This week | MARTIN'S QUICK BRIEFING: For more tips, alerts & awful puns, follow Martin on Twitter 40 eBay bargain hunters' secrets
Find local deals, exploit spelling mistykes & win with sniping tools The ubiquitous online auction site is a mammoth marketplace with millions of goods. Many just bid, but to hone in on uber-deals, try our updated 40+ eBay BUYING Secrets guide. As a taster, here are 10 top tips on and off eBay... | 1. | New. FREE eBay Local Deals iPhone app. From designer sofas to PS3s and scooters, sellers often specify items are 'collection only' - meaning fewer competing bids and serious bargains. Yet you can't search for this on eBay, so we've built tools to speedily track and map 'em:
On the web: Try the free Local eBay Deals Mapper tool.
New iPhone app. You asked for it - here's the iPhone Local eBay Deals app.
Android app: If you haven't already, grab our Android Local eBay Deals app.
Mobile website: Try our Local eBay Mobile Site (can only see from mobile).
Results can be powerful, such as MoneySaver Jen_Jen1985's: "Had been looking for a double buggy - most ended up selling for around £40. I found one via the Local Deals Finder and ended up winning it for £1.24."
Got friends in the USA? We've had a play and made the iPhone and Android apps work for people Stateside too. Please let them know about it. | | | | 2. |  Exploit speiling mistakes. Typos and erroars on eBay are incredibubbly common. Of course, that meanz fewer peeple serching for things, so the prices you get are rack bottom. A host of mistake spotters trawl eBay for all possible spelling mishtake combinationes. | | | | 3. | Be a sniper... Spotted something you want to buy? Bid early and rival buyers bid back, forcing the price upwards. Sniping tools auto-bid for you in the last 10 seconds to seal cheaper deals.
| | | | 4. | Bag no-bid 99p items. Often sellers start auctions at 99p or less, hoping a bidding war will erupt. Many items go unspotted, staying at super-low prices. There's a 99p spotter tool that scours eBay just for them.
| | | | 5. | Find auctions closing in the dead of night. Listings that finish at anti-social times often get fewer bids (a warning for sellers there too). Pick a time slot and a night-time bargain tool cruises for vampiric bargains. | | | | 6. | Buy stolen goods on the cheap... Don't worry, it's all legal via police auctions, where forces in England & Wales use an eBay-style site to sell lost property or goods seized from criminals when they can't find the rightful owner. Cracking for bicycles, among other things. | | | | 7. | Build Amazon 75%+ bargain basements. The Amazon Discount Finder uses web wizardry to manipulate Amazon links to build bespoke pages. It's not perfect, but can give corking results, eg, perfume 70% off*, TVs 25% off* and accessories 75% off*. | | | | 8. | Up to 80%+ off M&S, Asos, Argos, etc. A host of big name retailers flog unsold lines up to 80%+ off via online outlets. Our Outlet Store Discount Finder searches 50+ outlets for huge clothes, furniture and toy discounts.
Goods found incl £18 Kurt Geiger shoes* (were £150), £6 Firetrap scarves* (£30) and £8 boys' Chelsea boots* (£28). (Clearance stock goes quickly, so these may sell out once we send the email.) | | | | 9. | Find & compare the cheapest prices with the MegaShopBot. Whether on eBay or Amazon, never assume it's a bargain until you've checked prices elsewhere first. The MegaShopBot finds the best shopping comparison site for each type of good, to see if you can buy stuff cheaper. | | | | 10. | Find the hottest deals that minute from our forum. The MSE forum has 100,000s of deal-hunters sharing tips. The Forum WOW Deals Feed gathers their highest-rated deals, updated every minute, so you can see the best. Or you can contribute your own - join the forum free. | | |
PS. Don't buy bargains for the sake of it. Use the mantras below first. PPS. eBay sellers, there are many tricks the other way round too. Our 40+ eBay SELLING Tricks is a crash course, incl how to build rep, smash fees, boost sales. |
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| The Ones Not To Miss | Wed 31 Jul 2013 |
Flight delayed? You're due £200-£500 per person
Whether last week or six years ago, NEW guidelines make the flight delay compensation rules even clearer Land 3hrs+ late & EU laws mean you can be due compensation. We launched our Flight Delays Compensation guide in Nov - we've been swamped with successes. Yet some fall as airlines play hardball. That's about to change...  'I got £3,000 back'. Kathleen is typical. "We were delayed 24 hrs Gatwick to Orlando in 2009 with Virgin. [After seeing Flight Delay Guide in 2013] within 2wks of applying we received £3,060 compensation for six. If it wasn't for MSE I wouldn't have known."- The key need-to-knows...
- You can go back to 2005 (2007+ is easier). Ignore airlines claiming a 2yr limit.
- The delay needs to be more than 3 hours - see how to check past delay lengths.
- You must have taken off from an EU airport or flown into an EU airport (but then it must be an EU airline).
- Compensation's not linked to flight cost. It depends on delay and journey length and is £200-£500/person.
- It must be the airline's fault, so weather and security issues don't count. See full what counts as the airline's fault.
- Some airlines offer vouchers as compensation. You're entitled to cash, so if you want it, go back and ask for it.
- Fair to airlines? Arguably not, if your flight cost £10 and you get £500. See Martin's legal vs moral concerns.
- Already tried/succeeded? Please take 20 seconds to answer our airline-by-airline feedback poll.
- How to claim. Use our free template letters to write to the airline with your delay details. If it rejects you, there's no Ombudsman, but the CAA and European Consumer Centre can give an opinion if it's fair. See How To Claim.
- Claim rejected as it was a 'technical fault'? New guidelines say where it's the airline's fault (ie, poor maintenance) it must pay up. If that's gone against you, take up the fight again. See Wrongly Rejected?
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| New huge Argos clearance sale - tool finds local bargains. Lots of stock just added. Search by postcode for deals near you, eg, near us 32" LED TVs at £180 (were £300, cheapest elsewhere £229) or £4 cushions. Argos Deal Finder Urgent. £9 champagne trick (min 6) RRP £22. Code stacking for Sainsburys.co.uk newbies. Cheap Champers. Tesco Wine extra 25% off 50% sale. The Tesco Wine* sale's on, but buy 2 cases before Tue 6 Aug & get an extra 25% off. See Cheap Wine. Please be Drinkaware. Free translation Android app for 50 languages. C'est vrai. Just download before you go. Get 'appy. |
Shift debts to 5.9% FOR LIFE
Got credit card debt? You can now LOCK IN at 5.9% or get new LONGEST EVER 0% deal. Save £1,000s in interest Anyone with existing credit card debt, sit up and take note. A balance transfer is when you get a new card that pays off existing cards for you, so you owe it instead, at a lower rate - meaning more of your repayments clear the actual debt. - Lock in at 5.9% for LIFE. 0% cards are great, provided you'll repay them or can shift again before they end. Yet if you need longer, want less hassle or have uncertain repayments, a permanent low rate is better. Shift debt to MBNA's Rate for Life* card and it's 5.9% APR, plus a one-off 1.5% fee, until all the debt shifted is repaid.
- Longest ever 28mths 0%. If you can repay quicker, 0%s win. A price war means the longest ever 0% card's just launched, though its fee's heavy. Choose the lowest fee, provided you can clear the card within its 0% time.
- Will you get these cards? Top deals are great, but only if you can get them. That involves passing a credit score. To see which cards you're most likely to be accepted for, try our Balance Transfer Eligibility Checker.
- The balance transfer golden rules. a) Repay at least the set monthly minimum, or you may lose the 0%. b) Aim to clear the debt or shift again before the 0% ends, or rates rocket. c) Don't spend on these, it isn't usually at the cheap rate. d) To help decide, see our Which Card's Cheapest? tool. e) FULL info & FAQs in Best Balance Transfers.
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| Amazon slashes free delivery... how to beat it. Free delivery's now £10 min spend, the main exceptions are books, CDs, DVDs & software. a) For £7-£10 items: as del's £3+ (but varies), buy extra items to get to £10. b) Add cheap CD/DVD, then it's free. c) Get free 1mth Amzn Prime Trial* for free next-day delivery (don't forget to cancel). Free Amazon Delivery Ends Mon: 6mths' Lovefilm movie streaming £10 (usually £25). Get unlimited movies code. Lovefilm Deals
Best euro/dollar & other holiday money rates. The best rates come from spending on a specialist credit card. Halifax Clarity* is the top pick as it also has low ATM charges, just ensure you repay IN FULL each month or it's 12.9% rep APR. Full help in Cheap Travel Cards. Need best rates for cash? Compare over 40 bureaux with TravelMoneyMax.com.
Sains 10p/L off fuel with £60 spend. Ends today (Wed). Joins mega-popular Tesco up to 30p/L off. Cheap Petrol Cinema Bargains (well, the rain's back...)
'Free' tickets with £4 sweets | £1 kids' Cineworld tickets (inc Smurfs) | 45% off Odeon (for O2 custs) Teacher? You get TWO free Sea Life tickets. Print vouch for any Aug day. Usually up to £22.50 each. Sea Life |
Tricks to MAX Tesco points
The supermarket megalith's in-store double-up's now year-round - but there are better ways to boost points
A clever bit of retail spin, this. The supermarket giant has turned its twice-yearly points promotion into an ongoing deal. Yet dig beneath the small print and it's not quite so good, with fewer departments offering the coveted special vouchers.  Step 1: Reclaim £100s of lost Tesco vouchers. Whether lost or forgotten, you can check and reclaim old Tesco vouchers online at speed. Many bag far more than you'd think, such as forumite AlanRus: "Found £159 of vouchers I'd lost. Excellent result."- Step 2: Check if you can quadruple value (or get £2.50 cinema tix). Before doubling, check Tesco's Boost With Clubcard Partner deals (previously Tesco Rewards) for shops, restaurants, days out, etc. £10 vouchers becomes £40 at Ask, £30 at Goldsmiths, £20 on train tickets. Plus till Mon 26 Aug, £2.50 gets Cineworld/Odeon tickets. See full Top 10 Tesco Rewards.
- Step 3. Double vouchers in-store and online, incl baby and clothing. Its Boost With Tesco scheme (was Double Exchange) lets you swap £5 of vouchers for £10 to spend in-store or online in baby/toddler, cookware, clothing and cosmetics/fragrance departments, as well as in-store opticians. Full help in Boost With Tesco.
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| Nectar double-up reminder. Until Tue 13 Aug, £5 of points gets £10/£20 in some places. See Double Nectar. Take a peek inside Martin's overseas wallet... his latest blog & pics. |
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| Cheap travel insurance from £7, or £14 for a year. Ensure you're covered. Single trip: MoneySupermarket* comparison finds the cheapest, eg, a week in Europe can be £7 individual or £11 family. Year's cover: Go away 2+ times a year and this tends to win. Coverwise* is £14 in Europe, Travel Guard* £27 worldwide. FULL INFO: For over-65s, families, pre-existing conditions and top value policies with strong payout histories, see Cheap Travel Insurance. Codes... Debenhams extra 10% off sale, Urban Outfitters 25% & more...
Sale codes: Debenhams extra 10% | Urban Outfitters 25% Sale & non-sale: Tie Rack 10% | Brantano 30%
Normal codes: (off full price) The White Company 15% off + free del | Toni & Guy 20% off vch | All Discount Vouchers Free Krispy Kreme doughnut (RRP £1.35). Turn up at 'happy hour' at 10 stores, weekdays in Aug. Krispy Kreme |
Turn my mobile off abroad? Ha ha ha
If you smirk at idea of leaving your handset at home, beware - costs can be £100s. Here's how to ROAM for LESS Thousands return from happy holidays to be walloped by miserable, massive mobile bills of £100s, or scarily, £1,000s. Yet you can cut these hugely. Full help in our Cheap Mobile Roaming & Cheap Data Roaming guides. Here are some quickies:  Know your call costs. In the EU: Costs are now capped at 24p/min to make calls; 7p/min to receive (yes, you pay to receive); 8p/text (so text, don't talk) and 46p/MB of data. Plus hit £51 of charges and your use is auto-blocked, unless you request release. Outside EU: Costs explode, up to £3/min to call, 35p/text; and at £6/MB of data, if your teens casually watch YouTube, it could cost £3,000. Be very careful.- Turn data roaming off. If you've a smartphone, even if you're not using the web, your apps may be racking up huge bills without you knowing. Forumite motbofres really suffered: "Went to India and US, got back and Orange was taking £3,000 for data." So turn data roaming off.
- Don't ask, don't get discounts. Many networks have free/cut-price roaming bundles. Sign up for while you're away, then cancel once back home. Full info in Cheap Call Bundles and Cheap Data Bundles.
- Use wi-fi, not 3G. 3G or 4G means accessing costly data via your mobile signal. Instead, access free wi-fi abroad then browse, send free texts and make free calls via Skype* and other apps.
- Get a special overseas Sim card. If you visit one country a lot, switch to a local Sim. For heavy users visiting many places, get a cheap international Sim which lets you receive calls for free and make 'em up to 90% cheaper.
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| £5 Monopoly Monsters University. Can you find em? In-store only, £15+ elsewhere. Asda Deals. Cheap holiday car hire tips. a) Compare with Kayak* & Carrentals*, or if for less than 3 days, Auto Europe*, as it lets you search via fuel policy. b) Use Moneymaxim* to find cheapest excess insurance. FULL info: Cheap Holiday Car Hire 10 kids' books £13 or 8 paperbacks £13 all-in. Incl Pooh, Mr Men or Dan Brown, James Patterson. Cheap Books |
Restaurant vouchers | Discount vouchers & sales | Top deals |
| The Moneysaving community |
| RIP Squeaky. It's with sadness we must report Squeaky, the fantastic Old Style and Consumer Rights board guide has passed away. His thrift indexes helped 1,000s of struggling people. Please sign the book of remembrance.  FANTASY FOOTBALL
Join the FREE MSE £100 2013/14 Fantasy Premier League. You loved it last year, so it's on again. Play against other MoneySavers to win £100 for a charity of your choice. Play Free Fantasy Football. THE GREAT HUNT
Ripped off for common car repairs - how much should you pay?
A study's found quoting a price to car mechanics can stop women getting duped over garage repair costs (source: The Times). We want to tap MoneySavers' experience for how much you've paid for tyres, servicing, oil changes and more, to help others know how much is too much. Share yours/read others': Real car repair costs? Past topics: View all CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK
Are you worried about the cost of school uniforms?
Summer's just started, but are you already thinking about the cost of sending your kids to school next year? If you're a parent, carer or guardian, Citizens Advice would love your views via its quick school costs survey. Suggest a campaign: This is for MSE to support work by other charities, groups and campaigners. Send your campaign of the week suggestion. MONEY MORAL DILEMMA
Should I pay fixed contribution for teacher's gift?
This week's MoneySaver who wants advice asks... My son's school collects money at the end of each year to buy a gift for the teacher and teaching assistant. I've nothing against them, but £25 per pupil is outrageous. It's not a small sum and I told my son I won't pay on principle, but he got upset and said he'd save up his pocket money instead because he doesn't want to be the odd one out. I wrote to the teacher to suggest a charity donation instead - she said she'd prefer John Lewis vouchers. Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should I pay £25 for teacher's gift? | Suggest an MMD | View Past MMDs CHEAP FLIGHT SALES ALERT
Airline: Monarch Offer: £20-off code Ends: Thu 8 Aug
This week's pick is Monarch's £20-off code. Each passenger gets £20 off any return flight between 1 Sep-18 Dec 2013. If four travel, that's £80, but it doesn't apply to infants. Enter code EXTRA20 at the checkout to get the discount. To find flights quickly, use FlightChecker on a return search. Extra charges warning: Avoid payment and check-in charges - see Budget Airline Fee Fighting. Related: Cheap Flights, Cheap Hotels, Spending Abroad, Cheap Currency, Travel Insurance back to top ↑ |
Quick forum tips | Freebies |
Martin's blogs | Martin's appearances 1 August
Daybreak, ITV, 7.35am-7.45am.
Deals of the Week. | 1 August
Shelagh Fogarty, Radio 5, 12pm-1pm.
Consumer Panel. | 5 August
This Morning, ITV, 11am-12pm.
Subject tbc. | | |
MSE team corner - Team blogs:
- No team blogs this week
- Team appearances:
- No team appearances this week
| Discussion of the week Weekly Flylady Thread "There are never enough hours in the day" - it's a common dilemma. See how our forumites tackle this on our Weekly Flylady Thread (gents welcome too). From Manic Monday to Friday, get involved and get on top of those never-ending tasks. | Cheap travel money |
This week's poll: What have you taken from a hotel room? | Poll results How did you feel about the royal baby news?
Well-wishers might have queued for hours to see the new baby prince last week, but it's unlikely many voters were among them. Almost half felt fed up with the coverage.
- 49% were tired of royal baby news.
- 31% weren't bothered either way.
- 20% loved it and were glued to the TV/Twitter.
9,345 voted. See the full results. |
Question of the week Q: I want to volunteer abroad for 10 months. I was told if I'm not in the UK for six months of the year, I won't get any travel insurance. Is this correct? Elizabeth, by email. MSE Tony’s A: Standard annual policies won't suit you, as they usually limit you to 30 days per trip. So long as your journey starts and ends in the UK, you need a backpacker or gap-year policy. Try Direct Line, Virgin Money*, Direct Travel* and Insure and Go* who offer specialist policies. MoneySupermarket* and Confused.com* also give backpacker quotes.
Your volunteer work shouldn't cause an issue, but tell the insurer as it may want to know if it involves manual work or children. Finally, if you're looking for thrill-seeking activities such as skydiving, shark cage diving or other risky fun, check with the insurer first if you're covered, or can pay for cover. More info in our updated Travel Insurance Guide. Please suggest a question of the week (we can't reply to individual emails). |
 Archna's free game of the week: Black Side |
Face-palm purchases That's it for this week. Before we go, we want to know the worst, biggest impulse buy you've ever made. Were you drunk? Why did you do it? How much did it cost? Time to get it off your chest: Face-palm purchases We hope you save some money, Martin & the MSE team |
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What you need to know This info does not constitute financial advice, always do your own research on top to ensure it's right for your specific circumstances - and remember we focus on rates not service. We don't as a general policy investigate the solvency of companies mentioned, how likely they are to go bust, but there is a risk any company can struggle and it's rarely made public until it's too late (see the section 75 guide for protection tips). We often link to other websites, but we can't be responsible for their content. Always remember anyone can post on the MSE forums, so it can be very different from our opinion. Please read the Full Terms & Conditions, Privacy Policy, how this site is financed and Editorial Code. Martin Lewis is a registered trade mark belonging to Martin S Lewis. More about MoneySaving Expert and Martin Lewis What is MoneySavingExpert.com?
Founded in February 2003, it's now the UK's biggest consumer help website with over 6 million people getting this email and nearly 10m using the site. In September 2012 it became part of the MoneySupermarket Group PLC. Its focus is simple: how to save cash and fight for financial justice on anything and everything. The site has over 30 full time staff about half of whom are editorial researching, analysing and writing to continually find ways to save money. More info: See About MSE Who is Martin Lewis? Martin set up and runs MSE, he's an ultra-focused money saving journalist and consumer campaigner. He has regular slots on Daybreak, Lorraine, Radio 2 Vine, BBC1 Watchdog, Radio 5 Consumer panel and presents ITV Tonight. He is a columnist for amongst others the Sunday Post as well as an author. More info: See Martin Lewis' biog What do the links with a * mean? Any links with a * by them are affiliated, which means get a product via this link and a contribution may be made to MoneySavingExpert.com, which helps it stay free to use. You shouldn't notice any difference; the links don't impact the product at all and the editorial line (the things we write) isn't changed due to it. If it isn't possible to get an affiliate link for the best product, it's still included in the same way. More info: See how this site is financed. As we believe transparency is important, we're including the following 'un-affiliated' web-addresses for content too:
Unaffiliated web-addresses for links in this email amazon.co.uk, ebay.co.uk, asos.com, tesco.com, mbna.co.uk, barclaycard.co.uk, halifax.co.uk, nationwide.co.uk, natwest.com, rbs.co.uk, lloydstsb.com, google.co.uk, aviva.co.uk, directline.com, confused.com, admiral.com, cbonline.co.uk, sainsburysbank.co.uk, moneysupermarket.com, coverwise.co.uk, travel-guard.co.uk, skype.com, kayak.co.uk, carrentals.co.uk, auto-europe.co.uk, moneymaxim.co.uk, energyhelpline.com, uswitch.com, santander-products.co.uk, firstdirect.com, productsandservices.bt.com, postoffice.co.uk.
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