Here are the beloved Marni boots I scored on Ebay a couple of months ago. They’re exactly what I was after: flat heels and over the knee in a rich chocolate brown. If I bought them in-store I would have payed £850. On Ebay I paid just £53. They are seriously the best boots I’ve ever owned, but it took a little time (and Ebay savvy) to get my mits on them.

Here are my top tips for scoring big on Ebay:

• If you’re after a specific item, do your research first. Make sure you’re aware of its actual retail value.

• Resist the urge to bid on the very first thing you find. Spend a couple of weeks watching similar items on Ebay first and see how much they go for. For instance, I’ve been watching Anglepoise lamps on Ebay for the past couple of months. It’s been really interesting to see not only how much they go for, but the variety of lamps on offer – varying from very poor condition to completely re-conditioned and brand-spanking new! When I eventually come to bid on a lamp I’ll be much more confident about how much I can expect to pay.

• Save searches to your Ebay profile and sign up for daily emails alerting you to new auctions. I’ve currently saved 92 searches to my profile, and get about 40 emails a day! (I know it’s a lot but I just quickly scan the auctions for any outstanding gems.)

• Include mis-spellings in your saved searches, such as Mui Mui (instead of Miu Miu) and Vivenne Westwood (instead of Vivienne Westwood). It’s amazing how many people get the spelling wrong in their auctions – and how they’re easily overlooked.

• To avoid missing out at the last second, make sure you snipe by using a service like Just Snipe. It may be a wee bit naughty and not exactly in the spirit of Ebay, but let’s face it, everyone does it and Ebay doesn’t seem to have a problem with it. A snipe service will put in a bid during the last few seconds of the auction (which is extremely difficult and quite frantic when you try to do it manually). All you need to do is nominate your maximum bid and it will do all the work for you.

Total spent: £53
Value of boots: £850
Total saved: £797

What’s your best buy on Ebay? Got any top tips of your own?