Ten ways to buy well on eBay

• Know your subject. If you don't, research it well and get to know values.

• Know about fakes. Branded jewellery, clothes and fashion accessories that sell cheaply are usually too good to be true.

• Know your seller. All eBay vendors build up feedback from their buyers, which is your way of checking out their reliability.

• Know your limits. Just as you would in a live auction, fix a limit in your mind of how much you're prepared to pay. And learn to stick to it.

• Know the enemy. With experience you'll start to identify those buyers who snap up all the good stuff in your chosen collecting field. Bookmark their user pages to check what their bidding on.

• Know about bid sniping. Computer software can be obtained to place bids in the closing seconds of an auction. Do the same if you must, or compete with bullish commission bids.

• Know about added extras. Be sure to check out how much the vendor wants for postage and packing. EBay outlaws sellers who ramp up charges, but lots do.

• Know your options on payments. There are pros and cons to all the various systems of paying for something you purchase. Get to learn what they are.

• Know your rights. Understand eBay's disputes procedures. Better to be safe than sorry.

• Know how to spell. Not all sellers can, with the result that some items get listed but ignored by search engines because an object is spelled incorrectly. Find them at www.fatfingers.com.