How to Use Ebay to Find Great Deals on Art Supplies

I have been using Ebay occasionally for a few years to buy various items I needed. Recently, I have been running low on many of my oil paint colors. I have been checking out a few online stores, as the nearest art supply shop is a four hour drive from where I live. I tried ordering from a couple online stores, but after checking out my cart, the shipping is usually way too high. I also dislike the added fees by customs when ordering from another country.

 

 

 

Well, I decided to search for oil paint at Ebay.  After a couple weeks of searching, I came upon a local auction (Canada) for a bulk supply of oil paint. In my excitement, I placed a bid right away, when I know I show have just watched the item, and waited till the last few minutes of the auction to bid. I was soon outbid anyway. But, I logged in and watched the auction about 30 minutes before it was to end. I kept refreshing the page, as to continuously see if it was being bidded on, which it was. About 10 minutes before it was to end, there was a bidding war. But, I decided to be smart about it, and not encourage higher bidding. I waited till the last 10 seconds and won the auction! I won 53 40ml tubes of new Rembrandt oil paint for just $193!

So, I decided to calculate exactly how much I saved. I already knew the Ebay auction was an incredible deal. I went to Dickblick.com and proceeded to the Rembrandt oil paint page. Blick is already dramatically cheaper than some other online art supply stores, as the Rembrandt oil paints have a 40% discount off list prices.

The prices for individual tubes depend on the color – prices range from $7 – $22. The total price of the 53 oil paint tubes is $685.11.

The amount I saved was $492.11, which would be quite a bit more if taxes were factored in! I am very happy with this order and am patiently waiting for it to arrive. Hopefully it is all in very good condition, but I am fairly confident of that, as I looked at the sellers comments before bidding.

Here are some helpful tips for finding great art supply deals of your own at Ebay.

 

Ways to use Ebay to Search for Incredible Deals on Art Materials

 

1. Look for the price of the item at your local art supply store, or online. Search for the lowest price for the product, as this will be a more accurate guide to knowing how much you will save.
   
2. Search for bulk art supply for items such as oil paint, as you can save considerably more money.
   
   
   
3. Look for auctions located in your own country to avoid paying extra amounts for shipping and customs fees.
   
4. Pay attention to the Ebay sellers reputation, which shows how much they can be trusted. Look at the comments left from other buyers who have purchased from them before.
   
5. Do not bid on the item right away, but wait a few minutes before it ends, which is termed sniping. The point is not to incite a bidding war, which could raise the price far above what you are willing to pay.

Do you have your own buying from Ebay tips to add? Have you gotten an incredible deal on art supplies from Ebay? Please let us know about it below.

Thank-you for reading and hopefully I have helped you search for high quality art materials at a cheap price at Ebay!

 

UPDATE!

I received all 53 tubes of oil paint (all different colors), and all is in excellent condition – which makes me very happy!