| I've been buying and selling vintage clothes on | | | | watching it get bumped up by other bidders over |
| eBay for five years. It's fun...and | | | | the next few days, they wait until |
| sometimes frustrating. Here are some tips to | | | | the final seconds of the auction. Even better, use |
| help you find the best vintage clothes | | | | an auction snipe service. For a |
| on eBay.1. SEARCH REGULARLYEbay allows you | | | | small fee, these companies will place your bid in |
| to list auction or fixed price items for 1, 3, 5, 7, or | | | | the last few seconds of the auction |
| 10-day periods. | | | | and you don't even need to be at your |
| Most sellers choose longer periods because they | | | | computer! No more forgetting that you |
| are buying more advertising for | | | | wanted to bid on something--the snipe service |
| their money but I'm finding more and more | | | | does it for you. I like these services |
| 3-day auctions. So try to do your | | | | because if I enter my highest proxy bid too |
| searches at least every 3 days.2. SEARCH | | | | early, someone can keep bumping up |
| MISSPELLINGSIt's easy to misspell Furstenberg | | | | the bid trying to discover what my highest bid |
| and to type Pulizter instead of Pulitzer. If you can | | | | was. If I enter it in the last few |
| find a quality designer item that has a misspelling | | | | seconds, I may end up getting the item for a lot |
| in the title, you will probably | | | | less than if I bid in the first few |
| compete with a much smaller pool of buyers for | | | | hours of the auction.7. ALWAYS CHECK SELLER |
| the item.3. DON'T JUST SEARCH THE VINTAGE | | | | FEEDBACKAgain, not everyone offering vintage |
| CATEGORY.Not everyone offering vintage | | | | clothing on eBay is a vintage clothing dealer. If |
| clothing is a vintage dealer. Sometimes people are | | | | someone has great feedback but has been selling |
| just clearing out Aunt Anna's clothes from the | | | | auto car parts, it might be wise to |
| attic and don't have a lot of | | | | ask the seller a few specific questions about the |
| experience with either vintage clothes or selling | | | | item before bidding. What you |
| on eBay. Often you'll find these | | | | think of as Mint condition and what they're calling |
| items buried in the Women's Clothing category | | | | Mint condition could be vastly |
| which appears before the Vintage | | | | different. Also, as a seller who talks to other |
| category in the eBay listing process. So search | | | | sellers, I know that sometimes |
| for VINTAGE VICTORIAN BLOUSE in | | | | negative feedback is left for sellers that is |
| the Clothing & Accessories category rather than | | | | unwarranted. Or things like Katrina |
| VICTORIAN BLOUSE in the vintage | | | | happen and your auction item never gets sent. A |
| category.4. SEARCH TITLES AND | | | | negative feedback or two every |
| DESCRIPTIONSNot all sellers include the word | | | | couple of years is not a big deal. What you |
| VINTAGE in their auction titles. To be sure you | | | | should be wary of is a pattern of recent |
| find | | | | negative or neutral feedbacks. Drill down and |
| all the VINTAGE VICTORIAN BLOUSES, be sure | | | | read why they were left. If you are |
| to check the box under the search | | | | unsure about a seller's responsiveness, send a |
| field to search both titles and descriptions.5. GET | | | | simple question to them and see how |
| CREATIVE WITH YOUR SEARCHESIt's easy to | | | | quickly and accurately they respond.8. KEEP A |
| find high-end vintage by searching for a designer's | | | | LIST OF YOUR FAVORITE SELLERSYou can add |
| name but you can | | | | a seller to your list of Favorite Sellers by clicking |
| also find high-quality items by searching on fabrics | | | | on the link in one of |
| (brocade, velvet, mink, | | | | their auctions. You can also sign up to be emailed |
| cashmere), searching for high-end department | | | | when your favorite sellers add |
| store names (Saks, I. Magnin, Bonwit | | | | new items. You're never out of the loop and it |
| Teller) or searching for ESTATE SALE buried | | | | makes browsing a lot more fun when |
| inside auction listings.6. USE AN AUCTION SNIPING | | | | you are looking at items that you consistently |
| SERVICESellers, of course, want you to bid on | | | | like.9. BROWSE, BROWSE, BROWSEBrowsing |
| their items as soon as possible. Their hope is | | | | eBay can be just as much fun as browsing at the |
| that several bidders will become interested in the | | | | mall. Looking for |
| piece and bid up the price. Smart | | | | bargains? Browse through vintage by Lowest |
| buyers take a different approach. Instead of | | | | Price First. |
| entering their highest bid early, and | | | | |