A couple weeks ago a non-internet friend who can barely manage to check her own email asked me if I would search eBay for some Bertrice Small books she was interested in. She had found a few in a used book store but otherwise had little luck finding any of her new love readings at a reasonable price.

I said I would and with an itemized list in hand did a cursory glance of eBay. More options were available than I had expected. I didn't do anything about it as I used eBay a number of years ago and it never really stuck. In other words, I wasn't really gung ho about finding her books. Not because I didn't want to do it for her.

About three weeks ago I put my procrastination aside and started a serious look for her books. One of the first auctions I came across had 12 of the books she wanted in it. Of course this was perfect for me. One-stop shopping, I thought. Unfortunately someone else really wanted the books and jumped into the auction the last second and won it out from under me.

Being a little competitive, and after a few choice words to the air, this sent me on a mission for more books. Once I knew what I wanted and found who was offering them I was able to bid on eight auctions, four of which were from the same seller who was nice of enough of offer combined shipping. Before I knew it I became one of those last second buyers winning 14 books for my friend, all within the "under $6 a book" budget she gave me.

Now you're wondering what all this book shopping has to do with clothing. Along the course of waiting for auctions to end I ended up doing searches for clothing. Just for kicks. I didn't have any intention of buying anything. In walked a really cute pair of red yoga pants, white ruffle shirt, orange cotton nightgown, capri lounge pants and oh, the Fat Actress complete first season DVD. Now we're talking. So much more fun than looking for old books. And I won them.

My experience has shown me that there is so much plus size clothing to be had on eBay. Tops, pants, dresses, sleepwear and lingerie. If you're on a budget and really want a new wardrobe you have to check it out. Here is what I learned along the way.

* Read sellers info.
* Check and double check the shipping and handling as some overcharge. If there is no shipping info visible then... Ask!
* How sellers respond to questions can give a clue to customer relationships.
* Read a sellers customer feedback and take into account their standing.
* Use advanced search. Enter size. Use drop down menu and click on clothes category.
* You can "watch" an item without bidding if you're unsure of your desire.
* When looking for a deal, don't just consider the price of the item. Include your shipping. So if the item costs $4 and the shipping is $10, then the item really costs $14 which can still be a great deal.
* Know ahead of time the most you're willing to spend for an item if someone outbids you.
* Be willing to lose items in an effort to stay in your budget and get good deals.
* Once you've had a good shopping experience with a seller you can mark them as a "favourite" and receive email updates from eBay when that seller puts up new auctions.
* Check back often.

For me my addiction has mellowed. I now only check eBay's clothing selections (in my size) every other day or so. At that time. I look at what auctions are ending in the next few minutes and then I'll click on "Time Left" and see what has been put up for that day. Sometimes I'll watch items for a few days to see if I really want it. Other times I may bid right away.

Try it out and see what works for you. Shop for plus size clothing on eBay.