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Central Oklahoma Habitat for Humanity now offers its own online shopping experience on eBay!
This fully-stocked, live-auction virtual store features some fantastic finds that made their way into the hands of our ReStore Inventory Specialists and then online to be purchased by folks like you! You’ll find all sorts of collectibles, household décor, jewelry, clothing, furniture, books, dishes and tons of other stuff.
If you’re new to eBay, we’ve got some quick notes and tips to help you get started. It’s important to know that shopping on eBay isn’t really like shopping on Amazon or any other site. On most sites you search for the product you like, find it, and if there are enough left, you buy it at the best fixed price you can find and then wait for it to arrive in the mail. This isn’t the case with our new online ReStore, or with eBay in general.
Searching for Items
When you’re searching for what you want, listings have options at the top to switch between listing type. “All Listings.” “Accepts Offers,” “Auction” or “Buy It Now.”
- All Listings: No filter is applied, and you’ll see a mix of auction-style and buy-it-now listings.
- Auction: Most people prefer straight auction sales, because you can get much better deals.
- Buy It Now: If you’re in a hurry and want more of an Amazon experience, then you can go with a “Buy It Now” sale.
- Accepts Offers: This will show listings where the seller is willing to entertain offers lower than the current listing price.
One quick search tip has to do with categories. When you search for an item, eBay automatically selects and searches a specific category. Be sure to set this drop-down to “All Categories” to find items that have been listed in the wrong category, as they might have better prices. When you find the perfect item, don’t just bid on it immediately. Do your homework, or else you’ll end up in a bad situation. Which brings us to our next point.
Research the Item
Don’t just scan an item quickly, because there may be specific details you want or need to know before you buy it. Make sure you become aware of every imperfection or limitation. Another important factor to check are shipping fees. You’ll find these when you scroll down to the description area. Just click on the Shipping and Payments tab, and make sure you can work with the designated method of shipping.
Time to Buy
Central Oklahoma Habitat for Humanity’s eBay ReStore currently features items that allow you to buy directly from the website without having to place a bid. However, as new auction opportunities arise, get ready to place your bid! When you’ve found an item that you want to bid on, make sure you are logged into eBay, find your item, and then right click on the “Place Bid” button and open it in a new window. Move that window over to the side. Even better, move it to a different screen, so you can watch the timer countdown on the item page itself. Type in your maximum bid in the “Your Max Bid:” field.
Don’t mess around here. Stretch yourself as far as you’re willing to go. For example, say you want to purchase a clock, and $35 is the most you want to bid. Now, you could bid exactly $35, but if there’s anyone else looking for the clock at the same price, they’re likely going to bid $35, $35.01, or $35.50. These are the most common ways people try to win at a certain price. To outbid all those folks, bid $35.99. Then click Continue. Now that you’re on the “Confirm Bid” page, it’s just time to wait for the countdown.
This is the important part, and it’s where most people freak out and bid too early. On the very last confirmation page, you’re just one step away from officially placing your bid. Wait until the very last moment, providing only enough time for computer and Internet lag—about 3 to 4 seconds. When the clock clicks down under 15 seconds or less, just go ahead and click the “Confirm Bid” button. Wait for the confirmation page that you’re the winner of the auction.
Congratulations!
