T'is why I never use auction sites or betting sites/shops or even buy a ticket for the Lotto. It's a dangerous road to travel...... best not.

na can have some serius bargains. just excersise prudence

think you need a new torque wrench or something, ask on the forums which is best, look at new price on various websites, then look on Ebay an bid 50 -75% on a good one then forget about it and convince yourself your going to just pay out full price at the local shop-if you need/want it that bad that you are going to pay RRP for it youve nothing to loose.

britool AVT300 torque wrench £30, very good nick but sold due to being out of test
various snap on ratchets for the £20 mark
snap-on timing light £50 ex demo
various wheel cyliners new wings etc all carbootcheap.

however was outbid on a box of 1/4 drive bits and ratchet at £10er but local halfords had a pro set in the "up to 50% off" bin so by the time postage came in i was better off going to 'frauds.

Sean

I like ebay, it's invaluable for finding obscure stuff as well as the more mundane at competitive prices. I very rarely put the maximum I'm prepared to pay and forget it though, as each time I have done that there always seems to be one bloke who will nudge up the price several times until he decides that it's not for him, leaving me with a more expensive purchase.

I now prefer to be outbid by him, then nick it back at the end.

Decide what you want to pay - and be strict about not exceeding that by so much as a penny - and bid it in the last fifteen seconds of the auction, not a moment sooner. I know you can get sniping software but that takes all the fun out of it for me.

also it helps if u put A strange amount in, instead of 15.00 put 1567 as most people stick to the 10's so you could win it by 7 p

It'd be a sorry day your £15 socket set cost you over a grand and a half tho

beware the decimal point

That is top advice, I've done that loads of times and it works, people think you have a really high bid, yet you watch as they come within pennies of your total and give up, leaving you victorious.

Selling is another matter - the fees couple with exposure to the dregs of society can really ruin your week. I sold a few cars on it, never again, twice people who have won have come to pick the car up, only to decide to use it as a tyre kicking session and pull out, having never made any attempt to come and view the car during the auction. I'm surprised ebay has not sorted this out with some sort of proof of contract that if you bid and win, you have to go through with the sale.

you get where im cooming from

a lot of people are writing "you bid to buy not to view" which i think is great

when i sold my bike on ebay, the guy bought it, came to view it, and then gave me the money, lucky that he did want to buy it, otherwise i would of gone mad!!

the fees are 10% on postage and on final selling price...

talk about daylight robbery,

Talking of cheap socket sets. I spotted a 36 piece (crosshead/flat/star)screwdriver set in Tesco yesterday,(there's also a number of socket spanner type things in the set) there was no price to be seen on the box or the shelf, so I dropped it in the trolley and just asked the cashier when I paid for my shopping..... Price was £3, and it's already be put to use.....So far, so good, it hasn't broken yet