For a long while, I’ve been looking for something that could replace Amazon for most of my miscellaneous purchases that aren’t available in brick and mortar stores. It never really occurred to me that eBay might actually be the exact thing I was looking for.
Of course, I’ve been familiar with eBay for as long as I can recall. I’ve used it many times to sell things, but had never really used it to buy things before.
A few weeks ago I decided I needed to buy some cases to protect and display the handful of SNES and Nintendo 64 game cartridges I keep around (some of the few purely sentimental items I allow myself to hold on to), and eBay was the natural choice to look for options. The original cases are almost impossible to find, and those that do still exist cost hundreds of dollars. That said, I found someone making custom plastic cases based on the original box art, and decided to give them a try. I’m happy to report that I’m very pleased with the results.
This little foray into the world of eBay unlocked something in my mind. I decided to look up an item I’ve had on my Amazon wishlist for a while. To my surprise, I found an open box (but new!) listing for less than half the price of what Amazon was charging for a new item.
I repeated this a little later, when I needed to replace a very old (and very basic) multimeter that had finally bit the dust. I searched on eBay, and found a screaming deal on a relatively high quality (for my needs) multimeter.
Now, I find myself defaulting to eBay first, then resorting to other means if and only if I’m not able to find something there (and even then, I only fallback to Amazon as a very last resort).
I’m not sure why I’ve had such a mental block against using eBay, but the past handful of purchases have been affordable and provided excellent experiences! Plus, when you buy open box or used items, you’re saving things from ending up in the landfill. That’s a win-win!