Around 30 million PDA's were manufactured and sold world wide by the end of 2004. This huge number guarantees a large secondary market for PDA's, and a lot of bargains could be found among them. So if you're considering buying A PDA that was previously owned and used by someone else, you do have a lot to choose from.

Previously used PDA's can be divided into 2 groups : used PDA's and rectified PDA's. The used PDA's have been used by another party and are sold as-is. They may work properly, and they may not. The rectified PDA is usually sold by the manufacturer, and has some kind of guaranteed-to-work warranty. Rectified PDA's are all the PDA's a manufacturer or a supplier can't sell as new ones, for various reasons.

In this article we'll discuss the used PDA option and leave the rectified PDA option for another time. Buying a used PDA can be a good solution for anyone who wants to enjoy a PDA but doesn't want to shell out the full price of a new PDA.

Finding a used PDA online is easy. All you need to do is go to a site like ebay.com and look for PDA's. Before you go choosing your PDA at ebay, remember to do a few things:

1. Understand that the items on ebay may not be presented as they really are. You don't see the PDA with your own eyes. Remember to accept this fact, and the possibility for surprises when you get your PDA.

2. Do your won research and make up your mind as to the PDA model you want to get. DO this research before you go shopping, so you'll have a good background about which model you want, and what are the potential problems it has. You can also ask the owner if his PDA suffers from these problems.

After you do your homework, go to ebay and start looking around. If you're interested in a popular model, you will probably find dozens of sellers.

While you're on ebay, try to buy form a seller who has more than 50 feedbacks Bad sellers change their ebay ID to get rid if the negative feedbacks they got, so they will have only few feedbacks.

The pro's of buying a used PDA on ebay:

? Some great values available - especially if you look around long enough.

? Amazing amount of choices - dozens of sellers.

? Extra software and accessories may be included - ask them if it does.

? You Might be able to negotiate an even better price

The con's of buying a used PDA on ebay:

? Product may not be what was advertised

? Risk of product being "Dead on Arrival"

? Usually no warranty available

? Risk of not receiving PDA

? Possibly no support after sale

The advantages of buying a PDA on ebay are obvious, but the risks are notable, too. Before buying a used PDA, make sure you look at the option of buying a rectified PDA. IT will almost always cost more, but there is a chance of getting a better PDA for your money, as well as a warranty.

If you've owned a PDA for more than a few days, you may have come to that point where you need a few accessories, or even parts. I would divide the parts you may need to three categories:

1. You need accessories. These are the basic, non essential goodies that are accompanying your PDA, like a nice leather case, a spare battery, a data/recharge cable, a recharge cradle and the like. These can be described a "nice to have items" that many PDA owners like to get for their pocket pc. They are usually cheap items. 2. The second category it for the more expansive items, that expand your PDA's abilities. These can be any memory expansions, memory cards such as an SD card, GPS system addition or a commercial software you want to add and the like. These items call for a more serious attention than the accessories as they cost a lot more and you should dedicate some thought as to choosing the right item for your needs. 3. In the third category I'll include all the absolutely essential parts you need to get if your PDA has a malfunction. This can be a replacement ROM memory, a replacement mother-board, a new screen if yours was broken, etc. These items usually cost quite a bit and there is always the option of declaring the PDA as a total loss and getting another one instead of repairing it.

Ok, so now that we covered the 3 different types of parts you may need for your PDA, what can we do to get them for the minimum price and best results? Here are a few valuable tips that were learned by me and others. In many cases - they were learned the hard way.

1. Start with a research first. Always look for a few Internet forums about your PDA and ask around about the item you want to get. People there are passionate about the topic and in many cases will be happy to give you their 2 cents about every item you wish to get. Continue your research at Amazon.com where people submit impartial reviews about almost every item available on Amazon. 2. Find the real "Market Price" - look for your item or similar items on ebay.com. The good thing about ebay.com is that you can get a feel fore the market and see how much the items are being sold for - new, used and refurnished. You may not want to actually buy on ebay.com, but you certainly can get your price research done there. You can also ask the merchants any questions you may have and grow your knowledge. 3. Decide where to buy the item. Many people will shop online, and many others prefer to buy off line at a regular store. At a regular store you enjoy the advantage of actually seeing the item before you buy it, and in many cases you get to go home with it, and don't have to wait for it to arrive a few days later. But buying offline in many cases adds to the price. If you want competitive process, and you've done your research, you may want to shop online at eBay, Amazon, or a site like pdaparts.com that specializes in PDA parts and accessories.

Whether you buy online or off, make sure you do your research right, even if it's only a 10 minute research. It can save you money, time and frustration.

Many business leaders pay a lot of attention to favorably influencing their own prices and costs. In the process they ignore or are insensitive to what customers and end users pay to use these offerings. While this focus may be profitable, much more profit is missed when demand is dampened due to soaring costs incurred by customer and end users.For example, my banker called to suggest that I open a new personal checking account. These accounts are free. I didn't really need this checking account, but my interest was piqued when he told us I would receive a free BlackBerry portable digital assistant (PDA). I didn't need a BlackBerry PDA, but imagined that I could sell it on eBay and make a profit to put into my new checking account.After signing up for a checking account, I learned that I would only receive a BlackBerry PDA if I subscribed to a service costing $720 for a year. Suddenly, I had a checking account I didn't need and a "free" certificate for a PDA I didn't want to spend $720 to use. The bank had wasted its time and money on me, and I had a checking account I didn't need.Presumably […]

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