How to Set Up eBay Alerts

From DRB62’s Flickr photostream.

You can’t subscribe to eBay search results in an RSS feed, so if you’re looking for a particular something and don’t have the time — or a good enough memory — to check eBay every few days to see if one’s been listed, you can set up easy email alerts for your favorite searches.

Here’s how:

• To set up a favorite search, simply perform a regular eBay search.   For example, I’ll search for anything with the phrase “Grand Rapids Calder.”
• From the search results page (see below), click between the brackets where it says “Save this Search.”

• When you click “save this search,” a pop-up window asks you if you’d like to receive email notifications when items match your search results. I usually save rare searches like these for 12 months. They pop up so infrequently I know my inbox won’t be inundated with eBay emails.

You can also use eBay Favorite Searches to alert you to items selling at a low price. This is an excellent way to score last minute deals — like Eames shell chairs selling way below market value.  To do this:

• Do an ‘Advanced Search’ and enter these additional search terms:

PRICE:

And END TIME:

Save that search, and you’ll get an alert each time an Eames shell chair auction is ending within 12 hours and is still under $50.

Of course, I’ll probably be there to snark you.

Happy bidding!