The eBay List
It’s easy to take for granted just how great eBay can be. That doesn’t mean you’re going to snipe a pair of mint Belgians. But for many things—many, many, many—you can find good versions of what you’re looking for. Yes, it takes time. Yes, you can get burned. Yes, you can convince yourself you need something you most certainly do not. So I try to stick to a pretty narrow range and not get yet another brown tweed jacket.
Some general principles: I don’t get caught up in the heat of an auction. I usually make an offer on Buy Now. Sometimes I put it on my Watch List and then the seller makes an offer (quite often in fact). If there’s an auction for something I convince myself I need then I make a bid and try to forget about it until it’s over. I don’t want to go crazy with the paddle and, in auctioneer parlance, see red.
But here are some categories and some specifics, of what to look for.