BAM eBay Blog

Posts for eBay buyers about buying on eBay

Buy It Now eBay Bargains

Most BIN items are not bargains

In many cases, using the Buy It Now feature won't get you a bargain. Sure, you'll get the item you want quickly, but it may be overpriced or worse, under-priced with a huge shipping and handling total tacked on. Of course, when using BIN, there won't be any bidding wars, you won't have to worry about using sniping software, and you'll know exactly what you'll be paying for the item up front.

However, there are bargains to be had with Buy It Now purchases, if you can get in on them before someone else. Sometimes people are looking for some fast money, so they'll use the BIN feature for a quick sale. Sometimes a person may just want to get rid of an item quickly, so they'll put it on a BIN auction. And sometimes a seller would rather liquidate their item because listing something with a Buy It Now price is far easier than listing it as an auction. In all of these cases, the item listed might have a BIN price that is considerably less expensive than the going rate.

Finding great deals with Buy It Now

The trick to finding these auctions is by looking in the "Categories" section at the immediate left of the screen. The next section will be labeled "Format", and here is a little box that you will check-off that says "Buy It Now". Once checked off, only the BIN sales will pop up for the item you are searching for.

From there, look around until you see something you like. Or, keep looking day after day, or even hour after hour if it is something really popular, until the item you want pops up at a price you want to pay. Sometimes you'll get lucky and it will show up on the first search. Most often, however, you'll need to remain diligent and do several searches before what you want comes up at a price you want to pay.

The key in all of this is to remain diligent. If you do not remain diligent, you are going to lose. However, remaining diligent in your BIN searches is going to mean spending a lot of time sitting in front of the computer and then refreshing the page time after time after time. Now, if you have nothing else better to do, if you are a computer junkie and you have no other life except for eBay, then this will be easy. But for the rest of us, with spouses, kids, recreation and jobs, social functions and family, being this kind of diligent is virtually impossible.

Find and win best BIN deals

To get the best BIN deals on eBay and still have a life, there is only one real solution available. Get the BAM or Buyer Auction Manager software. The software searches eBay for you, alerts you to the newly listed BIN item that you want searched, and you'll get the best deals ever.

This is a no hassle easy to use software that you subscribe to. You just set up to search for the items you are looking for, hit the "Win It Now" search button, and it will show you all of the newly listed BIN items. You see them, you find the deals, and you WIN IT NOW! That's all there is to it.

The software is actually a full service program that comes with an ending time search and a sniping tool too, but we will get into more of that at a later date. The bottom line here is that you cannot go wrong with the BAM eBay software program. It is simple to set up, easy to use and you are going to be getting killer bargains as soon as you use it.

Of course, never stop checking out regular auctions, because on eBay, you just never know what you might find. But if you search in the Buy It Now category, many times that's where the best bargains are to be found. And for the best bargains when it comes to eBay buying, the BAM software is the way to go! Like I have been saying all along, for the best advice and the best way to buy on eBay, BAM and the Buyer Auction Manager software has got your back! You can count on it!

Go eBay and Go Local

Local pick-up deals

In most cases, people are happy to box up and ship the item you won. Usually that's no problem, but for bigger ticket items, many people list them for local pick-up. And when listed like that, you can get some fabulous deals with low winning bids.

The reason is that, in most cases, only a few people within driving distance will bid on an item that advertises local pick-up only. That makes sense because no matter how beautiful or gorgeous or even though an item that is listed at a low price, people are not going to want to drive more than a hundred miles or so, and you can't hardly blame them. However, that cuts down on the available people that will place a bid, and the less people that bid, the greater the potential that leaves for an absolute steal.

Drive and save

But distance works in both ways. If you are willing to drive that extra few miles or so, you can save a bundle on both the final bid price and the cost of shipping. Granted, this won't work out very well if you are using a gas guzzling truck or a large passenger car. But if you can get your winning purchase into your back seat, and if you get some decent miles per gallon with your vehicle, you could easily get a great bargain as well as save on the cost of shipping.

To search for items local to you, choose "More refinements" in the left navigation on eBay search page, "Item Location" tab, check Within certain distance from your zip code and press Go:

Double up and save even more

Of course if you can double up on a trip, that's even better. Take a ride out to Grandmas or take in the State Fair, and while you're at it, take a little detour and pick up the item that you've won. This way you can do two things at once, save money in the process, and make Grandma happy!

So go local when you go eBay, because sometimes the best deals are right in your own neck of the woods. And remember, BAM's got your back, no matter what you bid on and win at eBay!

Easy Repairs Can Mean Big Savings

Consider items needing basic repairs

easy repairs can mean big ebay savingsAlmost everyone who buys on eBay wants to bid and win an item, and then when it gets to their home, they want to be able to use it right away. Of course, there is nothing wrong with that way of thinking, but if you want to win items at a lower price, consider those items that need basic repairs.

When bidding on appliances, for example, if a few knobs are missing, it's not a big deal. Sure, it looks bad on the pictures, and that's why you'll win it with a smaller bid.

Appliance knobs can be found almost everywhere: from searching on the Internet, going to your local appliance dealer and even going to hardware stores. They are inexpensive too, and well worth your while to win an auction for a far lesser price, and then purchase a knob for less than a dollar.

All knobs can be replaced, and if you are willing to search out a knob for your appliance, you'll win it for far less when the auction ends.

Glue can sometimes easily fix broken pieces

Don't let broken plastic pieces stop you from bidding either. As long as the pieces are there, you will be able to find a plastic glue or cement that will literally, weld the piece back into place. Now, we aren't talking about Elmers glue here, we are talking modern made epoxies and polyurethane adhesives. These can be found at hardware stores everywhere, and they will attach any piece of plastic back together that will last a lifetime.

You can do much the same with wood and ceramics. These items can easily be glued back together with modern wood and/or ceramic adhesives. Even veneer that is peeling off that gorgeous piece of antique furniture can be reattached permanently, and no one will ever know. Yet during the auction, many people will balk at putting in a bid, because they either want the piece to be complete or they don't want to take the time to make an easy repair.

Consider incomplete or broken items for best deals

So next time you are looking for an item, don't look past the ones that are not complete or all in one piece. The chances are that they are easily repairable, even if you have to locate a part or two. And by just doing that, you'll be bidding and winning for far less money every time. And remember, no matter what you bid on at eBay, BAM's got your back!

Silver American Eagles Won on eBay using Buyer Auction Manager

Created new category

Silver American Eagle LotI've been pretty busy in the last two weeks and I haven't added any blog posts. I thought, I'll start by creating a new section to advertise my eBay software. I'll start posting items that I win using Buyer Auction Manager that I consider good deals.

Lot of 27 Silver American Eagles

About a week ago, I was watching Pawn Stars and running Win It Now module of Buyer Auction Manager searching for gold and silver eagles. The software picked up 1986 - 2012 lot of 27 silver eagles. I opened the item, quickly went through description, looked at the Buy It Now price, calculated price per coin and purchased it. All that in less than 70 seconds from the time this auction was posted.

Why is this a good deal?

My total price for 27 coins was $800 (including shipping and handling). The price per coin come to $29.63. The lot included 1996 silver eagle which sells for premium because it's the lowest mintage year. At the time of my purchase silver spot price was around $31.70. Silver eagles usually sell for $3+ over the spot price. If you can find them for $1 over spot, please let me know where as I'm interested in buying more. Just adding $1 to the silver spot makes the price $32.70 per coin. I would be a buyer at that price. This means that I would be willing to pay at least $880 for this lot which saved me $80+. As far as I'm concerned I got a great deal. If you buy sliver, you know that it's almost impossible to find eagles for below silver spot price.

Conclusion

I used my eBay software for buyers to get this great deal. If you're interested, try it yourself. It comes with 30-day no obligation trial.

Robert