If you have received a coupon for eBay via email, you are one of
the lucky and select few. eBay and PayPal seldom send coupon or
gift certificate offers to all members, only to those who meet
certain criteria.

For example, sometimes eBay will use electronic discount coupons
to entice a member back to the site. This means that if you
were a fairly active buyer on eBay and suddenly stopped buying,
they may email you an offer of a discount on your next purchase.
This kind of coupon is usually accompanied by your email address,
which means it is only valid for you to use and will have an
expiry date.

Sometimes EBay offers electronic discount coupons to a certain
group of members. If they are experiencing low sales in a
particular area, they may send the coupon codes to users who
have previously purchased those items.

eBay also offers more general coupons. Even though they may
originally be emailed to targeted members, the offers can be
used by other buyers who met the stated criteria. A good rule
of thumb to follow is that if it doesn’t reference an email
address, the coupon can be shared.

Paypal also offers occasional discount coupons by email for
different promotional reasons. Sometimes they are for every
user and, other times, they are for certain users, groups or
areas. A recent promotion at Christmas time featured free
shipping and discounts of $5 to $20 from selected online
merchants. PayPal promotions are also run via electronic
discount coupons and have expiry dates and conditions of use.

Where to Find eBay and PayPal Coupons

Coupons that can be used by others are often mentioned on eBay’s
chat forum, and in forums associated with other websites that
announce bargains and deals. You can also find these types of
coupons by doing a web search for “eBay coupon code” (or “Paypal
coupon code”), but many such links are expired and some may be
fraudulent, so be careful.

Restrictions on Using eBay and PayPal Coupons

The most important thing to remember is that you must find and
buy an item that accepts PayPal and then pay with PayPal. You
will only see the discount when using PayPal as payment. If
you have a coupon code and plan to use it on an eBay purchase,
it is your responsibility to verify before buying that the
seller does accept PayPal. You are still obligated to pay the
seller for the item even though you cannot use your eBay coupon
or gift certificate.

Currently, coupons are only valid for items listed on eBay.com,
eBay.ca, and eBay.co.uk.

Make sure that the email address on the coupon is associated
with your PayPal account; if it isn’t, add that email address to
your PayPal account.

All eBay discount coupons have expiration dates.

How to Redeem

Generally, a digital discount coupon is a long code that you
enter on the payment screen when you win an item. On PayPal
there is a box labeled “Coupons, Gift Certificates and eBay
Anything Points”. This is where you enter the coupon code
number. If validated, the discount will be automatically
deducted from the balance due. If your coupon doesn’t cover the
total cost of the item, the remainder of the funds will be
deducted from your PayPal account or the bank account associated
with it.

The person selling the item has no indication that you have used
a coupon (the savings come from eBay, not from the seller) and
the sale goes proceeds as usual.

Given the fact that you can buy unique and highly desirable
items on eBay at very attractive prices to begin with, the
possibility of adding to your savings by using an eBay or PayPal
coupon is not one to be missed. By making regular checks to see
if there are any discounts currently available via eBay or
Paypal, you can be one of the people taking advantage of these
savings.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author and "Online Shopping Insider" Diana Ratliff has released
a new e-book that will show YOU how to save time, money, and
hassle while shopping SAFELY online. Free Savvy Shopper email
course.  A MUST for anyone who buys online on eBay-or elsewhere!
Check out ==> http://www.InsidersGuideToShoppingOnline.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Copyright 2006 Diana Ratliff, All Rights Reserved Worldwide.