| The main place where not so friendly auction | | | | get lost in hyped sell words or descriptions with |
| sellers take a little off the top is in the shipping | | | | many italics or capital letters if you are |
| and handling fees. Now, shipping prices have gone | | | | inexperienced with catching them. There are also |
| up considerably over the last few years. But do | | | | descriptors that sellers use to hide what their |
| your research yourself. Either find the | | | | items are – for instance, some people use |
| item’s weight or approximate its weight. | | | | the word “acrylic” or incorrectly use |
| Approximate the cost of packaging. Then check | | | | the brand name Lucite to improve on the fact |
| the seller’s shipping policies and what speed | | | | that something is made out of plastic. Do the |
| of shipping they use. Check how much something | | | | research on the item you are interested in so |
| of your item’s approximate weight | | | | that you do not get caught up in the hype and |
| (combined with packaging) would cost for the | | | | fancy talk on your way to a bad purchase. |
| speed of shipping that the seller uses. Also check | | | | One of the ways that you can tell whether you |
| whether the seller uses delivery confirmation and | | | | can trust a seller is to check their feedback |
| or insurance, which adds to the price a little. If the | | | | scores. On just about every auction site, buyers |
| shipping and handling fees provided by your seller | | | | and sellers can leave feedback for each other on |
| are grossly overpriced, then you have found a | | | | each purchase experience. Negative feedback |
| seller who likes to make up for lower winning | | | | sometimes happens for sellers because some |
| auction bids by charging too much for shipping and | | | | buyers are scammers themselves trying to |
| handling. At that point, you have to decide | | | | sabotage feedback scores or get unwarranted |
| whether the item, even at a lower price, is worth | | | | refunds. However, if a seller has less then 98 |
| the hiked prices. | | | | percent feedback, then check each negative |
| Another area that sellers use to confuse or fool a | | | | feedback comments to decide whether you want |
| buyer is through the descriptions. Most sellers use | | | | to trust the seller. If you happen to be interested |
| certain hot button words in order to sell their | | | | in an item from a new seller, then it is safest not |
| product. A few are “genuine,” | | | | to buy from a new seller until he or she has ten |
| “vintage,” “authentic,” | | | | or twelve positive feedback comments. |
| “rare,” “antique,” | | | | Whether you are at a smaller, friendly auction site |
| “popular,” and | | | | or whether you are on one of the bigger sites, |
| “collectible,” among many others. | | | | there are always things to watch out for when |
| This is a perfectly legitimate way of selling any | | | | you are engaging in the exciting world of online |
| product at any friendly auction site… if the | | | | auctions. When you are careful, your experience |
| descriptions are true. The problem is that many | | | | can be all the better for it. |
| of these words are unverifiable, and it is easy to | | | | |