More and more people are buying things off eBay these days, eBay has a large number of shops that sell pretty much everything and anything you may need and because of this and the fact that everything is usually cheaper, eBay is quickly becoming the most popular internet site to buy from.  Regardless of what you buy and the size of it, you will need to consider delivery.  There are a number of different delivery methods and options sellers have on eBay, and it is important to understand what these are and the differences between them so that you can prepare yourself for anything further you might need to pay out, or the duration you will need to wait before your things actually arrive.

Here are some of the delivery options available on eBay:

Local Pickup Only

This is usually on goods that are particularly large, heavy or difficult or costly to try to post.  The seller won’t want to have these things delivered via a courier or anything like this as they will need to pay  for this service, which would mean they’d need to sell their product for a higher value.  Instead, therefore, the seller gives the buyer the option to bid on the item and then if they win it, go to the sellers property and collect it for themselves, cutting out the delivery services.  If you are selling something on eBay and put the delivery to local pickup only, you will be reducing the amount of people who would be interested in buying the product to those in your local area only, very few people are willing to travel a distance unless they are getting something at a really good price.

Using a Courier Service

There are a variety of courier services that may be used, which one will be used for the item you have bought greatly depends on what it is you have purchased, the size and weight of it and how expensive it is.  Here are some of the options available to you:

•    Man with a van:  for anything that is small or inexpensive a man with a van is ideal and may not be that expensive.  This type of service is ideal for transporting things like boxes of games or bags of clothes, but can be used to pretty much transport anything you like
•    Vehicle transport: if you have bought something like a car or a motorcycle from someone on eBay, having it delivered to you isn’t that simple.  In order to ensure it gets delivered to you properly you should employ the services of a specialist haulier, this will ensure you receive the vehicle in good time an good condition.  Another thing you always need to keep in mind is that when you receive your vehicle you will need to have insurance and tax on it straight away to ensure it is legal.
•    Fragile items:  you may need to hire a courier service to transport to you, something that is either fragile or expensive or both.  Before you do so consider looking at insuring your purchase
Shiply:  a number of buyers and sellers on eBay use a service called Shiply, the reason for this is that they are cheaper by up to 75%, you can get a quote via email and this is a no obligation quote, furthermore you can read real customer reviews about the company before employing them. Using this service is very beneficial, you can select a driver in your area which is saving on fuel costs.

When you are expecting to receive something in the post or by a courier service, you should contact the seller and get some information regarding the condition the product is shipped in, once you have received it you should check it thoroughly and make sure that it hasn’t been damaged or broken during transit.