What Do You Think Of E-bay? any experiences?

[Peaktao 0]

Hey, I was thinking about becoming an E-bayer (well, I really wanna buy something at the moment and I have seen some good bargains there). I'm pretty reluctant, though, as I have never done it this way before. Have you guys ever ordered anything or sold anything in e-bay at all? What do you think of it?Thanks in advance for your advice!

Notice from cmatcmextra:

Moved from General Talk

Edited December 9, 2005 by cmatcmextra (see edit history)

[thebluekirby 0]

i look at ebay, search through stuff, and wish i had them all. I'm too young to buy things online T__T but my friends have ordered goodies and junk from ebay =D so lucky! I wanna buy things on ebay ...do they ever rip you off though? the users?

[rvalkass 5]

eBay is a great way to buy things. Always check the feedback rating and how long the seller has been a member. As a rule of thumb, I never buy from anyone with less that 95% feedback, and I always read the negative ones. Also, never buy from someone who onloy set their account up a few days ago. It may seem a bit mean, but you need to keep safe and make sure your cash doesn't disappear into the abyss.eBay offers a protection scheme, where if your goods don't arrive, or are completely different from what you ordered, you can request their help and they will try to recover your money.Also, always check the pictures they give on the listing. If they match those on the manufacturers site, then contact the seller and ask why they don't have any photos of their actual item.Just remember to use logic and common sense and not to get carried away! Good luck

[sxyloverboy 0]

well i do use ebay but not a lot. ive sold liek two things and bough a few but not a lot. there are some people that use ebay for nearly everything they buy but thats not me. maybe just when im thinking or something where it dosent really matter so much that its second hand i might look on ebay if theres a good offer. for example the charger for my cell phone broke so i went to ebay and got one for like 2 bucks and a new original would have been like 40 bucks i think. and it worked pretty good and im happy with it. but then again one tie a few years ago i bough a surround system and it was really crappy and nothing worked and i couldent give it back because they wont reply to any emails or anything. and one time i bought this small hand held computer and i could give it back no problem with money back and everythig was great. so as you can see for me and my ebay experiences its pretty mixed. so at the end of the day id rather goto a real store than shop something at ebay. and its so much of a hassle to sent the money and all that.

[DogEater008 0]

i only bought like.. small little things on ebay.. i just don't trust ebay enough to buy hundreds of dollars worth of stuff. THere are alot of scammers on EBAY.. i have a few friends that sell bad conditions stuff. .but i will not mention any name here =P. i once bought an electric violin.. didn't really like it that much. .because the sound is so crappy.. .but i guess that is how it is .. for the price..

[atomicnacho 0]

I'm a big fan of ebay, I think I'm in the 20s for purchases and have not had a problem. But more and more you have to be really careful. I would never buy any really big ticket items, ie laptops or things like that for thousands of dollars. I've heard too many stories about people never getting their items after sending the money. And as much as paypal would like to make you feel all warm and fuzzy about being safe and helping you out if you get ripped off they really are not that much help.My Ebay rules are:1) as someone else has said, only buy from established sellers with good feedback ratings. established meaning that they have been members for a long time and make a lot of sales.2) No big ticket items, expensive things like laptops or other expensive things are better left to more reliable sources.3) If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. ie don't be suprised when your spectacular deal really isn't what you expected it to be.But if you are careful, you (like myself) can have a good experience with ebay. You can find just about anything there and usually at a good price, just use your common sense and you will be fine.

[jlhaslip 4]

All of the above is good advise. I use eBay once in a while, and in addition to the above list, I would add the following pieces of advise:Know your limits -- Don't spend more than what you feel the product is worth, and what you can afford. Period. Yes, there is a certain warm, fuzzy feeling about sniping a bid at the last seconds, but only if it is within your price for the product.Know your TRUE costs -- Add to the purchase price the following costs which may be associated with your purchase: Shipping/Postage, Taxes if applicable, Customs, Duties, Cost of sending payment ( paypal fees, credit card fees ), your time waiting for the purchase to arrive.Ask Questions -- eBay has their Community Boards full of expert users (well, experienced at least) who can guide or direct you to the information you need. They are more than willing to help and will flame you in a heartbeat if you treat them poorly, so be nice.

[shigajet 0]

A few years ago, I used ebay several times to buy some electronic goodies for less than what they selling at the retail store. I've haven't had any bad experiences back then....although I remember purchasing a Palm Pilot Vx from somebody who lived in the same city as me...even met the guy in person at a local cafe and paid him in cash (better than using a credit card, at least) to get the device.

[iwuvcookies 0]

My dad has gotten pretty addicted to ebay the day he signed up for an account there. He find really good bargains and bid for them. Everyday you would see him log into his ebay account and start searching for that perfect item. So far he got lots of cell phones and he sells them back to other people. lol. He is like ebay obsessed. Hope you don't become like him.

[Tyssen 0]

I've bought a few things from eBay and not had any trouble. The only one that was dodgy was when we tried to buy some tickets for a festival and the guy obviously didn't think he'd got enough for them cos they were readvertised almost immediately. We got in contact by phone and agreed to meet up on the day of the event to do the exchange but when the day came he was uncontactable. As it turned out, it didn't matter anyway cos the event had some more tickets they'd held in reserve to sell on the day and we got in for the same price as everyone else.

[spy_charly 0]

Well i signed up there with my father's credit card sometime ago and believe me they dont have anything other online stores doesnt have and you have to prove with credit card or with another email (not hotmail and nor yahoo) that you are really interested in all that stuff, and not always those thingas are at the best price, some of them reaches the original price, so better to think about it before buying there, also you have to remember ebay is not a company that sells to you but some other guys that seel to you and cannot be very reliable people, the things i have bought have been from amazon and that makes me feel comfortable knowing im buying from a company and not from some guys...but it's up to you

[swiftstorm 0]

o wow....what do i think....WHAT A WASTE OF MONEY AND TIMEIts stupid my brothers friend bought like 1x1 foot of land in antartica. WTF. when could he use thatIts stupid, people selling a x-box 360 for over $1200. You could go buy one for cheaper!!!HOW STUPIDIt just shows how desperate people areWho would pay $500 for a ghost in a jarYes a ghost in a jarThe people who sell the stuff are just plain STUPID (no offense if you do use it)Just personally i HATE it.

[Togi 0]

Who would pay $500 for a ghost in a jar

Yes a ghost in a jar

211366[/snapback]

..alright.. that's just funny, hehe..

But really.. most of the auctions aren't for weird / imaginary things like that.. you can find really good deals on things you would normally pick up at the mall or something. ^^

 

I've bought a few things, sold a few things.. and really, if you use common sense, read the fine print, and email the seller with any questions you have, I really think you'll generally have good experiences ^^

 

My dad got into it a few months ago, looking for fencing gear for my little sister. He loved it to death, and tried to convince his friends to use it. One guy asked him if he could find a rare and out-of-print Bible.. and eventually, my dad found one for a really good price. He was totally thrilled.. until someone snipped it away from him at the last second, hehe.. he was angry about that one forever. XD

 

eBay is not for the weak of heart ~ It's a battlefield, to get the best deals ;p

[leiaah 0]

Ebay is great! I got to buy my first digital camera from ebay and also a few second-hand but good dvds and books. I especially like http://www.ebay.ph/ and the fact that I'm bidding on items that are being sold by Philippine sellers and I don't have to worry about converting prices to dollar.

[niloc 0]

i think ebay is fantastic. it has everything on there that you could wish to buy.my advice to you is to decide what the maximum is that you want to spend on an item and then place that bid with about one minute to go. say an item is selling for ?5.75 and you would be prepared to buy it for ?20 , then bid the ?20 with one minute to go and then wait to see what it actually goes for. if your bid is successful then you will win the item with at a cost anywhere between ?6.75 and ?20. if your bid is unsuccessful , at least you havent been drawn into a bidding battle and paid far more that you wished for the item.i tend to watch similar items to the one that i intend to buy , to see what they sell at. this gives me a good idea of my top price that i am willing to buy at.i always look for sellers with a good feedback ratio ... 90-100%watch out for people sending you emails after an unsuccessful bid on an item. they say that they noticed you were unsuccessful with your bid and that they are selling a similar item ... would you like to buy it? ...... the sale is then done privately and is not covered by ebays policies and therefore you got easily get ripped off.