The eBay edition.
When looking for ways to save, one thing to consider is purchasing on eBay. If you don’t already have an account, you can still search on the site to see the kind of savings you might find. Of course, you need to first be aware of the true value of the item and the price you are willing to pay. Don’t get caught up in the auction frenzy that has some items I’ve seen selling for above retail, that’s just crazy.
Let me share with you two recent purchases we made on eBay whose purchases I consider frugal.
Pioneer Stereo VSX-305. Won for $51 (+$20 shipping). We have two stereos in our house one on first floor, one upstairs. The first floor one is this exact model, which is about 12 years old, new it was $250, if I recall correctly. The second floor one just gave up the ghost after 25 years, (!) I had it while in college so I know it lasted. I thought I might find the VSX-305 on eBay and sure enough, there were a number of auctions in progress as well as history. The great thing with the eBay system is that you can view completed auctions, seeing the sale price and using that information to decide how much you wish to bid. You’ll be surprised to find some auctions getting bid up by new users who seem to not understand the value of some items, and some items going for far less than they should. To me, this was a fair price, and while we would have waited a while, we enjoy our music.
Next, we wanted a “family computer” that our daughter could use for schoolwork, loading her iPod, etc. Being a Mac fan, and still using a late model Mac as my own computer, I started the eBay search. The Mac I bought was a Dual 1.25 GHz model, introduced in Aug 2002 at just over $3000, I was able to pay just $175 plus about $40 shipping. This will run the Mac OS ‘Leopard’ but not the Snow Leopard just introduced, as SL requires an Intel chip, this Mac is the last Motorola PPC machine Apple made. It can handle video editing, and is happy to run software that lets it transfer to/from the TiVo with no complications. (I’m sure PCs are available at similar savings, I just happen to prefer the Mac for my home computing.)
This is a brief example of my eBay success, check it out for books, clothing, any item you know exactly what you are looking for and the price that makes sense to you.
Enjoy the weekend,
Joe