Buying Food On eBay

A few years ago, a friend tipped us off to a vanilla bean seller on eBay who was selling a pound of vanilla beans very cheaply. We checked out the listing and made a bid; within a few hours we had won a pound of vanilla beans for $12. Holy mackerel!

eBay can be a good place to find great deals on many things, including food. We purchased the vanilla beans from the Organic Vanilla Bean Company, and the beans arrived in great shape and were used to prepare many wonderful dishes.

In retrospect, we got lucky. We dealt with a reputable seller who had a really good product. Sometimes this isn't always the case on eBay, so caveat emptor.

Here's some finds:

The Chowhounders recommend Sweetwater Organics for nuts and other sundries.
2 grams of Spanish saffron starting at $6.97!
1989 Chateau Meyney Bordeaux
Gourmet Swiss chocolates

Here's the full listing of food and wine categories on eBay.

Share with us - what deals on food and beverages have you found on eBay?

Comments (3)

Be careful of who you buy from. My coworker was telling me of "boosters" in places like NYC. Organized crime, of sorts, where people go into a grocery or bodega and steal a food into a cart and then take off. Hours later, it's available for sale in a hotel room or on ebay. Those items you buy, unless it's a reputable buyer, could also sit in a hot (as in temperature) car trunk for days before you buy it.

Think about what you're willing to pay for. Your health?

posted by cara_mia on September 9th 2008 at 2:08pm
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the same caution should be used with any food purchase.
ever watch the food -dairy, temperature controlled items- being delivered to your local store?
do you always look at the date of items you buy?
do you pickup first on shelf or do you dig in back for fresher items?
do you know what the number code on a carton of eggs represents?

it is not just the internets you have to be careful of.

posted by ronin democrat on September 9th 2008 at 3:16pm
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I really wouldn't buy food off of eBay. As was mentioned, the seller might be fencing stolen goods...

But also I worked in a grocery store for ten years. I can see how expired, recalled, or improperly stored foods could be repackaged by a seller and sold on eBay.

BTW, if you find an otherwise expensive drugstore item on eBay, like razor blades, Olay Regenerist, and essential oils, the odds are very good they were stolen.

posted by ohjodi on September 9th 2008 at 4:02pm
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