Let me see if I can explain here. eBay is the marketplace, not the merchant. Think of it as a giant online flea market (which it really is).  The company that owns the land the flea market is on (the eBay website) isn’t selling anything but booth space.  They have very little control over the prices that are charged and how each booth holder or merchant handles things like returns and custom orders.

And most importantly, in this case, they can’t issue a coupon code or discount code for the flea market since they will then have to reimburse the merchants for the revenue lost.

This is why eBay Coupons are very seldom issued.  And when they are, they are issued to eBay users that are active.  They aren’t a free-for-all coupon code.  And the merchant will still be expecting to get the full price that was paid.  Any discount that the coupon affords will have to be taken from eBay’s fees or straight out of eBay’s pockets.  It doesn’t make very good sense for eBay to issue coupons very often.

So, if you’re looking for eBay coupons or eBay discount codes, you can keep looking if you like, or you can accept that in 9 out of 10 instances, if you haven’t been notified by eBay about a code, you won’t be finding one.

If you’ve answered no to either of those questions, you really should be thinking about a backup system of some sort.  I personally use Mozy Online Incremental Backup.  It’s a nifty little application that you download onto your computer that runs on a schedule.  At it’s scheduled time, it incrementally backs up all the data that you have it set up for and stores it on their servers.  Backing up Incrementally means that it only transfers the data that has been updated since the last time it was backed up.  So, if you’ve only updated your listings list, it will only upload that file.  It saves you on bandwidth and gets it done faster.  Efficiency!

And, for the month of January, 2009, they’ve issued a coupon to save 10% off of their already low, low prices.  Or, they have a free option if you can keep your backup files under 2GB.  The coupon code to enter is JANUARY.  Here’s a link for it. Use Code JANUARY for 10% off annual and biannual services.  Go and give them a look if you need a backup system. It’s horribly convenient and helps give you some peace of mind if something bad does happen.

The Code is: CHOLIDAYNOV2008

It will give you 10% off up to $100 and is effective from now until November 30, 2008.

If you got it in your eBay account or your email, now is a good time to take advantage of the program and pick up some Christmas gifts early. Every little bit of savings is going to help this holiday season. Hopefully, there will be a eBay/Paypal coupon code for December and the Holiday season 2008.

The Code is: CFALLSAVINGS10P

It will give you 10% off up to $100 and is effective from now until October 30, 2008. I sometimes wish that they would release some eBay Coupons that are a little more universal. I don’t have a problem with them rewarding their good users, but throwing out a generic eBay Coupon or PayPal Coupon every now and then certainly wouldn’t hurt. Make it something cheap 1% or 2% maybe.

The coupon is CJULYFUN0810P and it expires July 29 2008

These things keep coming directly after I buy something. It’s good for 10% off of a purchase!

After you’ve made purchases and it’s been credited to your eBayBucks account, you can then use those eBaybucks in the same way that you would an eBay coupon or Paypal Coupon. The program could end up being a pretty good deal for some buyers that do most of their purchasing on the auction giant.

We should begin hearing more about this program now that it’s being rolled out, but don’t expect any concrete facts about it until (if) they roll it out to all users. If they decide it’s not worth it, or not profitable, then it will most likely get shuttered and we’ll never hear about it again.

Finding an eBay coupon or Paypal coupon is a little like finding a needle in a haystack.  But why is it so hard?  Why aren’t there more ebay and paypal coupons available?

Well, the reason is pretty simple if we stop to think about it. There is hardly any benefit in it for eBay and Paypal.  Paypal coupons are nearly non-existent for that reason.  When a coupon is used on Paypal, the amount of the transaction goes down.  Paypal charges on the amount of the transaction.  They make less. 

Like it or not, that is also one of the reasons that eBay doesn’t do coupons very often either.  They own Paypal.  So if PayPal makes less, so does eBay.  The other reason is that they still have to pay that money to the seller.  So if you find a $50 eBay coupon, and use it, eBay still pays the seller that money. 

Normally, when a coupon is used, it is used at the market that it is issued from.  So a Home Depot coupon is generally used at Home Depot.  It directly benefits Home Depot.  An eBay coupon only indirectly benefits eBay.  Since it isn’t a direct benefit, eBay is somewhat hesitant to issue the coupons. 

For the most part, the coupons that are issued are customer appreciation coupons.  They are issued to buyers on eBay.  What the requirements for getting said coupons is, is not known.  But we’ll all continue using eBay anyways, so we can only cross our fingers and hope. 

You can still do a search for eBay and PayPal coupons and every once in a while, you will find one.  Often, they are tied to a user id though and will be unusable to anyone else.

Sell them on eBay:

No-brainer right? Well, you’ll be surprised if you ask a few people you know if they knew that gift cards could be bought and sold on eBay. Regardless, there is a very good market for gift cards. Typically, you should be able to gross about 80-82% of the face value of the card. Not bad for a free gift right? Of course, buying gift cards here is also a pretty good deal as you can net yourself an instant 20% discount before you even get to the store.

Buy stuff to sell on eBay:

Most people won’t think of this. Directly after Christmas, all the retailers mark down all their inventory to try and get rid of as much of it as possible. Lots of sellers buy product during this time, hold on to it for a month or so while waiting for prices to resume normalcy, then sell the items for a tidy profit. You can do the same with your gift card. Do a little research on the items in the flyer of the retail store you have the card for then buy some items with it. Hold on to them until mid January, then see how much profit you can make off of Aunt Mabel’s gift card!

There are lots of ways to get rid of your unwanted gift cards. There are even places where gift cards can be traded. Whatever you do, get creative and see how much money you can make with your cards!

All that product can really flood the market. And a greater supply means more product to satisfy demand. And according to the law of supply and demand, that means that the price of the product will go down. Some prices more than others. You’ll likely not find a better deal on a lot of the items that you didn’t get any other time in the coming months.

Of course, the opposite it true if you’re a seller. If you can afford to, you might want to hold on to any current product and source new product from the liquidators to bring your cost of goods down.

Whichever you are, buyer or seller, don’t ignore the deals that are to be had over the next few weeks. No coupons required.

Just follow these instructions:

How to redeem your eBay Holiday Savings Coupon:
1. Log in at www.ebay.com
using your eBay User ID on the Coupon on the left.
2. Shop with sellers who accept PayPal. Just look for the PayPal logo.
3. Ensure the listing ends before the Coupon expiration date (December 18, 2007 11:59:59 PM, PST)
4. During checkout, select PayPal as your payment method. (Make sure the email address on your eBay User ID account is also on your PayPal account. More details.)
5. When prompted, enter your redemption code: CHOLIDAY0725D

I should note that I haven’t gotten verification as to whether this does or does not work. But it’s certainly worth a try. Coincidentally, today is the last day for standard shipping to get to you before Christmas, so order quick!