If you are not familiar with eBay daily deals, these deals consist of random products being offered for only one day or less than a day - eBay can end the deal early if they decide to replace the deal with another deal or if the deal sells out. These products are offered at deeply discounted prices and they ship for free. The MSRP (manufacturers suggested retail price) is usually much higher than the price that the item is actually being sold for. This usually gives a buyer the impression that the item is being offered at the best possible price, when in fact, the item can be found for less on eBay.
Just about every daily deal that I've found on eBay, can be found on eBay for less. You do, however, have to be careful of the shipping since not all items on eBay ship for free. As long as you factor in the shipping, you'll be fine. For example, I was looking at an eBay daily deal for a new Toshiba 1080p HD camcorder that was being sold for .00 free shipping. Just by copying and pasting the brand and the model number into the eBay search box, I was able to find the same camcorder (exact same specs and condition) at a buy it now of free shipping. That's a savings of .00 or 11% off. I didn't even do a thorough search - I only checked the items being offered at a buy it now and had the results sorted by best match - I didn't even check the auctions.
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You are probably asking yourself, how is this possible? Doesn't eBay look for the best possible price when selecting their daily deals? The truth is that they don't select deals based on price. The daily deal program has many requirements - I can't tell you exactly what the requirements are but I think they have very little to do with stock on hand and price. One thing that is for certain, is that the program caters to Powersellers. Another thing that seems to be important is the amount of transactions that the sellers have had on eBay - this was determined by looking at the feedback scores of the sellers offering the deals and the many rumors circling around the internet.
My take on all of this is that these requirements defeat the purpose of the daily "deal" because it prevents people from getting the best possible price. I cannot say that these requirements offer added protection or safety because they don't - eBay's buyer protection program offers the same protection on all transactions. eBay refers to the sellers offering these daily deals as trusted sellers, but you can always determine this yourself by checking the feedback score of any seller.
So to sum it all up, if you are thinking of buying an item that is being offered as an eBay daily deal, always search eBay to see if you can find a better price on the exact same item. Remember to compare the specs of the item, the shipping price and the reputation of the seller.
What's the Deal With eBay Daily Deals? Are They Really the Best Deals on eBay?
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