EBay for Dummies (18 page)

Okay,
now
click the Search button (see Figure 5-2). In a few seconds, you see the fruits of all the work you’ve been doing. (Wow, you’re not even perspiring.)

You may notice that eBay has a Refine Search box to the left of your results. Be sure to click the select related specifics here, because eBay’s search functions can often be a bit temperamental — and you don’t want to miss any great deals.

Next to item listings you often see pictures, or
icons.
A golden yellow rising sun picture means the listing is brand new (this icon stays on for the first 24 hours an item is listed.

An easy way to keep track of an item you’re interested in is to click the Watch This Item link just below the current bid amount of an item page. The listing then appears on your My eBay Watch page, and you can keep your eyes on the action.

On the left side of the results page there may a list of categories that your search term is listed under, which is a great reference. Next to each category is a number in parentheses that tells you how many times your search item appears in that category. Figure 5-3 shows a sample of the category spread. To view the items appearing only in a particular category, click that category (or subcategory) title.

Using the Advanced Search page

The Advanced Search page of the search area throws quite a few more options into the package. Don’t be intimidated by this area; you need to understand just a few important bells and whistles.

A Completed Items search

A Completed Items search returns results of items that have already ended. This is my favorite search option on eBay because you can use it as a strategic bidding tool. How? If you’re bidding on an item and want to know if the prices are likely to go too high for your pocketbook, you can use this search option to compare the current price of the item to the selling price of similar items from auctions that have already ended.

You can use this tool also if you want to sell an item and are trying to determine what it’s worth, the demand, and whether this is the right time to list the item. (Chapter 10 offers the nuts, bolts, and monkey wrenches you need to set up your auction.)

Type your keyword criteria and scroll down the page to the Completed Items Only box. Step by step, here’s how to do a Completed Items Only search:

1. In the title search field, type the title name or the keywords of the item you want to find.

2. Select the Search Including Completed Listings check box to see completed listings as far back as the eBay search engine will permit.

Currently, you can go back about two weeks.

3. Tell eBay how you want the results sorted.

In the Sort By area, choose one of the following options:

•
Best Match:
This is eBay’s magical sort formula that weighs all sorts of things, including how a seller lists an item, the seller’s feedback, and whether eBay feels the shipping price is appropriate. eBay’s judgment is iffy, at best. (Once eBay suggested I charge $5 to ship an item that cost $18 to ship because most sellers sold a tiny item from the same manufacturer.)

•
Time: Ending Soonest:
Includes completed listings starting with the oldest available (about two weeks).

•
Time: Newly Listed:
Lists the most recently posted listings first.

• Distance: Nearest First:
Unless you’re looking to see how many of your item sold close to you, this is a pretty useless sort. You want pricing info!

•
Price: Lowest First:
Lists items from the lowest price attained to the highest price paid for an item.

•
Price: Highest First:
Lists completed items from highest to lowest. (This is a very useful option when you’re searching for a 1967 Camaro and you want to buy a car and not a Hot Wheels toy.)

4. Click Search.

The search results appear in just a few seconds.

An alternate way to find completed items is to run a current auction search from any of the little search boxes on almost any eBay page. When the results of your auction show up, scroll down to the Preferences box, and below Search Options in the left column, click the Completed Items link, as shown in Figure 5-4. That way, you can scout out the active auction competition quickly before moving on to the completed sales.

An international search

You can select any country (from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, no kidding!) or narrow your search to the United States or Canada, as shown in Figure 5-5. Don’t forget that you have to pay for shipping, so if you don’t want to pay to ship a heavy Victorian-style fainting sofa from Hungary to Hoboken, New Jersey, stick close to home. Also, I’ll bet Egyptian cotton is even better when it comes from Egypt. (It is — I’ve bought from an Egyptian seller!)

The Location Search option is pretty much an international version of Search, and it’s done the same way. You have the choice of narrowing your country search to countries that offer an item, and to which countries they ship to. (Most eBay sellers will ship to the United States).

A seller search

The By Seller link in the search area, shown in Figure 5-6, gives you a list of all the items a seller is selling, and it’s a great way for you to keep tabs on people you have successfully done business with in the past. The By Seller page is also a strategy that eBay users use to assess the reputation of a seller. You can find out more about selling strategies in Chapter 9.