Ebay SC

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

As a seller, I can only remember one problem, and that was a Canadian trying to get me to mark the package as a Gift. I understand the reasoning, but I don't agree with it, and I refused. Never heard from him again. *shrug*

So can I: the buyer was trying to dodge the customs fees.

Lying on a customs form is a federal offense, and marking an item as a gift when it is in fact not a gift is a good way to have it opened and searched. Good for you for not doing it.

Another thing I learned on the ebay help center.

[Andara Bledin]

Of course, I bet she didn't read the "seller is not responsible for damages in the mail" blurb.

According to eBay policy, the seller is responsible for getting the item to the buyer in the condition described in the listing. If the USPS or Canadian mail system screws up the item, the seller is still libel for the damage. Shipping insurance is for the protection of the seller, not just the buyer.

Not only is that 100% correct, but it's not just eBay policy, it's FTC regulations.

If it's something you can replace or refund easily, let insurance be optional. If it's not, then require it.

If you really want to know the ins and outs of how eBay works and the best way to make it work for you, spend a little time in the Community Forums in the one called Feedback. Some of the most knowledgeable eBayers spend time there, and it's one of the most active forums, as well.

I am a regular over there, on and off, and I'm constantly correcting my company's misconceptions. Most of which are due to the asshat in another state not knowing what the hell he's talking about.

^-.-^

[Shengirl]

I actually bought my laptop on ebay, from a private seller no less. She had great feedback, though, and it was a reasonable (but still very cheap compared to new!) price, so it seemed to be on the up and up. I got the thing, and it came with a stack of software CDs and the AC adapter. Sounds okay, right? Except that she didn't send me her administrator password, and there wasn't even a guest account I could use. And she didn't respond to my multiple messages, even though they were very polite.

The kicker? The laptop had an extra battery in place of a DVD drive. So I couldn't even format it until I got my friend to show me how to take the drive out of my desktop and hook it up via IDE to USB cord - or, in our case, a cheap external hard drive enclosure. We had to jury rig it because neither BBuy nor Radio Shack had just the cord. That's an awful lot of perfectly avoidable trouble, so I gave her negative feedback.

[Pagan]

From the horror stories I've heard about E-bay and my one-and-only experience when I investigated selling something, I don't think I'd ever consider buying from there.

There's another site that I just love: craigslist.org

It's free, you can set it for only in your area and name any terms you want. I had an armoire that I sold and, except for the fact that the guy was new to the city and my apt complex is set up weird, it worked very nice. I've just got to get my nice, pre-home computer writing desk and my waterbed up again and see if I can get them sold.

[Nekojin]

Horror stories on eBay are just that - horror stories. Most transactions you'll do on eBay will be perfectly fine, without a hitch, same as any other mail order. The vast majority of my transactions there have been just fine.

That said, I refuse to buy consumer electronics on eBay, for several reasons. That category has the highest ratio of scammers-to-legitimate of any eBay category, and even with a good seller, if something goes wrong, the odds of getting satisfaction are slim. On something high-tech, I'll buy at Fry's, so that if it breaks, I can take it back without hassle.

[digilight]

I've bought quite a bit of stuff over the years from ebay. Most of business related and the few things I've learned are:

Read and then Re-Read the listing if you are still interested in the item (Make sure you are bidding on a actuall PS3 and not just a box for one).

Check their scores, any negs if yes how many how long ago. If a person has had a steller year until the last month or two then something is up (RUN AWAY SCREAMING).

The type of item you are bidding on can be a high scam catagory or not. Some Electronics are high scams, as are toner, inkjet carts, CDRs/DVDRs (you may think you are buying a TY rebranded as a TDK when in reality you are getting crappy PLAYO discs).

Watch the shipping charges: That $3 price of an item isn't a deal when it includes a $25 shipping

Some of the items I've picked up from ebay lately.

A 11 station Pioneer DVD duplicator - I bought this from a local california company that manufactors and resells these to the trade, it was brand new and they had 1000's of current feedbacks for these types of items that were all good.

2000 paper sleeves for CDs/DVDs with a buy it now of $14.99 and a $19.99 shipping (total was about $35.00 out the door) same thing with the feedbacks. Shipping sounds high, but I checked my normal distributors pricing and the same item would have run me about $84.99 out the door from them. I got the item quickly and in great shape.

400 various CDRs - from a auction where the discs were relisted and described the damage to the spindles, I took a chance (.99 cents for the discs and 25 bucks shipping) so just over 6 cents a disc if they all work. The discs came just as described. I figured that they had to be legit if they described them as well as they did.

The only things I've been screwed on was buying a drum for a brother MFC fax a few years back. Got the drum, never checked it, let it sit on the shelf for a few months. When I went to install it, the bag had been opened and the box contained an old drum. My fault for not checking the product when I got it.

THe other thing we got screwed on was an auction for some matchbox cars for the boy. We payed and the ebayer never shipped. He actually dropped out of site and got kicked off of ebay for screwing about 6 people over. Our total loss was only about 14 bucks so it wasn't a killer.

We also buy dodger tickets from a season ticket holder who is a couple of cities away from us. We've picked them up from her 3 times in the last 2 seasons so far (it helps that she's a cop so it adds to the trustworthyness now) first time was a gamble but she has been nothing but stealler.

[Andara Bledin]

Part of my job involves handling the payment, shipping arangements, and receiving of the 100+/month items that my boss wins.

Even though my boss does almost nothing as regards checking out his sellers, we rarely have problems.

Why? Because I did my research and know how the hell to keep us protected.

Rule #1: Pay with PayPal with funding from a credit card. That way, should things go wrong, you have PayPal to back you up, and if they don't take care of it, you still can go to your credit card.

As a seller, PayPal is quick, easy, and about as secure as a sieve.

With eBay, you're as safe as any other online purchasing venue that allows joe schmoe to list items.

As for electronics, you can usually get a better deal elsewhere since you won't have to deal with idiots who get into bidding wars for no good reason.

^-.-^

[protege]

It's been awhile since I've purchased anything on Ebay. The most recent, was an HO scale GP7 locomotive in New York Central colors. At the time, I wanted one, so I could participate in an online modeling clinic. However, there weren't any available locally, and those that were, listed at over $100, and would have required a new paint job. Anyway, I was poking around Ebay one afternoon, and bought one for about half that. About a week later, it showed up...nothing wrong with it at all!

Ebay is great for finding out-of-production models, usually at a reasonable price. The last one I bought was a '58 T-bird. I'd been looking for a '58 for awhile before I found that one. I actually came out ahead! The car had been started, but many of the parts were still on the 'trees.' As if that wasn't enough, it came with some extra tires...and a sprint car thrown in the same box! However, the best was still to come. Anyone want to guess what happened later? No sooner did I have that '58 in my workshop...when the company that *made* it announced that they were re-releasing the kit. D'oh!

The best though, had to be the scrap AC Cobra I found. Even with some missing parts, and at $10 including shipping, I thought it was worth it--at the time, the kit hadn't been reissued, and the set of Halibrand wheels made up for it. Once those were cleaned and fitted with new spinners, they looked great on the Corvette I was building. As for the rest of the car (bodyshell, engine, chassis, etc.) I'm sure I'll use it in another project

If anybody's wondering, I read up on anything I plan on bidding. I try to get an idea of what things are *really* worth--if it's going to cost me more than I can get it for locally, I don't bother. I also don't bother with auctions where the photos suck. If it's blurry or hard-to-see, why waste my time?

[Andara Bledin]

Another thing about buying on eBay:

If you pay your money and the seller doesn't ship, doesn't refund, and never gets back to you, file a complaint with the USPS. (it doesn't matter how they say they'll ship, it's all classed as postal fraud)

I had won an auction for a lot of Magic cards. I knew from the guy's feedback that I would be getting crap cards, but that was fine with me since I wanted them for the art, not to play with. They never came, and after a half dozen Negatives, he was NARUd (NARU = Not a Registered User = suspended). I filed a report with USPS, about a month later I got a notice in the mail that they had sent the guy a notice of my complaint, and a week after that I got a check in the mail from the guy and a note saying he had no idea what it was but he was paying anyway. The check was good, so I sent the form back to the USPS so they could close the case.

^-.-^

[digilight]

You know, with all the folks on here with what sounds to me, bigger ebay experience then some of the rest of us. A stickied ebay thread for help and advice from the folks who deal with buying and selling in larger numbers might be of some real assistance to the rest of us. I see a fairly big knowledge base on this subject.

Just my 2cents

[Rapscallion]

Nice idea, but not asked that often in the scheme of things.

If someone wants to write up an article about dealing with people on Ebay, along with contributions from others and edited etc with appripriate announcements as to who's involved, I'll certainly consider it for the front page.

Rapscallion

[Ree]

May I also say that it's really great to see you back posting, trish?

You were missed.

I had one bad experience where I forgot to check to see if the seller shipped to Canada and I bid on it.
Once I saw they wouldn't ship outside of the US, I contacted and asked if they would make an exception, and they refused, so I was forced to retract my bid.

On another item, before I bid, I contacted the seller and asked if they would consider shipping to Canada, and they did. It cost me a little extra but it was worth it for me.

Now, I always check the shipping terms first, and unless it's something I really want, or have been looking everywhere for, and suddenly found it, I don't bid. If it is something I really want, then I will contact the seller.

It's pretty simple.

My daughter got burned with an ebay transaction.
I wasn't home, and she called me at work to ask if she could bid on a jacket for a friend. He didn't have an ebay account, and he was going to pay me for it.

I told her to use my credit card through PayPal when she won the bid, but she didn't pay attention, and took it directly from my bank account. (I was not impressed, as it was over $200.)

I hadn't entered feedback because the item had not been received, and I got a message from the seller, asking me to leave feedback. I replied and said I would leave feedback when I got the item, and asked if he had any idea when it would arrive.

I then did some research, and it seemed to me as if he had sold the same jacket in a couple of auctions, and there was some negative feedback from a couple of people who didn't get their item.

He never responded to my messages.

I contacted Paypal and made a complaint.

I started getting message after message with excuses and promises that the jacket would be shipped. he had no tracking ID at all that he could give me, and was putting the blame on his friend for handling the sales.

My daughter learned a pretty important lesson about buying on ebay.

The sad thing is, even if she had checked the guy's feedback at the time of the auction, it was all positive until that point. It was only after she won the auction that he started getting negative feedback from people, because, as I said, it looked to me like he had sold that same jacket several times.

I finally did get my money back, but it didn't come all at once and it look a long time. I see he is no longer a registered member of ebay.

[Dreamstalker]

I told her to use my credit card through PayPal when she won the bid, but she didn't pay attention, and took it directly from my bank account. (I was not impressed, as it was over $200.)

I would also place the blame on Paypal for that. Their default is bank account, and the "yes" button on the screen to change payment options is not clearly placed (IIRC positions are switched, so it would be easy for someone to click the wrong one). I know I've had to read the "are you sure" screen closely to make sure I was clicking the right box.

[Andara Bledin]

Actually, PayPal has changed the buttons on the Confirmation page for changing your payment type. You can't possibly click the wrong one, now, unless you are completely illiterate. The button that used to say "No" now says "Pay with Bank Account."

eBay Buyer Tip

When considering making a bid on an item, not only should you check the seller's Feedback profile, but you should also check the seller's current list of auctions.

For instance, if a seller has a Feedback history that shows the seller receives only 10 Feedback each month, and you look at the list of Current Auctions and there are over 100, run like hell and don't look back. Either the seller himself, or an account hijacker is running a scam. This is especially the case if the items they are now selling are in a different category than the items for which they have Feedback.

I suspect that the jacket scammer could have been spotted with this method. I do know that I've kept my boss from throwing money away more than once using this area of research.

^-.-^

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Read and then Re-Read the listing if you are still interested in the item (Make sure you are bidding on a actuall PS3 and not just a box for one).

Listing an empty box in that fashion is against ebay policy. You cannot list empty containers for anything EXCEPT if the empty container is an antique or collectible item and is being sold as such (for example a cracker tin from the 1920s). That's considered encouraging trademark infringement because the container can be used to lend legitimacy to a fake item (example: a dust cover for a Louis Vuitton bag being used to sell a fake LV) or a scam (the aforementioned PS3 box can be pictured in the listing making buyers think they are bidding on the PS3, but all they get is the PS3 box with a brick inside)

Watch the shipping charges: That $3 price of an item isn't a deal when it includes a $25 shipping

That's also against policy. When you create a listing on ebay, you are charged an insertion fee based on the starting bid price. If your item sells, you are charged a final value fee based on the final winning bid price. By listing that $3 item with $25 shipping you are cheating ebay out of fees they are entitled to receive--ebay only gets an insertion and FV fee off of $3 instead of the $28 you actually made.

Not only that but if there's a dispute and the seller needs to refund, they're only obligated to refund your bid price. Which means if you buy something for say $25 with $100 for shipping and the item arrives broken or doesn't work, the seller can just refund you $25, keep the $100 for shipping, and tell you to go perform an unnatural sexual maneuver.

Anytime you encounter a listing violating these policies or any other ones, it's best to report them to ebay without bidding.