Finding a “real deal” on eBay is becoming harder and harder these days. With so many “Buy It Now” items being sold at full-retail, and a huge number of products that are simply drop-shipped from the manufacturer, the idea of getting a deal on an actual auction is difficult. But alas, if you know some insider eBay savings tricks and hacks, it’s still possible to score a screaming deal. Here is what you need to know to become an eBay ninja, or at least an eBay Jedi like the dude in the screenshot below.

1. Save Money By Looking For Typos in Listings

Perhaps the best way to find an eBay auction deal is to find listings with misspellings, especially in the listing title.

A very cool resource to help you find a misspelling, which can potentially lead you to a killer deal is FatFingers.com (If you live in the UK, try GoofBid.com).

The site lets you type in the item you’re looking for and then does all the work for you.

Let’s say you’re shopping for a PlayStation 4, FatFingers will go out and find listings with titles using words like “Paaystation” and “Playsstation”.

You’d be amazed how many sellers do not proofread their listings, especially when using the eBay app.

By finding these listings, you stand a great chance of winning an auction far below the retail price.

See Also: eBay Users….Have You Ever Heard of Bid Sniping?

2. Look For Oft-Ignored Local Deals

Many items on eBay are sold only to folks in the local area of the seller.

At the seller’s discretion, they choose this option which requires the buyer to pick up the item in person.

You tend to see this mainly with larger items that are expensive to ship, but not always.

Because of this, you can often score a deal by looking for these local bargains.

Use the cool site, BargainTime, to quickly find local bargains, you can sort by distance, price, and category.

Think of it like eBay with a Craigslist twist.

3. Find Really Cheap Last-Minute Auctions

Savvy eBay users already realize that a great way to get a deal is to look for auctions ending soon, many of which have slipped through the cracks (for whatever reason) and are selling really cheap.

But…what is the best way to find and sort through all of these last-minute deals After all, there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of auctions ending every minute.

Enter the website Last Minute Auction.com, whose tagline is “An hour or less, a buck or less…find great bargains now!”

The site allows you to easily search through thousands of ending auctions by category.

I was blown away with the huge number of auctions ending that were going for 5 cents or less.

This is especially true with video games, books, sporting goods, clothing/shoes, and sports memorabilia.

4. Learn to Snipe Your Bid

The idea of sniping your eBay bid is something I’ve talked about before.

For those of you who don’t know what “sniping your bid” means, it’s when you wait until the last few seconds of an auction, then place your bid.

This almost guarantees you won’t be outbid and often results in the best deal possible.

While there are many free, or cheap, tools to help you automatically snipe your bid, eBay is not a big fan of them and could ban your account if you abuse it.

Also, be sure to research these tools carefully as many will require you to share your credit card information with them.

So…it’s probably safest to do your own sniping. Simply place your highest bid within the last 10 seconds of the auction ending.

Ask the Reader: When was the last time you got a real deal on eBay.com? Did you use one the above strategies to score your bargain?

By Kyle James

Photo credit to Kārlis Dambrāns.

Kyle James( Owner/Founder )

I started Rather-Be-Shopping.com in 2000 and have become a consumer expert and advocate writing about out-of-the-box ways to save at stores like Amazon, Walmart, Target and Costco to name a few. I’ve been featured on FOX News, Good Morning America, and the NY Times talking about my savings tips. (Learn more)