If you regularly use eBay why not make it even easier to find bargains with these Top 10 eBay sniping tools to help you save money?
There are many free tools and websites to find eBay items you might otherwise miss out on, research sellers and feedback, or snipe – bid on your behalf at the last minute so that you don’t have to be glued to your screen at four in the morning…
Some of the main bargains arise from sniping tools and misspelling tools so I’ll review each category in turn:
eBay Sniping Tools
Sniping means placing your bid at the last possible moment. This usually means you win more auctions at better prices because there is no time for competing buyers to increase their own bids. You can do this manually from your computer but this can be inconvenient.
Automated sniping services make the bid for you based on your preset maximum amount and timescale – so you don’t have to be at your computer (it doesn’t even need to be on) because the online service places the bid on your behalf.
Some sniping services may require your eBay username and password to bid on your behalf.
Obviously this would be a security risk so do some research and only use services you trust – eBay will not offer you protection if that third party misuses your account…
If you do use an eBay sniping tool, do not use the same password for eBay as for any of your other accounts – especially Paypal, banks or email.
EZ Sniper is one of the oldest eBay sniping tools and works in any currency on any of eBay’s international sites (plus up to 40 other auction sites).
It’s been around since 2001 and does not require your eBay login to snipe your bids. You get a free trial for 3 auctions and then future snipes cost 1% commission when you win (minimum 10 cents, maximum $10). There are subscription and pre-paid plan options if you use the service regularly.
Goofbid provides perhaps the largest range of services – a one stop shop.
Misspellings tool designed to find misspelled items. Choice of 13 countries to search. Options to narrow down searches include distance, condition, buy it now, price range, local pickup only, search title and description, zero bids only with further filters by category, seller ratings and end time etc. Also offers many other tools:
Free automated Auction Sniper tool. Feedback Checker, Seller History, Bid History, Best Offers etc – all accessible from the Goofbay home page.
AuctionStealer is another eBay Sniper tool – it automatically places your bid at the exact time you specify. The free version has 2 main limitations – you can only snipe as late as 10 seconds before the auction ends (Priority paid version = 3 seconds) and you can only snipe 3 times per week (Priority paid version = unlimited).
As the name suggests, Justsnipe is another auction Sniper tool. The free version has 2 main limitations – you can only snipe as late as 8 seconds before the auction ends (Value paid version = 5 seconds) and you can only snipe 5 times per week (Value paid version = unlimited).
eBay Misspellings Tools
You can also take advantage of sellers’ spelling mistakes e.g. if a seller lists a Panasonic TV as ‘Pansonic’ it won’t appear in normal searches for that brand so not as many people will find it.
Less potential buyers means less competition, so the odds are higher that it will end up selling cheaply – bad for the seller, but good for you.
There are several good websites that search for such items – you input the correct spelling and they find items for sale with combinations of misspellings e.g. Pansonic, Panasoni etc.
This is a Misspellings tool designed to find misspelled items on eBay listings. Choice of 10 countries to search. Options to narrow down searches include buy it now, auction only, price range, exclude accessories, search title and description. Also offers:
Local Bargain Finder – search within your local area (user specified distance of your location) for bargains which are for collection only e.g. furniture, PCs and other large items. Collection only items usually sell for less than those able to be posted as the market is necessarily more limited.
Last Minute – search for items by category and price which end in the next hour.
Another Misspellings tool designed to find misspelled items. Choice of 13 countries to search.
Options to narrow down searches include selling categories, buy it now, search title and description, completed listings, single bid items.
Other Useful eBay Tools
Invaluable and simple to use tool to quickly find and filter seller feedback for a specific item. Can save a lot of time searching through pages of user feedback comments for an item you’re considering buying. Easiest way to explain its use is from their website:
“It browses through thousands of feedback comments, picking only those that were given for the item you’re looking for. All you have to do is enter the seller ID and a few keywords, and within a few seconds you get the result”.
Search current offers on eBay (7 countries available) for auctions which meet 2 simple criteria – the auction ends within 1 hour and the price is currently 1 dollar (or equivalent local currency) or less.
Some of these items may be stocking fillers not worth more than a dollar anyway but there may be some gems in there.
9. Official eBay Web Browser Extensions
Don’t want to be tied to their website? eBay provide web browser add-ons to get instant search results, desktop alerts, search from anywhere on the web and instant My eBay viewing – without having to browse to eBay’s site.
Browser extensions are available for Firefox, Chrome and Safari – none for IE11 but that doesn’t work well with eBay nowadays anyway.
10. Official eBay Mobile Apps
Want to use eBay whilst out and about? Mobile and tablet users can get the official app here. Select the link for your platform in the download section to open a page giving a download link on the relevant app store.
Check the details as the features vary considerably between apps. There is no mobile app for Windows Phone.
Conclusion
Buying on eBay can be fun and, if you do your research, offers bargains compared to other shops and websites. These top 10 eBay sniping and info tools offer a variety of ways to improve your chances of grabbing a bargain whilst avoiding poor sellers.
