Best Ebay buys

[GVmama]

My sister is always showing off her latest Ebay find, this week being some beautiful grey leather boots for under a tenner.

Does anyone else have this knack? What are your favorite things to buy on there? How do you sift through all the rubbish? And share with us your best bargains too

Reiss leather jacket for £25

Prada biker boots.

Bought 10 years ago for £50.

Still wear regularly.

Amazing bargains! Any tips?

My top tips are

Never bid until the last 30 seconds. If people think they don't have competition they don't hover so much.

Always bid the maximum you would pay. It's so annoying being pipped because you couldn't refresh fast enough.

Always set display to 'ending soonest'

Check 'used' and buy it now filters. Sometimes people just want rid and put good prices. Lk Bennett dresses often appear for £15 and the ones I have had are ace ( and then you can sell them on for the same or more if you only wanted them for a one off). Some shops do the same styles year after year so you know if they fit.

If you're not a label junkie try searching for items by good but unpopular brands. I got gorgeous new leather handbags for 99p because they were from LA Redoute.

Search by spelling mistakes. I think there are tools that will help you do this but I don't have them.

I always have a maximum price in mind and leave it until the last 7 seconds until I enter that price. I would say 8/10 this gets me the item

Yes, last minute bidding of you maximum bid is the way to go.

Also, if you know what you want save a search and get emails as new items matching the description comes up.

I've had great shoes and boots (sizing less of an issue) from brands like Irregular Choice, TUK, etc; various high-street tops, skirts, shorts (tend not to pay too much in case they don't fit); and a lovely patent leather biker jacket (about £15 over 5 years ago).

Yes to all the above...I have also learnt (the hard way) to really check how the item is photographed, I once bought a dress that looked like it had a waist, when it arrived it was dreadful...the seller had ruched the waist in on the photo, it was in actual fact straight up and down. Also jeans that were sort of folded strategically to hide that worn look on the legs.

Best hint is that it is only a bargain if it is perfect so don't be afraid to say no and wait for something else better to come along.

I have also gone into shops to check my size so that I can bid on the correct size rather than just guess.

Over the last couple of years I have used e-bay and charity shops a lot due to weight loss (planned and wanted). I hate wearing clothes that are too big so I have gone through a lot of clothes! With jeans I had a couple of brands were I knew my size and was constantly looking for the next size down, generally I would look every day or so and then snap up a good BIN bargain the day that it was listed. Also make sure you check the postage price and the sellers rating...it's easy to get carried away and forget.

Edina Ronay wool coat, unworn for £20.

8 handknitted jumpers for ds for £1.24 for the whole lot!

I bought a prestige label top for a Xmas night out. £8 plus postage. I washed it, wore it, washed it again and relisted it.

It went for £38 plus postage.

Great tips there. The description and pictures are important. Set your limit and bid in the last 10 seconds.

The spelling tip is a good one also different variations for example M&S, MandS, Marks, Marks&Spencer.

My best bargain was Armarni leather biker jacket £25.

Use a Sniper app, which can be linked to your watch list and can be set to bid automatically in the last 5 seconds of a listing. Much less stressful and useful so you don't have to remember the listing end time and be anchored to your webpage.

Brand new £200 Anthropologie coat with labels on for £21.

I also bought a MaxMara Weekend coat from a jumble sale for £1 and sold it for £63.

To win items I usually do as the pps said - watch the auction, bid in last 20 secs and bid the max I would pay. Plus a good trick is to make the number a weird one - I've lost count of the amount of times I've pipped someone to the post by bidding £20.87 rather than a round £20.