What to do before you bid!

Now I'm not talking about bidding on little things - I'm talking about the BIG things - an expensive handbag, a piece of jewelry, etc. etc. You want to be sure that the person you're dealing with is honest and knows what he/she is selling.

You want to look at the photos very carefully - try to determine from what you know whether the item looks real or not. If you have a lot of expensive handbags you should know what a fake looks like. Then you click on their number of feedbacks - the number in the parenthesis (56) - then you click on the tab -from buyers- and then you read the feedbacks. After the feedback is the auction # of the item that this person bought. If it is within the last 3 months you will be able to click on it and see what the item was. Try to get a feel for what this person has been selling. You want to feel that this person doesn't sell an expensive handbag one day and then a package of tape the next. Click on all of the items that you can - see all of the items that this person has been selling. If someone is selling an expensive handbag or piece of jewelry and they only have 10 feedbacks from sellers - be careful. NEVER buy something from someone who is out of the country and won't take PAYPAL! NEVER send money through Western Union - anyone who won't let you pay by PayPal or BidPay is someone you should be wary about.

These are just some hints from things that I have learned. Ebay is great and there are so many great buys to be had. You really can get wonderful things at great prices - or things that you can't find any place else - it's great to shop on ebay and I recommend it totally. You must become smart though and I recommend starting with small items for your first purchases. Get comfortable with PayPal, Auction Sniper and Ebay.