Bookmarks Using the Search functions in eBay you can locate all the auctions currently listed by a seller. Click here for an example. You can then bookmark this and return to a current list of your favorite sellers in a few mouse clicks. Searching When looking for a certain item you can use certain search tricks to find what you want quickly and eliminate unwanted items from your search. eBay's search engine is very powerful but limited to the way that both the lister and the searcher type in the information. Wild Card " * " If you are looking for an Acme A1 widget and the lister put in A-1 widget, the search engine will not give you a match due to the dash. This is also true with any punctuation, misspellings or plurals. A way around this is to use a wild card "*". By typing in (acme, A* widget) you will get the hits you are looking for. Result Limiter " - " If you wind up with too many results, possibly there are like products with the same names, you can eliminate certain results with a "-". Typing in (acme, A* widget -roadrunner) will eliminate any "roadrunner" results from your search. Key Words You can also start by typing in (widget) and see what comes back. If the results are too heavy, type (widget, acme) this will cut down the number of results. You can then further refine your results with wild cards and limiters. Saved Searches Once you have a search you are happy with you can save it in "My eBay" under "Favorites". You can then run the search anytime you want. You can save up to 15 searches and up to 5 of those will email you automatically if something new comes into the search. Reserves vs First Bid A Reserve in eBay is the lowest price a particular item can sell for. This amount is hidden from the bidders until the amount is surpassed or the auction closes. The First Bid is the amount the seller wants the auction to start at. If you bid this amount, you can win the auction. We do not set reserves, we set the first bid at the lowest we can afford to sell something for. If that is all we get, you got a good deal and we are happy. Questions to Sellers If you want to ask a question, one of the easiest ways is to click the link under the seller's name "ask seller a question." This will send an email to the seller with specific information on the auction you are asking about making it easier for them to reply. Proxy Bidding The best way to get the item you want is to bid the highest amount you are willing to pay. You will not pay that much unless another bidder bids up the start price. eBay does the bidding for you. If the bidding starts at $1.00 and you are willing to pay $10.00, anybody that bids less than $10.00 will be outbid instantly by you. Even if they bid $10.00, you still win, first bids take precedence. I always like to add a few cents to the bid just in case. I would bid $10.25. This could make the difference in a close bid war. Snipers Snipers are people that bid on an item in the last few seconds of an auction. Some people think this is unfair, but if you let Proxy Bidding work for you, you will never miss out on an auction. If you bid your high price and get Sniped then it went for more than you were willing to pay anyway.