eBay Alerts

I have been an avid eBay user for years, but it was only a few months ago that I discovered eBay alerts, and let me tell you, they changed my eBay habits. Instead of going to eBay.com every once and a while (or every day) to search for my favorite collectibles or a particular item, I just set up an alert that comes directly to my Inbox instead.

Here's how to set up an alert. First, sign into eBay.com (you need to be a member to use the eBay alerts service). Then search for the item for which you want to set an alert (more about effective search terms in a moment). Then look just to the right of where you see the orange number indicating how many items came up. You'll see a place to click that says "Save this search," go ahead and click it. A new window will pop up asking you for how long you'd like to set the alert, select a time frame and you'll start receiving alerts once a day (mine usually come late at night).

Be careful what you search for! The more specific a search is, the better. For example, I'm currently on the hunt for a vintage white teapot. I didn't just search "white teapot" because it renders too many items, instead I searched "white kettle -electric, -cordless, -copper" eliminating all the electric pots. On the other hand, don't make your search too narrow either. I spent almost six months searching for a very specific Liz Claiborne purse (really, it's cute, I swear!), and I had to look at way too many brown leather Liz Claiborne bags before my object of desire showed up in my mailbox one day.

Also, be warned, if a man you are dating accidentally sees your Inbox full of 20 or more eBay alerts, he may think you are completely nuts (which you may be). I once found it very hard to explain why I was receiving so many emails from eBay each day. Ooops!