The 10 best bargains on eBay

According to eBay.co.uk, shoppers who buy new goods on their website can save an average of 25 per cent on high street prices. To help readers plan their Christmas spend, Times Money has put together a list of the ten categories of goods on eBay where the biggest savings can be made - with examples of one popular product in each. Remember that eBay will not always offer the cheapest price. Always compare deals with other online retailers at comparison websites, such as Kelkoo.co.uk

10. Video games - 11 per cent cheaper
e.g. XBox 360 Arcade console
eBay average: £91.50
High street: £129.99 (Game)

9. DVDs - 22 per cent cheaper
e.g. Iron Man (2008)
eBay average: £9.44
High street: £15 (RRP*)

8. Cameras - 23 per cent cheaper
e.g. Canon A470 digital compact
eBay average: £57.44
High street: £79.99 (PC World)

7. Video equipment - 24 per cent cheaper
e.g. Flip Ultra series video camera
eBay average: £66.38
High street: £99.99 (PC World)

6. Books - 25 per cent cheaper
e.g. Jamie Oliver, Ministry of Food
eBay average: £8.53
High street: £25 (RRP)

5. Audio equipment - 27 per cent cheaper
e.g. Apple iPod Nano 8Gb
eBay average: £89.99
High street: £109 (Apple Store)

4. Music - 33 per cent cheaper
e.g. Girls Aloud, Out of control CD
eBay average: £8.98
High street: £16.99 (RRP)

3. Computers - 34 per cent cheaper
e.g. Dell Inspiron 1525 laptop
eBay average: £327.12
High street: £429.99 (PC World)

2. Clothing and accessories - 43 per cent cheaper
e.g. Classic tall Ugg boots
eBay average: £65.90
High street: £68.25 (Ugg Australia)

1. Telecoms - 47 per cent cheaper
e.g. Nokia N96 mobile phone
eBay average: £93
High street: £499.95 (Carphone Warehouse)

Notes: eBay prices are for fixed-price, rather than auction, items. Percentage examples in each category are averages and not calculated from the product examples.

Source: Frontier Economics
* recommended retail price

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Comments

[dodgee]

has this journalist taken a backhander from ebay to write this? , as we all know people are wising up, and ebay sales are down

[andrew]

2. Clothing and accessories - 43 per cent cheaper
e.g. Classic tall Ugg boots
eBay average: £65.90
High street: £68.25 (Ugg Australia)

Best you buy yourself "maths for special people" miss journalist...do the final copy check...no..mmm

[Satnam Singh]

some of these comments are writen by folks with the same level of inteligense as that Broon character, and the same spelin level too.

[John]

I got a decent Nokia N96 for under 50 quid on ebay because the seller wanted the money quickly, and was being chased by it's owner. Amazing what you can do now ebay is available on your phone!

[Punit]

Have to agree with many posters - this really is a poor article. Why compare ebay with High Street prices? Better to compare ebay prices with the dodgy bloke in the park/pub trying to sell you crappy Chinese knock-offs. There are some good items on ebay, but for the negligible price difference when adding P&P, I would rather buy from a trusted and reliable online retailer like Amazon, Play or Ebuyer.

[Lindsay]

I am a private seller on ebay and after 6 years still have 100% positive. I sell items I no longer want (games/dvds) and have had no problems selling these original goods. Its all about communication. I have bought items that are not as described but as I buy and sell through paypal, I always sort it out.

[auction alfie]

Other auction websites like eBid and CQout are also worth checking for bargains. CQout.com claims to be the UK's second largest marketplace.

Auction Alfie is another good option for bargain hunters as you can compare prices on eBay with Amazon, eBid and CQout.

[D]

what a crap article..

how can this s*** person get a job as a journalist? and how dare Times allow such artical and behavior ??????

[Don't make me laugh]

I feel compelled to post a comment for this shocking article. What a load of s****.

[Dragon]

I have used both Greenmetropolis and Amazon for new and 2nd hand books, but the books were much cheaper on Greenmetropolis.
Ebay Sellers overcharge on P&P to cover their eBay fees and low prices. The overall price rarely works out to be that cheap.

[Garry]

Do you have a Sun 'Journalist' on work experience with you ?

[Sonia]

Notes: Percentage examples in each category are averages and not calculated from the product examples.

ie: Entire article is rubbish!!!!

[Mike S]

This is dreadful journalism for two reasons.

a) it is a rehash of the same item on Ebay's own website.

b) its not journalism but advertising.

How dare The Times foist this crap upon us.

[R Harvey]

Comparing eBay to the High Street is stupid. Other e-sellers should be compared.
If buying new, it is cheaper and generally safer to buy from another e-seller. Books are usually cheaper on Amazon.
Where you gain gain, and enjoy some pleasure, is by browsing through used items.
EBay did have a great search facility that has now been changed to one that shows you a lot of rubbish on the principle that the more crap that is shown to you the more you will buy.

[P Robin]

It's a bit pathetic of using Girls Aloud as an example for the music section. Talk about trash culture we're living! eek

[Nick]

Poor article. Some data is obviously just wrong, plus where are the allowances for postage costs, risk of fraud etc ? Why not at least compare with Amazon as well ?

I would expect the Times to act in the interests of its readers by exposing such misleading comparisons, not promoting them.

[Jonathan Card]

Have I accidentally logged onto the Daily Mail Website by mistake

[calinutz]

thieves are not only on eBay are on the street`s at the ATM`s ,shop`s ,bar`s,pub`s skimming cards and empty ''dump`s accounts'' that`s one of the most worst thieves and fast way for them to get other`s hard work money..in my opinion or..others hard work of stealing from others it`s the same....

[matt]

DVDs aren't become less attractive to buy from ebay once you add on the postage & packaging.

DVDs
Iron Man (2008)
eBay average: £9.44 + £2.50 P&P = £11.94
High street: £15 (RRP*)
Channel Island Based Online Store: £10.99

[bibi]

i have lost £2000 selling items on ebay, paypal and ebay don't give a f*** if someone making a false claim back, paypal ignore whatever proof of posting you have, they would refund money to buyer. my advise to sellers is don't sell on ebay, ebay charge hell a alot of money where u sell the item or not. use Amazon

[Diego Silang]

£93 for an N96 is not true at all. It averages more than £200.

[Stephen R Jones]

This piece of rubbish lazy journalism should be entered for the "ten crap articles" award. It WOULD win.

Appalling maths too.

[John Morgan]

eBay is a place where sellers try to make their money 'up' with higher postage costs. I'm sure loads of 'new' stuff is nicked. What the heck do you compare RRP for? I don't know of many high street stores that stick to RRP, they'd never make any sales.

[Charmaine Morgan]

I use ebay but compare with other suppliers. Many sellers use the trick of having a cheap purchase price and overcharge for delivery. When I had an issue ebay didn't respond to my query. There are good dealers on ebay - I only buy from businesses with clear contact details - and who reply to my enquiry emails. eBay keeps our Post Office in business - but I agree that we should shop locally too! I could have saved money recently on a TV but chose to go to a small local independent retailer instead. BUT I am surprised the Times was plugging ebay in a Debt Management page. It not only enables you to sell but is a big fat temptation to spend for weaker mortals.

[Andras]

Is this a paid article?

Show me a person who paid £16.99 for a CD recently and I will kiss his/her feet. Actually, I think the whole music business will, so I don't have to.

Personally, I think even that 8.98 is expensive for a CD full of fillers. Amazon and Play can match that easily and you get significantly better service.

[Gareth Crisford]

Has no-one else noticed the second best bargain the UGG boots at No.2 are not 43% cheaper, they are 3.4% cheaper.
Hardly much of a saving!
Who wrote this rubbish?

[fifi]

I have found that when you add up the postage costs on eBay (some people rip you off bigtime), it is usually cheaper to buy from a high st store's website than on eBay!

[mac rutherford]

You're remarks are so foolish, you can get far better deals 'looking' around your cheapo shops, the net itself, & small ads, you are like the bloody stockbrokers and moronic bankers who profess so much knowledge, yet when it comes to the crunch 'they know nothing!'

[Pete]

If you can get an N96 on ebay for under £200 I'll buy 100 right now!

[Tony]

If you buy an N96 for under a hundred pounds you need your head examining. It would be as dodgy as hell at that price. The DVDs are also probably fakes, in typical eBay style.

[Stephen Chapman]

There are pros and cons to using eBay and the list of items does ignore some on the cons of course. However, for smaller items (say under £20), I always check eBay and purchase from there. Anything that I would want a warranty for, I buy from a high street or online shop.

http://thestateofthenationuk.blogspot.com

[James]

Nokia n96 ebay average £93 are you having a laugh? I can't see one under 300 "buy it now" get a new tempt to do the research cos your current one is a bit shoddy!

[David Coles]

Not sure about this. I've just been sold a counterfeit ipod on ebay and trying to get paypal and ebay to help get a refund has proved impossible. Trading Standards and Police looks hopeful though but its alot of hassle to save a few pounds instead of buying from a reputable outlet. Ebay has had its day, its now full of dodgy items with sellers able to hide behind a company that doesn't care what is sold as long as they make money.

[Jon]

Yes eBay has some good buys but if you want an expensive item with a credible warranty steer well clear of eBay. Most business sellers are breaking the law by not displaying their address on eBay and it's just not worth the risk buying an expensive item where you want a warranty.

[Shankar]

Not every buyer saves or every seller makes money via eBay. I know few sellers, who lost more than £10,000 because of PayPal freezing their account for stupid reason due to scams and fake buyers. BTW: PayPal is not regulated by FSA. But, Paypal pretend that they are regulated. Sellers suffer in eBay. Few make some money. Support your loal business by buying locally.

That's what I do.

[CV]

To save time you can use www.discountsearch.com/uk which compares new prices from online merchants and eBay auctions.

[Me]

If you like jumble sales then ebay is the place for you.

[nick]

I regularly browse ebay for bargains but looking at the price discounts shown above i.e for some phones and laptops should not the name be..

Thievesbay.

[Rhys]

Looks like the research is a bit duff on this one, the average price of a Nokia N96 is about £400 on ebay, not £93. Typo Maybe?

If it's £93 Nokia would go out of business very quickly.

[KateC]

I think there are savings to be made on ebay just like you can make money on ebay but I don't agree with some of the savings up above, books are usually more expensive as you usually get free delivery on books from store and you end up paying a lot for delivery on ebay.

[Garry]

Guarantees?

G>

[Paul]

Yes - a good article. Whilst there may well be instances wheresome goods can be found as cheap elsewhere,the competitive downward pricing model which lies at the hear of Ebay,will always ensure it is one of the premier world wide web based portals for people looking for a bargain. I have often said that the day may not be too far off where all business transactions could be undertaken and possible on Ebay- it is literally the central meeting place of the global market?
P.S.I am not an employee or a big fan of Ebay as such- but this is just my observation.

[keith]

My point was not to say that the intro did not cover other online outlets but read it again and understand "comparison" websites - not all or even most companies sign up for "comparison" sites - they aren't necessarily representative. The High Street prices shown are RRP - why not directly compare with the likes of Amazon rather than RRP?

[Randy]

PTF is right. Keith suggests checking other online stores too. Read the intro, Keith: "Remember that eBay will not always offer the cheapest price. Always compare deals with other online retailers at comparison websites..."

[John]

PTF: why do idiots comment on idiots? Guess it's called a viewpoint, mate!

[JC]

Wow, greg, you are one bitter boy...

[Frank Upton]

Better still, don't buy the wretched gadgets at all, get your books from the library and save 100%.

[Greg]

Why has The Times reverted to tacky advertising for a company which consistently breaks the law.

If I were one of the tax paying retail outlets (I mean VAT, Corp tax, Council tax, Business Rates, Natioanal Insurance etc etc etc) such as an Apple Store or the Carphone Warehouse I would be pretty naffed by a so called quality newspaper informing my customers where to buy cheaper

[PTF]

Why do idiots comment on articles without reading them in full?

[Joanne]

The best bargains on ebay are the ones you can get from private sellers, not big companies. It is just a shame that eBay has just transformed itself into a faceless online retail outlet.