will not accept returns or refunds. A lot of eBay stores also sell poorly made knockoffs of items which may fool you into thinking they are originals. Beware of those as well because eBay might not be able to help you if you get ripped off. There are hundreds of thousands of stories of eBay customers who were not helped at all by eBay because of the terms of the auctions that they agreed to.
Try Craigslist for something gently used first. At least you will be able to see and hold the item before you commit to buying it.
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Bras! I go to Macy’s, try on bras, write down my favorite style numbers and then go home and buy them, usually for at least half the price, on ebay. Almost every bra listed is New, many still have tags. I just purchased a beautiful Chantalle bra that was $70 at Macy’s for $30 on ebay. It was new with tags.
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I buy my dog’s flea/tick treatment on ebay. It is certainly cheaper than buying it at the Vets or buying it from Petsmart/petco.
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I use ebay quite a bit, but the biggest money saver is the car parts. My husband can fix cars luckily & the parts are almost always cheaper! Great article, another good money saver is clothes.
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I agree that e-bay can save money, but sometimes it can eat up money too…it is easy to get wrapped up in being the “winning” bidder, and for you to bid higher and higher just so you can “win”.
I purchased a 1-year subscription to Reader’s Digest, and was quite impressed with the price. E-bay is definitely a good tool to use to save money!
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I replaced my non-working ’95 Jeep radio with an Ebay bid one. I got it for $20 and that was five years ago and it is still working. Yes, it was a used on that came off some guy’s jeep.
I also buy heart worm,flea,tick,parasite prevention for my 5 dogs and 4 cats at a much, much reduced price.
I always look around before buying on the internet, but many times I return to Ebay and find the reasonable price and confident way to pay through paypal.
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We also make a great saving on batteries for camcorders and computer games which are still original but a not the latest thing. For example we buy Sony Play Station Portable games which are safe as they can not be pirated.
I have just written a post regarding how to win auctions on Ebay which can be found at
http://www.homelifeweekly.com/2007/08/06/how-to-bid-and-win-on-ebay/
It started off as a comment here but turned into a post on my blog
Alex
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The coupons were free, but I had to pay shipping and handling charges to get them. If that makes sense at all?
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I sellon EBay and also buy coupons (or the time and shipping and handling).
I also get mag. sub. for gifts on there.
The best deal I have gotten is Hallmark mag. A 3 yr. sub. for $0.88. Free shipping on it! I got 4 of those.
Love a great deal!
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Buying children’s books on ebay are very affordable. You can get lots of books for very cheap. For example, I have gotten a lot of 20 books for 10 dollars including shipping! It is a great deal for gifts and for your own children. I am an educator, so they are a great investment for my classroom. I definately recommend it to others.
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