Jewelry for Under $1 on Ebay! +Auction Tips

Read past my awesome find for tips on buying jewelry at discount prices on eBay!

Once in a while, I like to browse eBay for their jewelry. You can find chic pieces for $0.99 and free shipping ... that's crazy! (Of course, you will probably be waiting a month for it to arrive, but its still worth it!) 

As I was browsing, I came across an auction with about 10 minutes left for this cute leaf necklace. I stuck around and decided to bid. 

At the 30 second mark, two new bids were placed.

With 3 seconds lefts, I placed my bid for $1.24 ... and won the auction for $0.48!!!

Here are some pictures from the auction.

I am hoping the leaf is as cute as it looks. I have bought costume jewelry like this before that didn't look as nice coming out of the box. Fingers crossed!

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Tips

Time to share some tips for getting great buys like this one!

Tip #1

Know how much money you have in your PayPal and know what you are willing to pay. I will rarely pay over $1 for a piece of costume jewelry.

Tip #2

Keep an eye out on other sites to make sure you are getting the best deal. Sites like shopmissa.com and buyincoins.com are two fantastic places to get cute costume jewelry for $0.99 and under.

Tip #3

Browse eBay also to make sure the item you are getting is at the lowest price. Hundreds of re-sellers have the same items.

Tip #4 

Don't be afraid of auctions. If you have the time, auctions will save you plenty of money. (For instance, this same necklace was available as a Buy-It-Now for $0.99)

Tip #5

Always have Free Shipping checked when doing a search. Shipping is an unnecessary expense when buying costume jewelry. (Especially since so many people offer the same items!) The only exception to this might be if you are utilizing Tip #6 and #7: buying multiple items from the same seller. MAYBE.

Tip #6

Keep an eye out for sales. Lots of eBay users will have "Buy 3, get 1 free" sales, etc. If you come across an item like this, check out what other items the seller has to offer!

Tip #7

Combine shipping. Whether you decide to look for free shipping or not, you will save time and money by ordering multiple items from the same seller. The items will be packed together, and most sellers offer combined shipping.

Tip #8

Set a budget. There are so many awesome items that can be found, make sure you aren't over spending. Also keep in mind that PayPal will allow transactions to happen when you don't have money in your account! PayPal will simply pull it from your bank... which also allows it. (I learned the hard way).

Tip #9

Buy only what you will wear. Be sure to buy things in your style and not just because they are cute. (Also guilty)

A lot of the pictures portray the items as larger than they actually are. Make sure you read all the measurements and look at all the pictures. 

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Do you have some awesome tips to share? Put them in the comments!

It Pays to Buy Smaller || Downy Unstopables ||

I have been getting ready to make my first batch of homemade liquid laundry detergent. I want to add Downy Unstopables for the scent, so I have been looking up coupons, doing math to find the best deal, etc.

First, let me share the site where I buy my coupons from. Klip2Save has almost every coupon available at reasonable rates. Shipping is generally $1 for 3-5 day shipping, and you can buy coupons individually. If you click on the link, it will take you to the Downy Unstopables coupon search results.

I found two awesome coupons that don't expire until 11/30/2014: a $3/2 and a $2/1. I bought three of each, just to get me started since there aren't any sales going on right now. The total, with shipping was $2.83.

Now for some math! I based the following math on Walmart's prices. They are advertised as the cheapest in town. This will show how much it will be for 6 DU's. You might have to break up the transaction into a set of 4 and a set of 2.

Walmart offers three sizes.




Oz                 Price     x 6   Minus Coupons       Plus Coupon Cost       Total Cost______________

9.7 oz     -      $5         $30      -$15 ([3+2] x3)             + $2                $17      for 6 Downy Unstopables

13.2 oz     -    $7         $42          -$15                           + $2               $29      for 6 Downy Unstopables

19.3 oz     -    $9.75     $58.5       -$15                         + $2                $45.6   for 6 Downy Unstopables


(I'm not sure why I did $2 instead of $2.83, but you get the general idea)

I am always one to check on the price per ounce, too...



Oz                 Price                 /6                           /number of ounces       Total Cost per ounce___

9.7 oz     -      $17/6           $2.83 per bottle            9.7 oz                          About $0.29 / 1 oz

13.2 oz     -     $29/6          $4.83 per bottle            13.2 oz                        About $0.37 / 1 oz

19.3 oz     -     $45.5/6       $7.60 per bottle            19.3 oz                        About$0.40 / 1 oz




So that's the breakdown of it! I was surprised by this ... normally its cheaper to buy the bigger packages. At normal price, the smallest bottle was only a penny more per ounce than the biggest bottle.

I will be holding on to these coupons for a little while ... hopefully there will be a sale soon so we can save even more! If I order the coupons on Sunday (when the sales come out), I normally get my coupons by Wednesday, giving me plenty of time to get my deals. Family Dollar always has them on clearance, also.

I hope this was helpful! Stay tuned for the recipe for liquid laundry detergent :)