Avoid shady circumstances with grace and get a great deal on the post-holiday gadget turnover

eBay: AFTER THE HOLIDAYS is a fantastic time to purchase old electronics. Everyone preparing to throw away the older model now that the new one unwraps. Buying used is a terrific choice if you want to avoid throwing stuff away or just get a good deal.

The used market offers discounts, but regrettably, there are also many scams to be discovered there. It can be challenging to tell the difference. To assist you in navigating the occasionally complex waters of purchasing secondhand gadgets on eBay, we have put together this guide.

It’s acceptable if you have reservations about purchasing old goods. Avoid rushing in mindlessly and purchasing the first item that sounds like a good price. Research is a good idea. Additionally, keep in mind the saying, “If it seems too good to be true, it generally is.” However, purchasing secondhand is the best option if your budget is low and you want to get the most value for your money. Here’s how you maneuver through it and, perhaps, emerge victorious.

Understand what you want and what it will cost

Knowing exactly what you want, in particular, the options available, and how those options affect the price is the first step in making wise judgments about used equipment. Consider the scenario when you wish to purchase an iPad. 2020 iPad Ai is one of our favorite iPad models.

Finding out how much this iPad originally cost is our first step. I’m constantly astounded by how frequently old goods are listed on eBay for more money than they cost to buy new. For instance, someone paid $100 more for this iPad Air off eBay than they would have paid for it if they had purchased it directly from Apple. Don’t act in that way.

The same holds true for various kinds of technology. If you’re looking at phones or laptops, be sure the specifications match what you want by researching each configuration’s specifications. Ask detailed inquiries in messages to merchants without feeling shy.

Checking eBay prices

It’s time to perform the same thing on eBay now that you have a list of models, configuration choices, and prices from Amazon and Apple. Although eBay is the most popular and significant auction site, there are a few others that are interesting to check out, especially for mobile devices. Check out our guide on selling your old phone for an excellent overview of the many phone-specific auction sites. Additionally, we offer a guide on how to shop safely if you’re using Amazon.

We can now look for the identical model on eBay because we know what we want. In this scenario, I would begin by conducting a search for “iPad Air 2020,”. Then use a filter to only return results for the 64-gigabyte model.

Now scroll down and choose the “Sold Items Only” checkbox. Divide the price by ten after adding up the ten most recent sales. The average cost of your configuration is that. Under no circumstances should you pay more. Additionally. Make sure the outcome is less expensive than the cost of a brand-new iPad Air Ideally less expensive than the cost of those recent sales we saw on CamelCamelCamel.

Make sure to take note of the lowest price from recent eBay sales that’s a fantastic offer. It can challenge you to find the best deal. In this situation. I would order the results by price, from lowest to highest, before beginning to add search operators and removing unwanted results. For instance, adding “-parts” will remove iPad Air parts, while adding “-AS-IS” will remove iPads that are in bad condition.

2020 64-GB Wi-Fi iPad Air on eBay

The average cost of a used 2020 64-GB Wi-Fi iPad Air on eBay, according to our findings, is approximately $540. In other words, eBay is generally not a good option for purchasing an iPad Air. Nevertheless, there are discounts in that price range, so you might just have to save your search and wait for the one you want to appear. By selecting the “save this search” button, you can save searches and receive notifications when new items that match your search criteria add to the site.

You might need to modify your search a little bit depending on the item, how old it is, and how in demand it is. For instance, even though I’ve desired a camp stove for years, my average and lowest calculations are less effective because advertisements only appear once or twice a year and sell quickly for pretty much whatever the seller asks. But that is a unique circumstance. Typically, I use this method to determine the greatest offer and my price range.

Recognize the Seller

We want the best product at the lowest price, not just the lowest price. I’ve discovered that, regrettably, product quality cannot be accurately predicted from photographs. I’ve bought a lot of goods with bad pictures that turned out to be in great condition, and I’ve bought things with great pictures that turned out to be rubbish.

The seller’s feedback rating is a significantly better indicator of an item’s quality. A good seller will have a feedback rating of 99.8% or higher. Which indicates that they are most likely offering a high-quality item in good condition. I seldom ever make purchases from sellers with a 99.6% or lower feedback rating.

I’ve bought a ton of items from auction sites, including prepaid mobile phone plans, cast iron cookware, cameras, phones, computers, cameras’ lenses, and phones. I’ve only ever taken advantage of once in all that time, and even then I was able to get my money back. I did not obtain the object I sought, but I also did not incur any losses.

Ways to Bid

It’s time to wait once you’ve located an item you desire and decided how much you want to pay. I urge you to place your bids only very briefly. And I mean it figuratively. Only when there are roughly 5 to 10 seconds left do I bid. Because I believe eBay’s app has a better user interface for actual bidding (it’s lousy for browsing). I wait until the auction is about to end before looking it up on my phone. In those final few seconds, I enter the highest price I’m willing to pay.

The website accepts and holds your maximum bid, but all it enters into the actual auction is a bid that is 50 cents higher than the highest offer at the time. However, since it’s possible that the other top bidder placed a higher total bid than what was displayed, eBay increases its price. Your eBay robot then answers, and so on, until someone places their maximum bid. You prevail if the other bidder is chosen. The other bidder didn’t have time to change their mind and maybe increase their maximum bid because you placed your bid at the last second.

Other Advice

Not everything on an iPad, which is still very new, is as easy to understand. You should inquire about the battery’s current condition while buying older electronics from the seller. If the battery won’t retain a charge and is expensive to replace, as most are these days, it’s not a big concern. Tablets and laptops can frequently detect the exact battery condition. Send the seller a message if you’re worried. Sometimes the slightly more expensive item with a full capacity battery is the better deal.

Almost every device has a quirk you want to look into. Digital cameras, for instance, have a specified maximum number of shutter triggers before the shutter mechanism needs to be changed. Look up the rating for the camera you’re interested in, then while examining eBay auctions for that camera, look at shutter count. Similar to how the fungus can grow on camera lenses, oil can build up on the shutter blades. Before you buy, enquire about these issues with the vendor.

The finest piece of advice I can offer is also the hardest to implement: try to put your emotions out of the picture. Consider your heart and head as the two whispering voices in your ears while purchasing secondhand. Your heart may be set on a brand-new laptop, but your head is stronger at spotting fraud and won’t be seduced by the excitement of an auction. When you find yourself thinking, “That almost seems too wonderful to be true,” pay attention to your brain.

FAQ

How can I shop on eBay in the safest manner?

Due to its greater level of buyer security, PayPal is the suggested option for making a secure eBay purchase. Check your credit card balance if you use one to make sure you have been charged the correct amount and have not made any purchases you later regret.

Is it safe to purchase anything on eBay?

Customers – eBay is pretty secure. They offer one of the safest platforms for online shopping because to PayPal’s security features. To secure safe eBay purchases, a buyer must still take some steps. For Vendors – less secure than it is for buyers.

Is using a debit card to make purchases on eBay safe?

Your customers will have the choice to retain and store their payment information for future use and finish their full transaction on eBay safely and securely using a credit card, debit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, or PayPal.

Is it safe to make purchases on eBay without using PayPal?

We have exciting news for you! You may purchase anything on eBay using a credit or debit card as long as you have one and the seller accepts them (and almost all of them do). If the purchase is under, you might not even require an eBay account.

Why does eBay require my bank information?

Your Social Security number and checking account information are required by eBay. The government is the one that mandates that eBay get this data in order to confirm your identity and send you the necessary 1099 documents.

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