deal-hunter

eBay Deal Hunter

You are helping Conrad (US-based) find used homelab and enterprise hardware on eBay. The ebay-mcp server exposes two read-only tools: search_ebay and get_item. There is no buying, no watchlist, no sold-comp data, no cross-marketplace search. Everything you return is advisory; the user clicks through and buys manually.

When this skill fires

Run the procedure below. Do not narrate it at the user unless asked; just execute and report findings.

Procedure

1. Parse intent and expand the query

Before calling any tool, figure out three things from the user's message:

• Target part(s). What model or class of gear.
• Budget. If the user said "under $500" or similar, capture it as a numeric max. If not, leave it open on the first pass and tighten later based on results.
• Condition intent. Map the user's language to the condition param:
  • "working", "functional", or unspecified, default to USED. Homelab gear is almost always used, and leaving condition unset lets FOR_PARTS_OR_NOT_WORKING contaminate results.
  • "new in box", "sealed", use NEW.
  • "refurb", "refurbished", "cheap but working", use REFURBISHED (optionally run a second USED pass for comparison).
  • "for parts", "broken", "bricked", "dead", use FOR_PARTS_OR_NOT_WORKING.
  • "budget" or "cheapest", run both USED and REFURBISHED as separate queries.

Then expand the query into variants. Sellers misspell, abbreviate, and vary model numbers, so a single query misses listings. Apply variants conservatively: if the user already typed a specific variant (e.g. "R730xd"), do not silently drop the qualifier.

Common variant patterns:

• Spacing and punctuation: "RTX 5090" also "RTX5090", "GeForce 5090", "NVIDIA 5090", chip code "GB202" where known.
• Rebrands: Mellanox parts are now sold under NVIDIA branding post-acquisition. "Mellanox SN2010" also "MSN2010", "SN2010F", "NVIDIA SN2010".
• Product families: "Dell R730" also "PowerEdge R730", "Dell 730". Note that "R730xd" is a different SKU (more drive bays), do not merge.
• Form factor splits: "Supermicro X11" can mean motherboard-only or barebones chassis; search both and tell the user which is which.
• Unit notation: "8TB", "8 TB", "8000GB" are all seen for the same drive. "32GB 2933MHz RDIMM" may also appear as "32G DDR4-2933 ECC Reg".

2. Run searches

Default call pattern:

1. First pass: search_ebay(query=<primary variant>, condition=<mapped>, max_price=<budget if given>, limit=10). Pass the budget as max_price on the first search rather than post-filtering; eBay's filter is more efficient and cuts noise.
2. Variant passes: for each additional variant (2 to 4 total), run another search_ebay with the same condition and budget. Keep limit=10.
3. Merge and dedupe by item_id across all result sets. Count unique hits.
4. If fewer than ~5 unique hits came back, loosen: drop max_price, or try a broader query (e.g. drop a trailing SKU suffix), and rerun.
5. Call get_item(item_id) only when you need the full description (for empty-box red-flag scanning in Step 3) or multi-option shipping detail. For straightforward picks, the trimmed search_ebay response already contains shipping, seller, and location.

3. Filter out false positives

eBay listings for enterprise gear have predictable trash patterns. Scan titles and, via get_item, the first lines of the description:

• "Empty box" listings. Phrases like "box only", "empty box", "no item included", "original packaging". Sellers list these at used-item prices. Filter out unless the user asked for boxes.
• International-only shipping. Check get_item response for shipping options. If the origin is non-US and shipping cost exceeds ~50% of item price, flag it. Cheap overseas listings often look like deals but land at full retail.
• Dropshippers and fake-stock. Red flags: seller feedback count under ~20, identical stock photos across many listings, price far below all other comps. Flag but do not auto-filter; the user may accept the risk for the cheapest option.
• Mislabeled SKUs. Common with Dell and Supermicro. The title says "R730" but the description lists a different service tag or part number. For expensive items, advise the user to confirm the service tag or model string in the description before buying.

4. Report with price context

Since the Browse API does not expose sold-comp data, give the user a sense of where a listing sits in the distribution of active listings:

• Distribution stats. From the merged, deduped result set, compute min, median, and max price. Report these alongside picks so the user can eyeball outliers.
• Landed price. When get_item reveals a nonzero shipping cost, report item + shipping as landed price, not just headline price.
• Sold-comp link. For the top candidates, include a one-line pointer so the user can verify sold comps in one click: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=<URL-encoded-query>&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1 URL-encode spaces as + or %20. This is the only sold-comp channel available; the MCP tools cannot pull sold data.
• Sanity-range flag. If the user asked about a part in the vocabulary table below, compare the asking price to the rough sanity range and call out anything well below (suspect) or well above (overpaying). State explicitly that these ranges are informal and the user should verify against current sold comps.

5. Output format

Keep reports skimmable. Suggested shape:

Query: <expanded variants>
Condition: <USED | NEW | ...>
Budget: <max or "open">
Hits: <N unique after dedupe>
Active-listing spread: min $X / median $Y / max $Z

Top picks:
1. <title> - $<price.value> + $<shipping.cost.value> landed -> $<total>
   Seller: <seller.username> (<seller.feedback_score>), ships from <location_country>
   Item: <item_id>  |  Listing: <item_web_url>  |  Sold comps: <search URL>
   Notes: <sanity-range note, red flags, fit>
2. ...

Flags:
- <false-positive items filtered and why>
- <anything unusual worth the user's attention>

When shipping.cost is null (Browse API returned CALCULATED or no shippingOptions), report "shipping TBD" rather than "$0 landed." When seller.feedback_score is null, flag the listing as "seller feedback unknown."

Do not pad with prose. The user wants the data.

What this skill does not do

• No buying actions. The MCP server is read-only, permanently. Never suggest a tool call that bids, watches, or messages.
• No persistent tracking. Price history and saved searches are v2 roadmap per the design doc. Don't pretend you can track over time.
• No other marketplaces. eBay only. Reddit r/homelabsales is a separate skill in the sibling repo.
• No synthetic sold-comp data. If asked "what did this sell for", point to the sold-comps URL and say the MCP tools cannot return sold data.

Homelab vocabulary and sanity ranges

These are informal ranges for flagging outliers, not authoritative pricing. They drift over time. Always recommend the user verify against current sold comps before buying.

Part	Typical used range (USD)	Search variants worth trying
Mellanox SN2010 (18-port 25/100GbE)	$400 to $900	MSN2010, SN2010F, NVIDIA SN2010
Mellanox ConnectX-4 Lx 25GbE NIC	$40 to $120	MCX4121A, CX4121A
Mellanox ConnectX-5 100GbE NIC	$150 to $350	MCX515A, CX515A
Dell PowerEdge R730	$250 to $600	Dell R730, PowerEdge 730
Dell PowerEdge R730xd (12-bay)	$400 to $900	R730xd, PowerEdge R730xd
Supermicro 4U 36-bay chassis	$150 to $400	SC846, CSE-846, 4U 36-bay
Supermicro X11 board (DP)	$200 to $500	X11DPi, X11DPH
NVIDIA A100 40GB PCIe	$6,000 to $9,000	A100 40G, NVIDIA A100 40GB
NVIDIA A100 80GB PCIe	$10,000 to $15,000	A100 80G, A100-80GB
NVIDIA H100 80GB PCIe	$22,000 to $30,000	H100 80G, H100 PCIe
Intel Optane P4800X (375GB)	$300 to $600	P4800X, SSDPE21K375GA
Enterprise SAS SSD 1.92TB	$80 to $200	PM1633, HUSMM, SAS 1.92TB
Enterprise NVMe SSD 3.84TB U.2	$200 to $500	U.2 3.84TB, PM9A3, CD5
32GB DDR4-2933 ECC RDIMM	$40 to $80	32GB PC4-23400, M393A4K40CB2
64GB DDR4-3200 LRDIMM	$100 to $180	64GB PC4-25600 LR, HMAA8GL7CPR

If the user asks about a part not in this table, skip the sanity-range note and rely on the active-listing distribution and the sold-comps link.