From ebay-deal-hunter
Deal-hunting on eBay for homelab and enterprise hardware using the ebay-mcp server (tools search_ebay and get_item). Use this whenever the user asks to find, price, or evaluate used server, networking, storage, GPU, or memory gear on eBay, including phrasings like "find me a deal on X", "what's X going for on ebay", "check ebay for Y under $Z", "is this a good price for X", "what's a fair used price for a Dell/Supermicro/Mellanox/NVIDIA part", or pastes an eBay listing URL or item ID for evaluation. Also fires for specific homelab targets (Mellanox switches, Dell PowerEdge, Supermicro chassis, NVIDIA A100/H100, Optane, SAS/NVMe SSDs, ECC RDIMM) even when the user does not name eBay explicitly, as long as the intent is pricing or sourcing used hardware. Do not use for generic shopping, non-hardware eBay queries, or anything requiring sold-comp data (the Browse API cannot return sold listings).
npx claudepluginhub kalguinn/ebay-mcpThis skill uses the workspace's default tool permissions.
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.
Guides Next.js Cache Components and Partial Prerendering (PPR): 'use cache' directives, cacheLife(), cacheTag(), revalidateTag() for caching, invalidation, static/dynamic optimization. Auto-activates on cacheComponents: true.
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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.
Run the procedure below. Do not narrate it at the user unless asked; just execute and report findings.
Before calling any tool, figure out three things from the user's message:
condition param:
USED. Homelab gear is almost always used, and leaving condition unset lets FOR_PARTS_OR_NOT_WORKING contaminate results.NEW.REFURBISHED (optionally run a second USED pass for comparison).FOR_PARTS_OR_NOT_WORKING.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:
Default call pattern:
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.search_ebay with the same condition and budget. Keep limit=10.item_id across all result sets. Count unique hits.max_price, or try a broader query (e.g. drop a trailing SKU suffix), and rerun.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.eBay listings for enterprise gear have predictable trash patterns. Scan titles and, via get_item, the first lines of the description:
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.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:
get_item reveals a nonzero shipping cost, report item + shipping as landed price, not just headline price.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.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.
r/homelabsales is a separate skill in the sibling repo.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.