Buying on Ebay

You can get anything through Ebay. Everything you ever dreamed of, including vintage hand planes can be had, sometimes at ridiculous prices. If you are reading this page, no doubt you are somewhat computer literate, so you have probably considered buying on Ebay already. Or you have taken the plunge. One way or the other, there are some things you should know before tossing your hard earned cash into the fray.

While there are some out there who think Ebay is a four letter word (oh… it is, isn’t it?) I believe that it’s one of many sources you can use to augment your tool collection. While each person has a different approach to buying, a positive attitude with a smidgen of reason, will put you in good stead. Bargain hunters may experience great frustration with Ebay, and perhaps they are among those who eschew its services. I try to keep an open mind and I’m willing to pay a fair price for a quality tool, and I attribute my overall success and satisfaction with the online auction service to that. Still, I won’t buy just any tool on Ebay. I limit my auction purchases to hand tools, and in that area I seem to have done quite well.

In two years I have acquired a number of tools this way. I bought twenty wooden moulding planes in that time, paying an average of $13.00 each. Now, I paid more for some of these than others so I didn’t always get the best deal, and some tools were nicer than others. However, overall I made out really well. In an antique store or through an online tool broker, I would have paid closer to $30.00 a tool, on average. My luck with iron planes was similar, albeit I have only purchased two through Ebay.

My Stanley #71 plane arrived in great shape and was a good price. I paid about half what a new one costs which, considering it only has one blade, is a great bargain. The Stanley #78, subject of one of my Tool Tricks articles, was a complete junker when I received it but it only cost a few dollars. I haven’t purchased many iron planes through Ebay because they tend to sell at much higher prices than the wooden variety. Wooden planes garner fewer bids. Iron commands a higher price and, oftentimes, too high a price. That is the nature of the auction process.

The problem with an auction is that it’s a gathering place. Every auction is. It is widely advertised and draws more of the informed tool hoarders than a garage sale would, thus your chance of getting a good deals drops dramatically. So don’t participate with the attitude that you are going to get the deal of a lifetime or not bid. Frustration will be the result and you won’t have any fun. While Ebay can have all the characteristics of a feeding frenzy, there are some benefits.

Aside from the obvious fact that with an online auction you don’t have to lift your bum out of your chair, you also have a better chance of finding everything you want in one place. To accumulate a mass of buyers you also must assemble a number of sellers. Think of it this way. At a garage sale you usually have one seller. On Ebay you have thousands. You would have to drive to a toolbox full of garage sales to see the same selection of goods, and this increase in variety offsets any increase in price you may have to pay. Though you may be willing to pay a fair price for a quality article, you still don’t want to pay too much. Knowing how the system works will help you avoid losing money in a bad deal.

The Ebay system has developed over several years and millions of sales, both good and bad. I am not going to describe every aspect in numbing detail but I think it prudent to provide my thoughts on some aspects of the process. Obviously, a seller lists an item and you probably find it through going to the Ebay web site and initiating a search. The results comprise a list of links, each auction item having its own web page. When you click on the link you can view all of the information that has been listed for that item, but your success in finding what you want is proportional to how effective your search was. Don’t try to place too much detail into the search box. Start with a general phrase, such as "hand plane"-- you will always have the option to search within your results for keywords more detailed than that. When you find an item that suits your fancy, it’s time to bid (remember you have to open an account first).

Ebay uses "proxy bidding". That means you enter in the amount you are willing to pay, but that is not your actual bid. Their computer remembers what you entered as the highest you are willing to pay, then places a bid (in your name) for the current bid plus the bid increment. A bid increment is the minimum amount of money you have to enter, over the current high bid, to outbid it. Wow, that sounds confusing even to me – let’s explain that a bit clearer.

Say you want to bid on a Stanley #5 jack plane. Joe Schmo is the current high bidder and his bid is $40.00 (please don’t use your real name when you open an Ebay account). Scroll down the item page to the bidding section and you will find that it shows the current bid with an input box below for you to type in your bid. Beside that, in brackets, is the minimum amount. For our purposes let’s say that the minimum amount is $41.00 -- that means the increment is $1.00. You may enter the minimum, or any number higher than that. If you entered $50.00, then Ebay would automatically bid $41.00 right now, then it would place new bids for you (without any further input) every time you are outbid until the current bid is higher than your $50.00 maximum. Note that proxy bids always increase the current bid my the minimum increment that Ebay set (or in even dollar values in this case). If someone enters a bid of $42.35 right after you, Ebay’s automatic bid wouldn’t be $42.36 but $43.35 – exactly $1.00 higher, which is the minimum bid increment. Once you have made a bid, you may win. If you do, there are some other factors to consider.

Winning bidders are urged, in most cases, to pay for their goods with PayPal. PayPal is a third-party payment service that deducts the amount owed directly from your credit card or bank account. You gain rudimentary access to their services by supplying them with your credit card information but if you want to take advantage of all they can do for you, you have to give them access to a bank account.

This I personally refuse to do, although I have done so in the past. While once a full-fledged member I chose to end my relationship with them because of all the bad press they were getting over many of their policies, and the loss of funds experienced by other people I knew on the internet. You can read about the complaints at a plethora of web sites like www.paypalwarning.com. There are so many web sites, newsgroup posts and forum messages about the dangers of dealing with them that I could not continue my relationship with PayPal. While I have had no personal history of bad dealings with PayPal, you should be aware that they are not FDIC insured nor are they a bank of any kind. Your money has no federally guaranteed protection through them whatsoever, and if you sign up they will have more information about you than your own grandmother. I treat my personal information very carefully, and I am especially vigilant when handing over access to my bank account. Remember you don’t have to use PayPal, the good old postal money order works just fine for any Ebay purchase. Once payment is received, your item is shipped – you and the seller now have an opportunity to comment on how things went.

Feedback is how Ebay rates buyers and sellers and, in theory, it is a great way to tell good trading partners from bad. In practice, it falls short of this goal. I urge you to read all the feedback that a seller has, but you need to be aware of the drawbacks of the system. Feedback is not required, just recommended. In fact, most of the "dumpers" (a term I use for people selling too many items in unrelated categories) on Ebay have so many items up for auction at any time that they don’t bother giving it out. The buyer probably won’t leave positive feedback if they don’t receive it themselves, so you can’t count on seeing comments from the seller’s entire history. While not a major problem, it is worthy of consideration. Feedback ultimately leads to how you view other buyers and how much confidence they place in you. It is also the end of the auction process. Now you might have a better idea of how things work on Ebay, however, you may be wondering what steps you can take to affect a better outcome.

While I am scrounging for treasure on Ebay, I set certain rules for myself. First, and most important, I must have fun. I don’t get into bidding wars, usually, and I restrict the amount of time I spend there as I find the more I look, the more unsuccessful I am thus, the more frustrated I become. I have several other, better sources so I can always rely on them.

I always set an item limit (usually one) and a price limit. And I’m cheap. I never risk more than $50 unless I have made a real find. One overpriced plane here or there won’t break my bank I hope, but buying many items at once make it hard to keep track of the money your are risking. Once your bid is accepted, you are under contract to buy that item. Don’t stake money on more auctions than you can, or desire to pay for.

My final personal restriction is I never buy anything I’m not willing to fix, or at least pay to fix. I will not buy anything electronic (don’t ask why – please) or anything beyond repair. Any hand plane with a cracked casting, or a chisel ground down to the handle, will never get my attention. Be picky. You are largely buying sight unseen, and that is why I generally prefer to bid only if it’s a good deal.

Those are my personal preferences. I can offer some additional strategies that I think everyone can use.

Beware the Blur: Many photos on Ebay are unreliable. Most of the time it’s because the photographer isn’t skilled with the camera. Many digital cameras, especially older ones, don’t take indoor close-ups well. As a result you find many outdoor photographs for smaller items. Beware the unscrupulous sellers out there that purposefully provide you with an out of focus or poorly exposed photo. They are trying to hide something. Many times they can be discovered by reading the fine print carefully – they are likely to have some form of disclaimer present to prevent you from returning the item after the auction. However, there are some photos that are clear and detailed, and these are usually the items that get the most bids. (That is a hint if you are ever selling.) I try to bid only on auctions with clear pictures, taken at a variety of angles. This is not always possible and if the description is good I may take the chance. If there is no picture at all, I never bid. Nobody does. These auctions often end without a sale. If you are in doubt, email the seller. If he doesn’t explain or send different photos, don’t bid.

Know your Auction: Regular auctions have a starting bid set by the seller and involve only one item. A reserve auction allows the seller the opportunity to set a starting bid, but not be under obligation to sell the item until it reaches it’s reserve price. They are not required to publish the reserve price. I don’t waste my time with these – if the seller can’t be bothered to tell me his bottom line, I won’t waste my time trying to guess it. On the other hand, dutch auctions publish the selling price for a group of identical products. If you are willing to pay the minimum price, you get one. Dutch auctions generally let you know how many items there are available.

Tune In at the End: Ebay auctions can be from 3 to 7 days in length. I don’t have all day to sit in front of the computer so when I search for items, I only look at those auctions that end today. If I find an item I want, I make a note of the time the auction ends. In the last ten minutes, if the price hasn’t already skyrocketed out of my league, I bid what I am willing to pay. Then I walk away and let the email tell me what happened (Ebay sends it automatically). It is a lot easier on the nerves that way. Unfortunately, there are bidding services out there and, if you are willing to pay them a fee, they will submit your bids for you. When you consider that, some of the last minute bidding excitement is lost. If you do run across an interesting auction that isn’t up for a few days you have an option to "watch it" so that you can find it easier from your My Ebay page.

Read the Fine Print: Always read everything on the auction page. Be sure you are happy with the physical description. Look over the shipping information carefully. Remember that shipping and handling are two completely different things. I was caught once and had to pay $10 handling in addition to the shipping charges for the privelege of receiving a plane packed with less care than a four year old would use. Clearly I was taken to the cleaners. Check out the sellers disclaimers – some have paragraphs of them. I refused to bid on some tools simply over the attitude of the seller. Some will expect you to trust them implicitly yet (in their terms of sale) they as much as accuse you of being a deadbeat. Make sure you know what currency you are bidding in. Although published clearly, sometimes the excitement overpowers your ability to keep a level head. If you ever have occasion to be uneasy about either the seller or the item, don’t bid. There are always other auctions.

Ask Questions: There is a link on each auction web page that will take you to a contact form. This places you in direct contact with the seller and I urge you to use it if you have any concerns or questions. A reputable seller will never hesitate to satisfy your request.

Check the Seller’s Feedback: You get a reasonable impression of what kind of person you are dealing with by reading their negative and neutral feedback. The positive feedback tells you little other than whether a transaction went smoothly. You will find most positive comments are effusive. The negative ones tend to be more specific and informative. I like to give a person a second chance so if their comments for the past year have been all positive, I may overlook a few negative ones that are old. Hopefully the seller will have learned a lesson. Usually a search of the feedback records will be unproductive but I have stopped myself from bidding when negative comments set off alarm bells in my head.

Bid Intelligently: Most starting bids are even numbers: $1 or $5 or $6.50. Just because the minimum bid increment is $.50 or $1 doesn’t mean your bid has to end in 50 or plain zeroes. Canny bidders have learned that adding a few cents to a bid will win an auction most of the time because most bidders will bid in even increments. A dollar one way or the other won’t break you so be creative – bid $15.67 instead of $15.50. The extra seventeen cents will probably make the difference.

Leave Feedback: Feedback is a good thing. I believe in it. However, I never leave feedback until it is left for me. Some sellers, the "dumpers" I mentioned before, are far to busy to be bothered. That makes them a hindrance to the Ebay process but some of them respond when you withhold it. Holding back has yielded limited success in coaxing feedback out of sellers in the form of email asking why I haven’t yet posted my comments. I politely indicate my reasons and, if they took the time to send mail in the first place, they usually provide the appropriate feedback. I need my feedback -- the terms of sale of some sellers provide them with the means to disqualify you from bidding without it. If the seller hasn’t left feedback within a couple of weeks, then I think, if the sale went poorly for some reason, negative feedback is warranted. I believe that neutral feedback, at the very least, is required, with a comment like "I believe feedback is important – seller didn’t leave any – sale satisfactory otherwise".

Know What You’re Buying: You should take care to know the actual value of the item in question. This is of vital importance. There are a variety of sources where you can find information on tool pricing and collecting. Online, you can search Google and find numerous web sites dedicated to tools, old and new. The OldTools mailing list is an ongoing discussion of hand tool collecting where you can even find sources that sell tools. Fine Tool Journal is a periodical dedicated to antique hand tools. They have a web site though which you can get information on subscriptions. Several books also exist, many can be bought on Amazon.com or through your local bookseller. I have a small bibliography at the end of this article but you can get a more complete list online from the Davistown Museum. It is so easy to lose money on tools that your best defense is knowledge – know as much as you can and you will avoid bad bidding practices.

Ebay isn’t the only place to buy tools. Remember that when you are telling yourself, "I just have to have that #604 Bedrock with the corrugated sole." Garage sales are still excellent places to look for tools. At least there you can plug in electrical tools to ensure they still function. Check the local paper for estate sales that list items of interest or for other tool auctions. Antique stores that specialize in tools may have the best selection. But flea markets are still one of the best places as they also have a number of sellers all in one place. Your chances of finding a deal are still good, but professional vendors that show up for every sale will charge you a higher price. Being able to see the tool and handle it before buying compensates for the extra cost. If you show up at their table often enough, they will get to know you and your tastes. Soon you may find they are bringing items with you in mind.

Ebay is very convenient. It’s one source of many that I use to satisfy my lust for tools and, with caution and attention to detail, I recommend it to anyone. Like any transaction online, you are buying an item on faith. Ebay does have policies and rules to protect both you and the seller, but these are only effective if you have done your homework. Be careful who you reveal personal information to, and why. Even Ebay doesn’t need to know all the things they ask. Your feedback record will speak for itself. Stay as anonymous as you can.

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Last updated December 1, 2006 • Site Map