Introduction: Saving Money on Everyday Items

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There's no denying that if you can save money, you'll take advantage of it. Everyday there are ways to save money. Over the past few years I have discovered the best way to buy everyday items for way cheaper than a store will sell it for. I was involved in a college business project that required you to find the best ways to save. After a ton of research and experimenting this is what I have found to save money.

Step 1: Ebay

Let's start with this, eBay is a hidden gem for buying products. Most people think of eBay as a place to buy people's used things such as video games, or celebrity autographs. It is way more than that, it is your own personal supplier for items of you needs. EBay has millions of Chinese based stores on their site, these stores will sell you products for the same price as they would sell to a store. As see in my diagram drawing factories or China sellers will sell to stores such as Walmart for cheap low prices. Walmart will then turn that product around and sell it to you for multiple times the amount.

Step 2: Skipping the Stores

To save money you start by buying off eBay. By doing that you will skip the stores such as target, walmart and best buy. You will save a lot of money by going through eBay. EBay does not have any hidden fees for buying from them. You pay what the item price is and that's it. Very simple.

Step 3: Pros and Cons

As you see I had 4 items from eBay and from stores, they were both the same products. On the eBay side I only would have paid $19.94 for those 4 items. While on the store side I would have paid $53.27 for those 4 items. That's a huge difference of money, you save $33.33 dollars by going through eBay and buying from China retailers. There are pros and cons to all of this though.

Pros for buying from eBay -

Cheap prices
Easy to do at home

Don't need a minimum price for free shipping (most items offer this)

Customer service is always great, never had issues.

Cons from buying from eBay -

Need a PayPal account if you don't have one. Buying with PayPal is free and secure though.

Buying from a China supplier will take a little less than 30 days to get to your house.

Items may get lost rarely coming from China. But the supplier will always usually replace for free or give a refund.

Step 4: How to Do It

Basic eBay 101 here, I've learned after using it for a long time. After searching for the item you want, make sure to select buy it now, that will let you buy the product right on the spot, you won't have to bid or wait for the products time to run out. You also want to go with the lowest price filter so you can the best for your money.

Step 5: Comparing Prices

As you see in my photo comparisons of products from stores vs eBay, eBay is cheaper everytime. Now you're probably wondering if the quality from eBay is cheaper, it is not. It's the same quality as something Walmart or target would sell you.

Step 6: Finish

As I said eBay is a little hidden treasure. Whether you choose to save money by buying from them is up to you. You won't be able to get all your items for cheaper than a store such as furniture, but what you can save on helps in the long run. This project actually made my college professor start buying from eBay. Thanks for looking and please vote for me! Hopefully you'll enjoy the savings that pileup over the year by buying from eBay!!

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