Everything is available on eBay sooner or later.

I have a great example to prove it. I bought a Yamaha 4 HP kicker once that was missing a cowl. Because of that, I got a good deal: $125. Yamaha, bless them, wanted roughly $300 for that one-pound piece of plastic, but I was determined to beat that.

I watched eBay for almost three years before I found one. It was listed in Great Britain, and I won the auction for $75, including freight. It was the darndest thing. I could have bought a cowl for every outboard Yamaha ever made many times over – except for that 4 HP. But persistence paid off. Sorry, Yamaha.

BUYING YOUR GEAR

Soon enough, you are going to want to bid on something, and this is where many people get nervous. Money and goods are changing hands. Strangers have to trust each other. Nobody wants to make mistakes.

Doing some homework can increase your confidence. EBay is easy, but it is not effortless. Gathering information on the item you are buying and the seller you are buying from goes a long way. Remember too that eBay has tutorials that walk you through the procedures and are very helpful.

eBay Shopping for parts, whether for the plumbing and electrical systems or up on deck, is a smart strategy to save money.Let's say you happen to do a search for a Penn fishing reel. One of the 36 listings that you find is brand new in the box, "never been fished," so to speak. It has a current bid of $5, the auction ends in four days and bidding is set in $1 increments.

You might "sport bid," which is something I do from time to time. Often an item that I really don't need will come along at an excellent price. You find your self thinking if I get it for such and so price, I'll have a spare. Or perhaps you know the value of the item and maybe it can be resold for a stunning profit. Sport bidding involves bidding low – sometimes a buck or two – because you don't care if you loose the item. If a Penn reel comes up new in the box for $5, I am going to bid the five bucks and take my chances, even if I don't need one right now.

KNOW YOUR SELLER

But if the item is something you really want, the smart eBayer does a little research first. First, find out what the reel is worth. You look on the Cabela's site, or perhaps at your local tackle shop. Perhaps it turns out that a new reel costs about $200. You then look at similar eBay listings. Maybe they range from $65 to $230. On its face, the auction looks good. The price looks promising and pictures of the reel in the seller's listing show an item in pristine condition. If you did have questions about the reel, eBay has a system that allows you to communicate them to the seller.eBayHere is a seller's feedback score, which is a ratings system that allows eBay users to report on each other. Only do business with buyers and sellers who have solid scores.

The next step is to learn more about that seller. EBay has a ratings system that evaluates all buyers and sellers – you included – based on feedback from those they transact with. Your feedback rating is your report card for the world to see, before they choose to do business with you. A buyer or seller can inspect your feedback rating at any time – and they can add to it.

The people you have done business with via eBay are the ones that rate you, using a designation of positive, negative or neutral. They can also leave comments. If you paid for an item promptly after your last purchase, it will be noted in your feedback. If you answered questions quickly and shipped the item properly after your last sale, that too will be reflected. If you are not conscientious, it will be on the record. Buyers may not buy from you and sellers can refuse to sell to you.

EBay itself does not rate you, but the company does calculate the percentage of positive feedback, which acts as a type of overall score. A seller with a 100 percent would have a perfect record. This is the place to size up your seller. EBay users take these scores seriously, so they tend to be high. Generally speaking, you want to see something 90 percent or higher. You also want to look at the comments, which should also be positive. If you see comments complaining about late deliveries or other problems, move on. If the item escapes you, another will come along.