Now everyone that knows me knows how painful I am when it comes to looking for a bargain. If it’s full price, I ain’t buying it! I mean, who doesn’t LOVE to know they got a good deal on something right?
So I started where all savvy bargain hunters start…eBay!
Big, bulky items on eBay are often listed as “collection only” narrowing the competition to people who are willing to travel for the item = potential for a bargain! You can buy pretty much everything you will need for a new house on there from furniture to bathroom fittings to whole kitchens (honestly people are selling complete used kitchens on there including applicances!)!
MoneySavingExpert.com has a great app that searches eBay for auctions that are “collection only” and local to you. You simply tell it your post code and how far you’re willing to travel for a bargain and it does the hard work for you.
Before you start bidding like crazy have a good think about how far you are willing to travel. It could depend on the item, or whether you have relatives or kind hearted friends in the area who could pick it up for you, or whether you will be going to that area for some reason in the near future. It could depend on the “bargainess” of the bargain. If you can get the item for an absolute steal it may be worth travelling for.
For example I nabbed these huge cast iron radiators on eBay for the ridiculous price of £22.99 each (*mini fist-pump to self*)! I made sure they had recently been in full working order (they had) and that they would fit in the house (they will)…bargain saving of over £100 per radiator compared to buying refurbished ones!!! They were over 150 miles away but we had a friend who could pick them up and store them for us until we could go and collect them (Dad happens to travel to that area for work so we didn’t even need to make a special journey).
Cleaning off the old paint using a drill with a wire brush attachment.
Of course smaller items can be posted so it’s worth looking further afield for those. Also remember to check that you are actually getting a bargain. Check what similar items are going for, and how much it would cost you to buy new or order from an online retailer, not everything on eBay is a bargain! Also bear in mind that most old furniture on eBay will need some kind of restoration/lick of paint/sand down.
Bargain hunting on eBay takes time…you may need to check once a day, sometimes more often as new listings go on there all the time, but trust me there are bargains to be had and huge savings to be made for first time buyers if you are willing to invest a bit of time and effort.
Got to go, I’m in the last few minutes of an auction for a cast iron bed and I’m planning on putting a bid in at the last second!
Casey