1. When you find your perfect item do not jump in and bid straight away. Bidding early can focus attention on the item so play it cool!

2. Check the postage and packing costs before you place a bid. Some sellers offer great deals to attract buyers but others charge the full amount so make sure you know what you will be paying.

3. If you want to buy more than one item from the same seller email them before you place the bid and enquire if they will combine shipment. This can save quite a bit of cash as postage charges can be high.

4. Another way to save on postage is to ask for a standard delivery rather than a next day option. If you can wait a few extra days you can save some cash.

5. If the item you want is attracting a lot of interest check the completed listings. If similar items have sold recently for less than the current one, it may be worth letting this one go and watching for the next one to be listed.

6. Check out completed listings and see if an unsold item has been relisted. Sometimes sellers simply relist without changing the item details. This means that there is a good chance that the item will not attract much interest this time around either.

7. When searching eBay for an item, use the asterisk to help you. For eg if searching for simpsons memoribilia type in simp* and this will search all terms starting with simp including any mispelled items. You can then refine this search until you find the items you want.

8. When you find a mispelled auction place the minimum bid. This will lock in the mistake and the seller will not be able to correct this, meaning that unless everyone else does a search on mispelled items the item will not be seen by many people.

9. People who work during the day usually buy in the evenings when the kids are in bed or at weekends. Housewives usually buy during the daytime. Think about what type of person would be most likely to buy the item you want. Sellers watch this and usually adjust their ending times to suit. Not every seller does his homework and you will find lots of listings ending late at night or early in the morning. These often don’t attract as much interest and by placing proxy bids you may be able to snag some bargains.

10. Do not get involved in bidding wars. Decide how much you want to pay (made sure you include the postage charge) and enter that amount as your proxy bid. Make a note of the time the auction ends and do not check on the item until after this time. This way you will not be tempted to increase your bid if you are outbid.