Behold the power of eBay. A Vizio E550VL 55-inch Full HD 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV (retail new $1199.07) for $472.96 (and four and half hours five and a half, due to traffic, of my time). How did I get this price on this television? eBay cash back, gas perks, credit card rewards and being a clever searcher is how I got this price. 
Auction’s Ending Price: $503.00 (Link)
Gift Cards Purchased: $500, $1 off a gal * 15.8 gallons = $15.80
eBay Cash back: 7%, $35.21 back
Credit Card Cash back: 2%, $10.06 back
Cost: $503 – 15 – 35.21 – 10.06 = $441.96
Downside? It’s a local pickup and its about 2 hours away. It’s worth it, but its going to run about $31 in gas.
Total Cost: $472.96 and 4 hours of driving
How did I find such a good deal? Well to get the cash back you can follow my previous post about getting the best cash back from eBay. As for the search, you have to think about it this way – eBay’s main advantage is the audience. You put up a crazy voodoo doll head on eBay, there is a chance that someone of the 1,000,000’s of people who use eBay is interested. If you went down to your local flea market and let 400 people see it, you might find someone to buy it as well, but it is less likely. Ebay’s main advantage is a large audience, that is what you pay the fees for as a seller.
The amount of people interested in a less than $500 55’’ E550VL 55-inch Full HD 1080p HDTV, a lot.How many people interested in driving to Indiana and picking it up locally, A heck of a lot less. So when I did my search I limited it to 150 miles from my Zipcode, Local Pickup Only. Sadly it was towards the higher end of my range of distance, but my time isn’t as valuable.
Some of you are saying – That’s a very uncommon price, but honestly I was upset I paid as much as I did! The exact same TV on eBay ended previously for $450 Local Pickup – Someone had an opportunity to get one for roughly $50 less and if they were actually local and didn’t have to spend $31 in gas – it could have been under $400! The seller was amazing by the way, it was a couple of brothers running the eBay Store – I would highly suggest them.
![cheetah_thumb[4]](https://epicfinances.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/cheetah_thumb4.jpg "cheetah_thumb[4]")
Part of me hurts for knowing it could have been better, but most of me won’t care after I mount it on my wall.
Speaking of which I was worried about the cost of a mount, but I ordered a Cheetah Mounts APTMM2B Flat Screen TV Wall Mount Bracket for 32-65-Inch Plasma LED LCD TV for right around $25 off amazon. It even comes with a level and cables and has great reviews.
There still are deals on eBay. You just have to find them.