Gotta have the eBay Faith

The last two weeks in every month always results in two shopping patterns for me: leisurely charity shopping and frantic eBay searching.  eBay is still a great place for vintage finds but being the greedy bargain hunter that I am, I also search for all the designer labels I love hoping to unearth a find that perhaps no one will pick up on and I will win the bid quite easily.  Of course, the latter just doesn’t happen anymore.  Every woman’s mag I pick up these days always features some sob story about eBay addicts who somehow end up with 20 credit cards, 10 personal loans or something like that just to fund their habit.  There are eBay sniping services that help you bid at that very last second (I don’t believe that’s the true spirit of eBay but to each their own I guess….).  Everyone is just very eBay savvy these days, so much so that bids starting off at ¬£1 can easily reach hundreds at the end making you think is it worth all that heart-palpitating excitement and stress when you end up paying more than what you wanted to pay simply because you just couldn’t let the other bidders win? 

So I end up with about 100 items on my Watch List, but I let them all end without me bidding because the prices they reach are a little more exorbitant than what I expected.  I just sigh at my ‘Ended Items’ list and say ‘Oh well…at least I didn’t have to fork over that silly amount of money for something I only semi-wanted.’

Then something like this happens;  you bid on these Georgina Goodman (my favourite British shoe designer…) shoes for ¬£15 and nobody bids against you.  You then think ‘Hold up….is there something wrong with this item that I’m totally not noticing?’ And then you win the item, they arrive and you breathe a big sigh of relief because hallelujah, the shoes are wicked and you’re giddy that you got them for ¬£15.  Faith in eBay renewed.  So I’ll keep having those long Watch Lists because though it’s getting harder, lucking out is still a possibility.

20 comments

  2. Yes, wicked they are!
    But how you all do it? With ebay, it’s like with TV shows for me. I want to see/get it desperately but ALWAYS end up forgetting the time and missing out on each.

  4. Hey style bubble,
    Have you ever thought up links to products on ebay on your site? I don’t mean to sound like an opportunist, but you could easily share your vintage finds with your readers and at the same time make money to fund your eBay passion for clothes:) you should check out the eBay affiliates programme for the UK.

  6. Hi Susie 🙂
    i never bought anything on ebay, but i like to go to the website just to check around 🙂 specially for vintage clothes and accessories 🙂
    your shoes are very stylish, but i don’t imagine my self wearing them! too wicked for me hehe
    luv
    xoxo
    su

  9. Love those shoes ! I don’t shop on ebay that often for the same reasons: you need to spend a lot of time searching to find a a good bargain that you will win. But as you say, sometimes it is worth it !

  12. Hi Susie
    Love ur shoes. Could you share some tips on how to find good ebay vintage items/ bargains?
    BTW luv ur blog. It’s been featured in magazines in HK.
    Cheers

  14. Thanks for all the comments of ‘Lover-ly’. Love saying ‘Lover-ly’ on a grim Monday…
    netnet: Really? Oh the motherland has acknowledged me…very nice…
    I will def. post some tips but I’m sure everyone is very eBay savvy here…

  16. oh my gosh… those are such cool shoes. am going green with envy!! i’m not very ebay savvy and i have never seen such a good bargain before…

  19. What size shoe do you wear? I have an awesome pair that don’t really fit me that are a US 6.5 if you might be interested. Email me for a picture. -Kelly

  20. Gorgeous! I’ve been told that summer (at least in this hemisphere) is the slow season for online shopping, including ebay auctions. So there’s probably less competition — and sometimes, if a seller isn’t a big name, the stuff can fly under the radar.
    Awesome find.

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