I buy cheap things on EBay but I usually only purchase items from my own country. I try, also, to find items that have free shipping. I really enjoy the auction part of it. You can get some really cool items for very cheap. It does get addicting though but it is a good feeling when you get the winning bid. I have never purchased anything from China even those all the items from there are so inexpensive.
I also almost exclusively buy cheap items from China on Ebay. Ebay is a great place to get a lot of really random stuff that cant be found in most shops for very cheap. The most recent thing I purchased was a set of skateboard bearings for only two dollars. The only downside to buying cheap items from China off of Ebay is that the the shipping usually takes a lifetime.
I definitely take advantage of the cheap products that you can find on ebay. I got a 32 GB Sandisk SD card for just $6 from hong kong, its lasted 2 years and is still going! When looking at stores like wal mart and even the flea market, definitely shopping on ebay can save you a ton of money. I have a rule to spend no more than $10 on hong kong and china items and make sure that it has free shipping.
It sounds awesome to buy cheap stuff on eBay because there's just so much of it on the website . And I always get free shipping on all the stuff I purchase on eBay because it just makes me feel better to know that I didn't need to pay to have it brought to me. Unless that I'm actually getting an amazing deal on an item. I normally don't buy cheap item's on eBay thought because most of it I feel will become useless to me in the future anyways. I usually buy electronics and more expensive things online because you can find amazing deals eBay.
I have done this a number of times in ebay and other Chinese sites but I only buy them if the item is hard enough to find locally. I agree that it is fun to rummage through all the cheap and obscure products though and I've also spent a couple of late nights just browsing those types of things. My only real complaint is that shipping takes a bit longer than I would like but it's not bad enough of a problem to turn me off shopping this way from time to time.
I buy things from China quite often actually, it's just that I'm not interested into using Ebay's platform. They've got really bad shipping and they charge a lot of money if you order outside of your country. They once lost a product of mine and refused to refund it. Obviously I couldn't chargeback on PayPal because they were related at the time. Just use lightinthebox.com. It's the best bang for the buck you'd ever see.
Want to buy used books at very low prices? Ebay is the place to get them? Need to buy used DVDs? Ebay is the place to . . . It took me a little while to figure out how to get the best out of Ebay and it all came down to buying only from sellers who have a good track record selling on Ebay, the quality of their service endorsed by many translating to high feedback scores. Buy only from the right sellers and you'll enjoy shopping on Ebay [and save a lot of money in the process].
