5 Top Tips for Using eBay for Family History

When you think of websites for genealogy and family history research, the auction and shopping site eBay probably doesn’t pop into your head.

But it should.

In this post, I’ll tell you why that is, as well as share some of my top tips and strategies for effectively using eBay for family history!

Wait, eBay for Family History? Seriously?

Yes, I’m serious. I’ve made some incredible family history finds on eBay. And I’ll bet YOU can too!

Founded in 1995 and headquartered in San Jose, California, eBay is one of the world’s largest online marketplaces. eBay connects millions of buyers around the world to sellers with a unique selection of items for sale. eBay is available in over 180 countries and can be accessed on your computer via the internet and on your smartphone with a mobile app.

In the first quarter of 2022, eBay reported $19.41 billion dollars in Gross Merchandise Volume, which is the total sales for all eBay marketplaces. There are about 1.5 billion live listings on the eBay Marketplace with 159 million active users worldwide.[efn_note]Fiona O’Connor, “eBay statistics: Q1 2022,” eDesk, https://www.edesk.com/blog/ebay-statistics, 28 February 2022.[/efn_note]

So, what does this mean for you? It means that there is a lot of stuff for sale, and the odds are good that you can find something pertaining to your family history!

What You Can Find on eBay

With over a billion active listings, you can expect to find just about anything on eBay.

Here are a few suggestions of family history-type items to search for.

• Archival supplies
• Certificates and applications for lineage societies & fraternal organizations
• County and town histories
• Family Bibles (very popular and often expensive)
• Family histories
• Ledger books
• Letters and diaries
• Maps
• Military records, awards, medals, and uniforms
• Old newspapers
• Original land deeds
• Photographs
• Receipts, tickets, and other ephemera
• Regional cookbooks
• Worksheets and printables
• Research, methodology, and how-to books
• Stationery (letterhead, envelopes, postcards, etc.)
• Tax records
• Transcriptions of local records

Over the past few years, I’ve purchased a variety of letters, scrapbooks, photos, postcards, stationery, maps, regional cookbooks, and several out-of-print county histories and methodology books. Each of these items has enriched my family history in some way and has helped me tell the stories of my ancestors.

Now… let’s get to the tips!

Tip #1: Save Your Searches

If you search eBay for something that you will most likely search for, again and again, then you need to save that search. Save time by letting eBay do the work of searching for you behind the scenes!

Here’s how to create a saved search:

• Search for something. Type a descriptive term in the search box and hit the Search button.
• Click the “Save this search” link next to the heart icon at the top of your search results.
• When your search is saved, the heart icon will turn blue and the link will read, “Saved.”

You can view your saved searches later by clicking the “My eBay” tab at the top right of your screen.

Tip #2: Subscribe to Saved-Search Emails

When eBay finds an item that matches your saved search query, you’ll want to know about it right away, won’t you?

Of course, you will, and this is where the saved-search email settings come in. When you subscribe to email for your saved searches, eBay will automatically send you an email when matching items are found.

And subscribing requires no effort whatsoever. You’re automatically subscribed to email notifications by default when you save a search.

However, if your saved search is for a common name or item like “Smith” or “family Bible,” then you may end up receiving an annoying number of email notifications. You can stop receiving emails for any of your saved searches by clicking the “Unsubscribe email” link.

I strongly recommend that you subscribe to saved-search email notifications. It takes no time at all and will give you the best chance of quickly locating any family heirlooms that you are serious about purchasing.

Tip #3: Watch It

If you have your eye on an item, but you’re not quite ready to buy it yet, you can add it to your Watchlist while you think it over. Up to 300 items can be added to your Watchlist so you don’t have to worry about losing track of items that you might be interested in purchasing.

You are not obligated to buy any of the items on your Watchlist. But keep in mind that
other shoppers can still buy or bid on items that you’re watching. Depending on an item’s popularity, you may not want to wait too long or you’ll risk losing the item!

Email updates and notifications about items on your Watchlist are sent to you by default. For example, you’ll receive a notification if the auction for one of your watched items is ending soon. If you don’t want to receive these notifications, you can change how often you receive them, or turn them off completely under Account Settings > Communication Preferences. And you can check the status of your Watchlist items at any time by clicking the “Watchlist” tab.

It’s important to note that putting an item on your Watchlist tells the seller that you’re interested. Now, I know that might sound creepy, but trust me, it’s a good thing. When a seller sees that a buyer has expressed interest in an item by putting it on a Watchlist, the seller often reaches out to that buyer to offer a special discount. The seller might even invite you to make an offer, which means you tell the seller how much you want to pay (be sure to keep it fair).

Keep in mind that special offers from sellers usually have a time limit (typically about 48 hours), and you are not obligated to accept. If you’re not interested, just ignore the offer, and it will eventually expire.

The thing to remember is that you may end up saving a few bucks by resisting the initial impulse to buy an item by putting it on your Watchlist for a day or two!

Tip #4: Shop Around

Before you make a purchase on eBay, it’s a good idea to do a bit of comparison shopping first to make sure you’re getting the best value for the lowest price. For instance, the seller of a book on my Watchlist recently sent me an email to make an offer. I wanted my offer to be fair, so I did a Google search to see what the book was currently selling for. Much to my surprise, I found the fully-digitized book available for free on the FamilySearch Digital Library. That quick peek at Google saved me about $100!

Try searching eBay for additional copies of the item. Use spelling variations, like “geneology” with an “o” instead of “genealogy” spelled correctly; fewer buyers will be looking for the item if it has a typo in the description.

Look for additional listings with a better “Buy It Now” price or with fewer watchers (your competition) and a better chance of winning an auction at a lower price.

Also, keep in mind that you don’t have to buy the item on eBay, but you can – and should – use eBay as a research tool to alert you to items of which you may be unaware. For example, a while back, I received an email alert about a book mentioning my ancestor. I’d never heard of the book, but I was intrigued, so I did a quick internet search for more information. I eventually located the book’s publisher and sent an email to find out if she had any more copies. She had ONE copy left, which she sold to me for less than a quarter of what I would have paid for the book on eBay.

The moral here is that I may never have known about the book mentioning my ancestor without the alert from eBay. But a few minutes of research saved me money because I was able to buy the book somewhere else for less!

Tip #5: Reach Out to the Seller

Don’t be intimidated by eBay sellers. Sellers make money by SELLING stuff. And if they want to sell stuff, they need to be open to questions from potential buyers.

If come across an item that pertains to, or was once owned by, your ancestor, reach out to the seller. Explain who you are and how you are related to whoever might have previously owned the item.

Ask if the seller has any similar items that may be of interest to you; the seller may have purchased a large lot of items that could contain other family heirlooms.

See if you can make a deal. The seller might see the advantage of selling any additional unlisted items directly to you instead of having to list them all individually and wait for them to sell.

Finally, ask where the seller obtained or purchased the item if the information isn’t noted in the description. It is important to find out how the item wound up for sale online, if possible, in order to preserve the item’s chain of provenance. You’ll want that information later when you write up the item’s source citation.

Wrap Up

While eBay may not be the first website that comes to mind when you think about researching your family history, it should definitely be on your genealogy website radar. Trust me, you just never know what might be “out there” waiting for you to find it. You could be able to enrich your family stories in ways you never imagined.

Keep in mind that using eBay for family history can be a long game requiring patience and a bit of strategy. But using these five tips should save you time and money, and hopefully, will help you be successful in your hunt for family heirlooms!

Have you purchased any amazing family history items on eBay? Please share your finds in the comments!

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