E-Bay - Is it safe?

[TiQuinn]

One thing thats driving me away from ebay, there's no more ettiquete anymore. When I was selling way back I used to send an email within minutes of the ending of the auction to the buyer congradulating and sending payment info. This was always appreciated and I never had an unhappy customer. The last two items I've bought I've had to email the seller to see if they were even alive.

I agree. That and the large number of actual stores that use EBay as a way of selling their stuff. It's not that I have a problem with this, per se, but more than half of the auctions I'm looking at have very high starting bids, or high reserve prices (i.e. I'm going to sell it at full price, higher than full price, or forget you...I'm keeping it.) It's less of an auction site and more like a marketplace now.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I tell you something curious. I just recently registered on eBay and would you believe that someone else has already registered the handle "Plane Sailing". Would you believe that? Everywhere else in the known Internet I've been able to register myself this way, but for some reason someone chose that name on eBay.

Most curious I tell you.

 

[diaglo]

I tell you something curious. I just recently registered on eBay and would you believe that someone else has already registered the handle "Plane Sailing". Would you believe that? Everywhere else in the known Internet I've been able to register myself this way, but for some reason someone chose that name on eBay.

Most curious I tell you.

sorry about that.

i try and use the same handle everywhere too. luckily they didn't take mine.

i use one for buying and one for selling.

 

[Nifelhein]

Guys,

That friend of mine has been here and has been amazed on how much feedback I had from my post, he asked me not to enter too much detail, for he is still wondering what can be done, but he said he violated some of those "golden laws" of e-bay, the auction was too good to be true and indeed it was...

On the other hand he has discovered lots of useful information here and is more than thankful for my and mostly your help.

He has surely learned what not to do and is amazed at his own stupidity, for breaking some limits that he knows fairly well.

So far it seems we are done on it, I have surely decided that I will buy on e-bay when I can, but I will only do it if I can have some contact with the person before, by mail...

And of course, if the guy is from enworld, then I am sure I can trust him even more!! My nickname is unique enough, so far, and I had no problem with it, even ICQ has only one Nifelhein, and that is me.

 

[gunter uxbridge]

How about this....it turns out there are some really nice people out there.

A few years ago I bought into the pitch from Apple computers and I switched. A few months later after being totally disenchanted with my decision, I switched back. It was time to sell my iBook on eBay and I got a pretty good deal on it. $950 from a guy in Texas. Considering the amount of the bid, we talked on the phone and decided that a COD was the best way to fly.

Soooooo off I go to Mailboxes Etc. the next day to get the laptop professionally boxed and shipped. I got everything done, paid for the shipping and left the store. After I got a few miles down the road I made a horible, stomp on the breakes realization....

I FORGOT TO SET UP THE C.O.D.!!!!!!

In other words, I just shipped off a grand worth of computer stuff to a guy in Texas with ABSOLUTELY NO WAY of insuring that he would ever pay for it.

I called the guy back on the spot (had his number on my cell phone) and talked to his wife. She had a good laugh and said no problem. Once it arrives she will send me a check. True to her word, after a week of sweating the check arrived for the full agreed to price.

It turns out that this guy was taken the month before by a seller in California who sold a new hundred iBook to people al over the place and pocketed the money. First try and he gets stiffed. Second try and I send him a notebook for free. Go figure.

There are a lot of good people out there, and this little story proves it.

Then again, there are some total wanks out there and I usually have to drive behind them on the way to work.

 

[Nifelhein]

Hey, that is a nice guy!!!
I am amazed!!

I gotta say that there is hope for this world, even if Izrador has already taken over!!!

 

[Silver Moon]

...someone else has already registered the handle "Plane Sailing". Would you believe that?

Actually yes, given EBay's far more diverse group of members. My guess is this person is probably into either airplances, sailboats, or both. That's happened to me a few other places as well with my screen name, and I've just dropped the space in between. Check and see if PlaneSailing is available.


And I'll agree with you on the good sellers out there. I once bought a costume used on Hercules/Xena from a guy in New Zealand, who not only spent twice as much on postage than what I had paid him, but then found an accessory that he had forgotten to add and express mailed it. Overall he lost money on my purchase. I offered to PayPal him the extra $ but he wouldn't take it, saying it had been his mistake and not mine.

 

[NewJeffCT]

I've bought quite a few things over the years off of eBay, including quite a few painted miniatures, and have never had a problem as a buyer. However, I only buy from people that have extremely high positive feedback (like 99% or higher) - I've actually gotten nervous and not bid over a person that had 63 positives and 1 neutral. That may be a bit extreme...I have bought several items from sellers in the UK and Canada as well (I'm in the USA). A few times, the minis were not packed well, and I was offered generous refunds or replacements.

As a seller, I have had a few bad experiences, but have not lost money. It involved people winning auctions and not paying. I guess I should say I lost a bit of money - I had sold the old Deities & Demigods book with Cthulu for like $55 to a person that ended up not paying. (note, the book was not in great shape...) and when I re-listed the book, I only got $51.

 

[Heretic Apostate]

Two things to add to all the excellent points above:

First, if someone demands money from Western Union, RUN AWAY! Western Union payments can be picked up anywhere. If the seller says they're in Topeka, KS, but asks for Western Union, they could be picking up the money in an Eastern European country. This is a big red flag...

Second, I once saw someone post an entire sentence wherein each of the words was the name of an eBay member. There are millions upon millions of people on eBay, and they're getting desperate for member names. So don't be surprised if a name is already taken...

 

[pogre]

My experiences have been overwhelmingly positive on Ebay. I have done right around 900 transactions (pogre is my ebay handle) and mostly as a seller.

Here are my observations:

- Certain areas of ebay are more poilte than others. RPGs tends to be a good area.

- Solid feedback scores is a must. It is much harder to "inflate" feedback than it once was - the parties must be involved in a transaction to leave feedback.

- If an auction does not list the rules for the auction be careful. E-mail the seller about timely delivery, shipping costs, etc. Do not assume anything. A seller slow to respond to questions will be slow to deliver generally. If a megastore does not have time for your question - how carefully do you think they have described their product?

- Areas where my friends continue to have problems are CPUs, DVDs, CDs, car parts, and Magic Cards. That does not mean you should avoid those areas - just exercise extra caution.

Good luck,
Pogre