A beginner's guide to shopping on eBay

Whether you’re seeking bargains on everyday staples or hunting for rare vintage treasures, here’s our beginner’s guide to shopping eBay, participating in online auctions and making the most of the app.

Create an account for exclusive savings plus app-only coupons, deals, notifications and features. Then browse trending offers or type what you’re looking for into the search bar. View product details, add items of interest to your watchlist for later or click the 'Buy It Now' button for instant purchases of available products.

Haggle without hassle to find deeper discounts. When you see the 'Make offer' button under an item, you have the option to enter a price or choose from a series of suggested amounts. If the seller accepts, the deal is done – or they might come back with a counteroffer which you can choose to accept or decline.

Browse categories from Home & Garden to Electronics, get recommendations based on items you’ve viewed, or sort and filter by options like brand, colour, authenticity guarantees, lowest to highest price (or vice-versa), shipping options and more. You can also name and save specific searches for later or receive push notifications and alerts about new listings.

See something you like while you’re out and about? Use the camera in your device to snap shots of items that interest you (or even specific barcodes) for an automatic list of similar products currently available on eBay.

Get ready for auction action by checking the time remaining, the number of bids already placed, the current highest offer and how many other eBay users are watching the item you want. To make it yours, just tap 'Place bid' and enter what you’re willing to pay. You’ll receive alerts if you win – or notifications if someone outbids you (so you can push the price higher to stay in the game).

See how long sellers have been on eBay and read reviews from users who’ve made verified purchases from them to ensure you’re buying from trustworthy vendors. You can also check overall percentages of positive feedback and ratings based on specific details like description accuracy and shipping speed.

Remember what catches your eye, even if you’re not quite ready to buy. Click the heart next to enticing items, then click 'My eBay' to review your watchlist for possible future purchases – plus updates and price changes, your past order history, products you might want to buy again or active auctions and seller offers you’re considering.

Scout the competition by checking what’s hot on the app. When other users add potential purchases to their watchlists, the number next to the heart in the lower left corner of the product image goes up. High watch numbers indicate high demand to help you plan your shopping strategy!

Enjoy the excitement of live public auctions while communicating directly with hosts and reading comments from other participants. See something you like? Make an offer in the stream and buy items instantly if you’re the winning bidder. Or click 'Save seller' to add notes, pin favourites and keep tabs on their inventory and upcoming events.