| I've been buying and selling vintage clothes on eBay | | | | enter my highest proxy bid too early, someone can |
| for five years. It's fun...andsometimes frustrating. | | | | keep bumping upthe bid trying to discover what my |
| Here are some tips to help you find the best vintage | | | | highest bid was. If I enter it in the last fewseconds, I |
| clotheson eBay. | | | | may end up getting the item for a lot less than if I |
| 1. SEARCH REGULARLY | | | | bid in the first fewhours of the auction. |
| Ebay allows you to list auction or fixed price items | | | | 7. ALWAYS CHECK SELLER FEEDBACK |
| for 1, 3, 5, 7, or 10-day periods. | | | | Again, not everyone offering vintage clothing on |
| Most sellers choose longer periods because they are | | | | eBay is a vintage clothing dealer. Ifsomeone has |
| buying more advertising fortheir money but I'm | | | | great feedback but has been selling auto car parts, it |
| finding more and more 3-day auctions. So try to do | | | | might be wise toask the seller a few specific |
| yoursearches at least every 3 days. | | | | questions about the item before bidding. What |
| 2. SEARCH MISSPELLINGS | | | | youthink of as Mint condition and what they're calling |
| It's easy to misspell Furstenberg and to type Pulizter | | | | Mint condition could be vastlydifferent. Also, as a |
| instead of Pulitzer. If you canfind a quality designer | | | | seller who talks to other sellers, I know that |
| item that has a misspelling in the title, you will | | | | sometimesnegative feedback is left for sellers that is |
| probablycompete with a much smaller pool of buyers | | | | unwarranted. Or things like Katrinahappen and your |
| for the item. | | | | auction item never gets sent. A negative feedback |
| 3. DON'T JUST SEARCH THE VINTAGE CATEGORY. | | | | or two everycouple of years is not a big deal. What |
| Not everyone offering vintage clothing is a vintage | | | | you should be wary of is a pattern of recentnegative |
| dealer. Sometimes people arejust clearing out Aunt | | | | or neutral feedbacks. Drill down and read why they |
| Anna's clothes from the attic and don't have a lot | | | | were left. If you areunsure about a seller's |
| ofexperience with either vintage clothes or selling on | | | | responsiveness, send a simple question to them and |
| eBay. Often you'll find theseitems buried in the | | | | see howquickly and accurately they respond. |
| Women's Clothing category which appears before | | | | 8. KEEP A LIST OF YOUR FAVORITE SELLERS |
| the Vintagecategory in the eBay listing process. So | | | | You can add a seller to your list of Favorite Sellers |
| search for VINTAGE VICTORIAN BLOUSE inthe | | | | by clicking on the link in one oftheir auctions. You can |
| Clothing & Accessories category rather than | | | | also sign up to be emailed when your favorite sellers |
| VICTORIAN BLOUSE in the vintagecategory. | | | | addnew items. You're never out of the loop and it |
| 4. SEARCH TITLES AND DESCRIPTIONS | | | | makes browsing a lot more fun whenyou are looking |
| Not all sellers include the word VINTAGE in their | | | | at items that you consistently like. |
| auction titles. To be sure you findall the VINTAGE | | | | 9. BROWSE, BROWSE, BROWSE |
| VICTORIAN BLOUSES, be sure to check the box | | | | Browsing eBay can be just as much fun as browsing |
| under the searchfield to search both titles and | | | | at the mall. Looking forbargains? Browse through |
| descriptions. | | | | vintage by Lowest Price First. Want to see the |
| 5. GET CREATIVE WITH YOUR SEARCHES | | | | crème de lacrème? Browse by |
| It's easy to find high-end vintage by searching for a | | | | Highest Price First. If you have lots of time, do what |
| designer's name but you canalso find high-quality | | | | a friend ofmine does: every day, EVERY day, she |
| items by searching on fabrics (brocade, velvet, | | | | browses the Newly Listed vintage categoryitems and |
| mink,cashmere), searching for high-end department | | | | stops when she reaches the first listing she saw the |
| store names (Saks, I. Magnin, Bonwit | | | | day before. Shewants to make sure she never |
| Teller) or searching for ESTATE SALE buried inside | | | | misses out on a great item. |
| auction listings. | | | | 10. PIGGYBACK ON ANOTHER BUYER |
| 6. USE AN AUCTION SNIPING SERVICE | | | | Do you find you keep losing auctions to the same |
| Sellers, of course, want you to bid on their items as | | | | buyer? Do you find that the samepeople seem to be |
| soon as possible. Their hope isthat several bidders will | | | | bidding on the same auctions as you over and over? |
| become interested in the piece and bid up the price. | | | | Piggybackon them by doing a SEARCH BY BIDDER. |
| Smartbuyers take a different approach. Instead of | | | | Enter their bidder ID and you will be ableto see a list |
| entering their highest bid early, andwatching it get | | | | of all the items they are currently bidding on. Chances |
| bumped up by other bidders over the next few | | | | are good thatthey have found a great vintage item |
| days, they wait untilthe final seconds of the auction. | | | | that you missed! |
| Even better, use an auction snipe service. For asmall | | | | With these tips you should be able to find all kinds of |
| fee, these companies will place your bid in the last | | | | vintage clothing andaccessories on eBay. One final tip: |
| few seconds of the auctionand you don't even need | | | | be sure to pay for your items quickly andestablish |
| to be at your computer! No more forgetting that | | | | good feedback of our own so you can continue to |
| youwanted to bid on something--the snipe service | | | | buy vintage bargains oneBay. |
| does it for you. I like these servicesbecause if I | | | | Copyright 2005, Mary Kincaid. |