Tips 'n Tricks: Buying Nail Polish on eBay

I'm sure some of you Canadian nail polish lovers, know exactly how I feel... You want a certain polish but you can't find it here! Of course it's not sold in this country or for some reason the limited edition collection never came to a store near you, in comes eBay! I loooove eBay. Before I moved to Vancouver, eBay was really my only way to get some of the "good stuff." So here are some of my tips and tricks to using eBay to buy nail polish (and believe me I've bought lots!)


- Always use PayPal, it really helps protect you the buyer and its so easy to use.


- Check the sellers Feedback profile, read what other buyers have said about that particular seller. Use a seller that has close to 100% positive feedback, read any negative feedback the seller has, steer clear of any sellers who have negative feedback from not sending an item or sending items not as they are described in the listing. 


- Don't forget to calculate the shipping cost or the duties on you order to the listing price. Read the listing carefully. Know exactly what you are getting and if there are any extra "fees" associated. 


- Shipping in Canada is very slow, so you will have to be patient! You might be the last person to get that great polish :(


- If you are buying more then a few polishes, try to find a seller who has most if not all of the ones you want, that way you can take advantage of any shipping discounts you might be able to get for ordering multiple items. If the seller does not list the shipping cost or mention a shipping discount for more then one item, message them to ask BEFORE you place your bid or buy it. More often then not they will offer a discount, something like "for each additional item shipping is $1"


- Do your research! It doesn't take very long, and you can save a bunch. Take advantage of the 'Sort by' tab. You can sort in lots of different ways. If you want your order faster you can sort by distance. If you want the cheapest you can sort by price, which you can even sort by 'Price + Shipping: lowest first' which is great cause it takes a lot of math out of shopping for you!


- Make sure that you can't get it somewhere else that you can get your order to you faster or cheaper. Check out a few websites too, depending on the country you live in it may be cheaper to order from a website that specializes in nail polish. I've wanted to order from many of these US or Europe based websites soooo many times, but often when you get to the check out and type in 'Canada'... shipping is three times as much as the items! Often times if the website is based out of the same country as you, you can get free shipping if you spend over a certain amount, so factor that in too before you place an eBay order. Check out some Canadian nail polish websites and calculate if its cheaper to order that way.


- Check out the sellers return policies, do they have any policies if your nail polish comes broken? or if they send the wrong item?


- Does it make sense to Buy It Now? (similar to buying from a website, you have bought the item) or does it make sense for you to place a bid in an Auction? (at auction you may be outbid)


- Don't wait too long if your item does not come! You only have a certain amount of time to resolve any problems. eBay is typically pretty good at getting problems solved promptly. 


- Learn a bit of lingo: HTF (hard to find), BN (brand new), BIT (buy it now)


- Keep track of local blogs! Sometimes eBay isn't the best deal. Local bloggers usually have sourced out where to get the best deals and will usually mention where they got it and how much they paid. Maybe they have a store near you that carries the brand or colour your looking for or they might have coupon codes to a nail polish website!


Finally... enjoy looking at all the pretty bottles! eBay can be great of get HTF nail polishes or if your into nail art its great for supplies!