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Trampolines for kids – Part 2
Trampolines
I mentioned in my last post Trampolines – The Health Benefits For Kids that I’d do a follow up on how to buy a trampoline on line.
My method of purchasing anything on line is all about research.
You must know exactly what you want, I suggest you shop off line first, see, touch, play with it, try stuff on. Then come back to the computer and find the best deals. You can get a great bargain if you do your research.
After having a look at what’s available trampoline wise in Kmart, A-mart and target, I turned immediately to Ebay to see what that had to offer. I mean the price for the other type of trampolines was probably ok at a sale discount but you could immediately see that the quality wasn’t all that flash.
I’ll walk you through this as an example. (Don’t go bidding now! – just follow on to get the idea of how to research a deal on ebay)
You should be looking at the results for a trampoline search.
Our Trampoline
Ok now you’ve got a heap of trampolines to research. First off size does matter – if you really are looking for a trampoline, find a tape measure and run into the garden to measure out how big a trampoline you can have in the space then decide if it’s too big. I bought a 14ft diameter net to net trampoline and it’s perfect for 2 small boys and mum to *CALMLY* bounce together. Plenty big enough for them, they won’t outgrow it.
Now check out the different brands on offer. I choose the “Hilltrack” ( Company name) trampoline, the image on their ebay trampolines looks like the image at the top of this post.
The reason why is evident as you look at what they offer…now tell me that isn’t the best looking trampoline you’ve ever seen!
I love that:
- The netting is taught, not slack like some models in various shops
- The foam on the poles is covered, less damage from weather
- The side poles are separate from the trampoline and they go to ground
Hey I’ve just noticed they now come with anchor straps, great idea! But I know it would have to be a pretty heavy teenager working hard to move my 14ft trampoline.
Back to the research….
If you found the exact item in the right size and colour you want, you need to log into ebay so you can use a function called completed listings. You find it down the left hand bar of the listings view under preferences/ search options / completed listings. Notice the value of the final price for these sold items is now either green or red. Green means it sold for that price, red means it was passed in and didn’t sell.
Now grab a pen and paper and go through this list looking for your item and write down the time the item sold and the price it went for. Depending on the type of item you are researching you’ll need to go back 3 days or 1 week, 2 weeks.
You are looking for what you can expect to pay for your item, average it out. Now look to see if the item sells for more at certain times and less at other times.
For my trampoline I found that I could expect to win my trampoline for up to $50 less if I bid on a trampoline that was on an auction to close at 3:30pm. Why? Who really knows, my educated guess was that that’s when the majority of parents are out picking up kids from school and therefore I had less competition betting against me.
You know what you can get your item for now set yourself a figure that you will be happy to pay. You must make sure you include a delivery fee if there is one!! – Very important!! Hilltrack today will deliver for $75 to Brisbane but do check.
Now you are ready to start bidding, click on the completed listing box to return to active listings and good luck!! Be patient it took me 4 days of doing the 3:30pm listing before I won my trampoline at my price, don’t get carried away if you find yourself against a determined bidder. So long as it’s not a one off antique you’ll get your item another day.
Let me know if this was helpful or if you have another good ebay tip.
Regards
Glenys
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