Find Great Deals on an Auction

Become an expert on Auction Searches

No matter how well you search, you're still going to miss lots of items you could bid on. Although searching and browsing an auction will turn up hundreds or even thousands of any popular item, you could be missing the biggest bargains.

Here's how to discover the hidden treasures:

• When searching on auction sites, make additional searches using variations on the name of the item that you're looking for. For example, an EBay search for "saxophone" turned up 566 items, but an additional search for just "sax" turned up 982 new items (the second search also included some extraneous items).
  
  
• Search for common misspellings of items. Using the example listed above, searching for the misspelling "saxaphone" turned up 107 items missed by the correct spelling. Moreover, there were fewer bids on these items, so prices were generally lower.
  
  
• Try offbeat searches. When I was unsuccessful in finding a sousaphone at a bargain price, for example, I finally found one using a search for "brass horn." That search revealed one sousaphone listed in the wrong category by a person who didn't know what to call it. I ended up being the only bidder.
  
  
• If you prefer browsing for items, be sure to look in related categories as well as in the one that makes the most sense. People often choose the wrong categories when listing items for sale.
  
  
• A simple search phrase: antique necklace returns auctions with antique AND necklace anywhere in the title, and in any order - or in the description - if you indicate for the engine to search descriptions as well as titles.
  
  
• Using quotes, as in "antique necklace" will show every auction with the exact phrase antique necklace in its title or description.
  
  
• A search with an asterisk * (upshift of the number 8 key) acts as a wild card. You want a necklace from the 1800s? Search 18** necklace.
  
  
• Commas can be used without a space between the words, as in kennedy,nixon. This search returns titles that mention either kennedy and/or nixon.
  
  
• Parentheses can encase a search as in the quarters example above. A search for (quarter,quarters) (roll,rolls) will give you every auction for quarter rolls, roll of quarters, or rolls of quarters.
  
  
• Be sure to check the box "Search title and description" under the search field to find more results. Some sellers may not include the keywords you are searching for in the item description.