Monday, July 23, 2007

eBay 101: Favorite Searches

Whenever people comment on my outfit or an accessory and I say, "I got in on eBay," they often ask me how I manage to find all the stuff I find.

One easy way to locate cool fashion bargains on eBay is to set up some favorite searches. For example, say I'm interested in skirts from Anthropologie in size 6. Note: Skirts are much safer to buy from an eBay auction than pants. It's really hard to gage how pants will fit from measurements given in an auction description unless it's something you've tried on in the store or you know the line really really well. But with a skirt, you just need to know your waist measurement and have an inkling of the styles that work on you, and you're good.

Back to the point. So I get on eBay, and type "Anthropologie skirt 6" and click on search. When the results come up, the top of the page will say, "38 items found for Anthropologie skirt 6," followed by "Save this search." Click on "Save this search" and you'll get a box with a few choices. The default is "Email me daily when new items match my search for 6 months."
And your friend eBay will do just that.

So every morning as I eat my breakfast I check my Hotmail for what's new with all my saved searches. I can breeze through a dozen of them over a bowl of oatmeal. I click on the ones that interest me, and save them in My eBay. Later I'll see what auctions end today and read the description carefully to decide whether I want to bid.

So simple; so easy. eBay is genius.

eBay 101 is an ongoing series.

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