- Check for coupons, especially in the Ebay app, before paying your auctions. On more occasions that I want to admit, I have sent payment only to find out after that I missed out on an applicable coupon that would have saved me 5-10%.
- Add a large number of watches you are interested in to your watchlist. Increasingly sellers will offer discounts or second chance offers to anyone who has “shown interest”. I have received 12 offers in the past 10 days, some for 30% off. I receive an email any time a seller makes me an offer. By maintaining a long watchlist, you can sit back and let the deals come to you.
- Always make an offer before bidding. A lot of sellers are happy to strike a fair deal and get things done rather than waiting for auctions to end. Especially works if you have an active profile with solid reputation
- Sort your search by “Ending Soon” to snipe auctions as they reach their final seconds. You can also use a sniping tool or service like GIXEN to make last second bids on your behalf.
- If items on your Watchlist end without bids, message the seller asking if they will sell it to you for less. I just did this on a €389 289 watch and the seller agreed to sell it to me for €150 to avoid having to relist
- Ask sellers to add a “Buy it now” option at a lower price.
- For rare or highly sought after watches, sort your search by “Newly Listed” to early make offers and snatch deals before they have bidders.
- Seek out “lots” or “convolut” of watches to snag project or mod base watches at low prices.
- Build relationships with sellers who carry a lot of watches you like. Often they will be willing to offer better deals to repeat or loyal buyers.
- Use the “Save Seller” flag to create a list of your favorite sellers and be able to see their new offerings in your feed.
- Sometimes you can find gems hidden in watch lots / Konvoluts. Often estate sales resellers do not take the time to individually assess and price each item, instead dumping them as a "lot"...often with a low starting bid.
- Search in multiple categories...sometimes watches are listed in odd categories like “Collectibles” or “Antiques”.
Edit: Corrected amount above.