• Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • Money Mentality
  • Financial Independence
  • Minimalism
  • Family Finances
  • Happiness
  • Health

One Frugal Girl

What are eBay Buyers Thinking?

Last Updated on February 2, 2012 by One Frugal Girl 2 Comments

I recently decided to further my career by taking the PMP (Project Management Professional) exam. Of course, I’m one frugal girl. I like to clip coupons, use online coupon codes, and search high and low for the cheapest prices. So naturally I started comparing prices when I decided to purchase a test preparation book. I’m not a big fan of eBay, but I thought I might as well research prices there too. After all, I don’t care if the book is second hand. What I found surprised me, although products are initially listed at very low prices, they ultimately sell second-hand, for more than a brand new book at an online retailer.

For example, a search on froogle, for the PMP prep book, (PMP Exam Prep), resulted in prices ranging from $50.59 to $89.00. Rather than purchasing the cheapest book, including shipping, I decided to hold out for two eBay auctions. In the first auction the book listed for less than $10 in the second auction roughly $20. Surprisingly the first auction closed at over $60, the second at $55. So what are eBay buyers thinking? Why would you spend more money for a second hand book that will inevitably arrive in far greater time, than you would for a brand new book that will arrive from a reputable seller? Am I missing a key piece of buying and selling on eBay?

Filed Under: Thoughts

Reader Interactions

« Previous Post: Saving Money with a Trip to the Farmer’s Market
Next Post: Giving Up My Online Gift Card Trades? »

Comments

  1. Willster says

    May 15, 2007 at 4:04 AM

    Honestly I think a lot of people assume that because they’re buying something on eBay it’ll automatically end up being a “deal”.

    More and more lately I’ve been noticing big price differences even between eBay and Amazon…but even more so compared to other online etailers.

    Of course there are people like me who like to exploit this. ๐Ÿ™‚

    On the other hand, if you can find obscure or badly listed items on eBay you often can get a pretty good deal on them.

    Reply
  2. Keleka says

    May 22, 2007 at 8:34 PM

    I saw an old magazine on ebay that I really wanted, but the bidding went up very high so I did a quick google search for used magazines and I found a store selling the same issue of the magazine for a fraction of the current bid on ebay.

    This same sort of thing has happened several other times. Just a few minutes of googling has located the same item for a much lower price than on ebay.

    Am I the only one who does this before making a bid???

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Hi, I'm Jewels. I am a forty-year-old wife, mother, blogger, personal finance enthusiast, optimist, former software developer and achiever of financial independence. This blog is my story. Welcome to my little corner of the Internet.

Contact: onefrugalgirl @ gmail . com

Featured Posts

How to Live Simply: My Plan for Living With Less

Know Your Worth: Value Yourself Beyond Money

How To Live a Good, Happy Life Without a Lot of Money

 

Subscribe Via Email

Copyright © 2021 ยท One Frugal Girl