eBay now sells bedding and patio furniture—should you shop it?

eBay was once just the online marketplace best known for auctions, catering to people that were looking for very specific products. Now, eBay looks a little different, with a variety of hard-to-find merchandise as well as a high volume of products one might use everyday. The site has, in the last few years, been working to establish protocols and programs that provide buyers (and sellers) with peace of mind in terms of the viability of their purchases, some of which we've explored already, like the Certified Refurbished program and Authenticity Guarantees.

Among the wealth of everyday items you can find on eBay, you can now shop home goods and bedding options. It might seem odd to buy something as utilitarian as pillows at eBay, but we've broken down what you can expect when you buy home goods and bedding through eBay, and how you can determine whether the sellers that provide those items are worth your time.

What kinds of bedding and home furniture can you find on eBay?

You can find bedding and home goods and furniture from a wide variety of retailers at eBay, including Eddie Bauer, Mattress Firm, Madison Park, and more. Electronics found under the Home & Garden section, such as vacuums and power tools, may be listed as Certified Refurbished items.

In some cases, items on eBay are sold directly by the manufacturer; for example, you can buy mattresses direct from Mattress Firm through eBay. Brands that sell directly on eBay may be listing prior seasons' products, or simply overstock on current options. In the case of Mattress Firm, the brand's new mattresses can be found on eBay often discounted from their list prices. Other home goods and sheets may be sold pre-owned (we recommend just buying new sheets), but if you're browsing within the Home & Garden section, most of the top-listed products are brand new.

If you're concerned about the authenticity of eBay's third party vendors, you can ensure that the vendor abides by the eBay authenticity guarantee or is an authorized seller. In the "Refinements" section of the various shopping categories on eBay, you can sort for typical restrictions, like price, condition, etc, and you can also use those refinements to sort for authenticity. Currently, not too many of the home goods on offer fall within the Authenticity Guaranteed bracket, but this may be because eBay is rolling out its Guaranteed categories, such as watches and trading cards, more slowly, or the selection of home goods doesn't necessarily warrant such guarantees.

How do prices compare?

A lot of the stock that ends up on eBay from various retailers is marked down, including when it's been added as part of overstock from the original retailer or simply from a prior season's inventory. If you're looking for patio furniture, for example, you might find big patio sets being sold like this eight piece rattan sofa and table set for $649.99, which is noted as being 50% less than the original price. It can be tough to verify just how marked down certain items are, since the original prices are provided by the individual vendors, but if you look at comparable versions of patio sets from Overstock and Home Depot, the price for this one is on the lower end.

Sheets from brands like Madison Park retail at eBay for a little under their sale prices at popular retailers like Macy's and Best Buy. Mattresses from Mattress Firm and other vendors are also listed as being marked down by as much as 70%.

How do shipping and returns measure up?

A lot of eBay vendors offer free shipping, especially those listed within the Home & Garden section. You can find shipping restrictions when you click on individual products, as well as the companies each vendor uses to ship with.

If you refine your search to see all items under the category "Returns Accepted," you'll see that eBay's return policies apply to a good majority of the items. You'll have to make a shipping label yourself and may end up paying the cost of shipping, but a lot of shops offer refunds for a 30-day window after the item has been delivered. eBay itself also has a Money Back Guarantee, which covers most transactions and protects buyers in case an item arrives damaged or broken.

Can you ensure your items are going to be legitimate?

The short answer is that no, you can't be sure items will be one hundred percent up to industry standard. eBay, like a lot of second- and third-party sellers, can't verify beyond a shadow of a doubt whether or not your purchase is going to be entirely satisfactory. You can, however, use the tools eBay provides to make your search feel less like a shot in the dark.

At Reviewed, we love the power of a review and use product reviews as the basis of evaluating a product or service's worthiness. We recommend utilizing the product reviews on eBay to determine if other customers were satisfied with their purchases from eBay's various vendors, especially if the shop that you're scoping out is not within the list of Authenticity Guaranteed vendors. eBay reviewers tend to be pretty thorough, given the nature of the marketplace, and you can also view how long sellers have been on the platform, how many sales have been made from a specific shop, and more.

Shop Home & Garden products at eBay

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Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.