If you asked anyone about eBay 10 years ago many people would’ve just looked at you dumbfounded, but roll on another 10 years and eBay is now an internet sensation. Originally eBay was set up as a means for people to auction off unwanted items old or new, now you can set up small businesses and operate through eBay.
As eBay has improved security over the years there are now procedures in place that protect the buyer more so than the seller. Many large and small businesses use eBay as another way of selling their products on a top rated website. If you asked me a few years ago to buy something on eBay I would’ve been offended. eBay not only sell old items but there are many things you can buy that are new. In fact since buying my first home I have bought most of my furniture and other items such as, mattress, laptop battery, memory cards and so much more, all new and in their original packaging.
Is eBay really cheaper than other online retailers?
After using eBay to buy a lot of personal items and also do some research I have found in 95% of the case it is cheaper to buy through eBay. For example when I was looking to buy a new memory foam mattress and pillows it was costing well over £600 in the shops, £400 online and around £150 on eBay for everything including delivery. I was also looking for a new battery for my laptop and found it on Amazon, before I went through to pay for it I decided to look on eBay. I found that the same seller on Amazon was selling it for £5 less with free delivery saving me a total of £10!
I have also found that when you go to sellers that have set up small business and are selling ‘buy it now’ items if you visit their eBay shop you can also get it cheaper. It’s weird but true. Just recently I bought a makeup set from a seller on eBay I didn’t realise that they already had a website, when my order arrived I noticed they had a web address and decided to have a look. The makeup set I bought from eBay was actually cheaper on their website. This very rarely happens but in this case eBay was not the cheaper option.
The same goes for used items there are many things such as baby items that are really expensive but sell for less than half the retail price on eBay. You can make a bigger saving if you find a seller that is willing to let you pick it up, you therefore save on postage but it only works if they are in close proximity and the item is fairly useful. Happy Bidding!
Over the last few days the weather has certainly improved, so much so that having a barbeque seemed the norm. Seen as we don’t have one we decided to buy one and put it to good use, we wanted one that was easy to store and that we could also take to the beach. As the weather forecasters are also predicting that this year will not be a washout and that summer will be a month longer I’m hoping to get my moneys worth before the summer is over.
Gas BBQ vs charcoal BBQ?
My husband wanted a gas barbeque whereas i wasn’t so fussy, after doing a little research i found that the most commonly used gas for barbeques is propane gas which is widely available and also available at B&Q and Homebase. We decided to go to B&Q to take a look and see if we could take advantage of the 15% off BBQ’s that weekend. We found one that was reduced but it was quite large and the only way to store it was to leave it out and cover it which would look slightly odd in our immaculate garden. I decided to enquire about the propane gas that it needed for the BBQ to take place. The B&Q advisor told me that the bigger canister cost £25 but we would also have to pay another £25 to rent it, when you no longer want a refill and the gas canister is empty only then will you get the deposit back.
The other thing about gas for barbeques is when it finishes and you are in the middle of cooking what happens? Most people only have one gas canister at a time due to the rental cost so in the end we opted for B&Q’s 46cm Kettle Charcoal Barbeque. It was actually a little bigger than the gas one selling for near £60 but for a bargain price of £24.48 and also small enough to fit in the boot of the car for when we go for a day down at the beach. Assembly was easy and the barbeque was over within half an hour!
It cooks really well and comes with its own lid so theres no need to cover it, its also small enough to store in the shed. Overall it was a very good buy and well worth the money!
The last time I cut my grass with a lawnmower I broke it! I had borrowed my mother’s cheap lawnmower in the hope of saving me some money before I decide on a brand that I trust. Due to the engine being less powerful and not knowing how to adjust the blade height I accidently snuffed it. I then had to fork out nearly £100 for a new one and vowed never to borrow it again.
So now it is a year later and I still hadn’t gotten round to choosing let alone buy a new lawnmower. Since I have quite a large garden over 80ft in length I was sure that a petrol lawnmower would be the best purchase for me, but after doing some reading I found that electric lawnmowers can be just as powerful and reliable if not better. Since I had bought my mum a Bosch Rotak lawnmower I decided to take a look at the higher end to see if they were any good.
I came across the Bosch Rotak 40 Electric rotary lawnmower, after reading many reviews I was happy that this machine would be reliable and competent enough to carry out the work. Bearing in mind that I hadn’t cut my grass in over a year so my grass was very overgrown as much as 15cm. The Bosch Rotak 40 looked very impressive with its 50L capacity grass box and blades at the side of the lawnmower meaning it cuts grass closer to the edge. The best feature was how easy it is to select the blade height, there’s no need to manual change the blade height there is a handy lever on the front of the lawnmower clearly displaying the blade height.
Bosch Rotak 40 Electric rotary lawnmower
When you take it out the box there are a few things to assemble like the grass box collector, the lawnmower handles and clips to keep the wire secured to the handle. After that all you need to do is adjust the blade height by using the lever and you off to go. The handling of the lawnmower is effortless and there is no need to go over the same area twice, when the engine is about to cut off it lets you know so you can go easy on it. I only had to empty the grass box collection about three times for my huge garden whereas my neighbour next door constantly has to empty out his. After watching my husband doing the first half of the garden I was tempted to give it a go myself and found that everyone can use this lawnmower with minimal effort. It was definitely worth the £135 price tag but shop around as you can get it for as little as £119 but as I needed it the very same day I couldn’t wait a week for delivery.