eBay

Russinating

Russinating

Russinating

Soldato
Joined
27 Dec 2005
Posts
17,316
Location
Bristol
Put down your keyboard, warrior. This isn't a "umg I just gotz scam" thread.

Nevertheless, it was inspired by the weekly (if not daily) posts here about things going wrong on the bay and people jumping on the "eBay's rubbish" bandwagon.

I've just passed the 100 feedback mark having been a member since 2003, although I've probably dealt with over 250 transactions as both a buyer and seller. I've probably also sold more things than I've bought (85:52 feedback ratio).

I have never had anything go wrong. On the few occasions that I have - such as a CD case being cracked on delivery - I have always received a full refund and a replacement. I also always experience a very high level of customer service and deliveries are also extremely quick.

On the other hand, I have had WAY more problems dealing with independent online stores, or even larger outlets such as the river. If I see an identical item priced the same on eBay and another shop, I always go for eBay.

So this is a thank you thread. Thank you to eBay, for its bargains and allowing me to shift my old crap
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.

It's also a chance for all the non-haters to come out the woodwork and take some wheels off the wagon. Forget eBay horror stories - what are your happy stories?
 
You've been very lucky then. Hopefully you won't be, but you will change your mind if and when you're skanked. The reason why so many people create threads on it is because by and large it's not a very good system overall.
 
I hate eBay simply because their fees are so extortionate. Other then that, common sense and whatnot avoids me getting scammed.

Mind, I've had an account for over 5 years and only managed to get 9 feedbacks, I barely use it.
 
Used to be great I've been on it for nearly 10 years, but the last couple of years it's gone downhill fast.
Sellers get next to no protection, far to many scammers on now.

I rarely use it now.
 
I've never had a problem until yesterday, as the seller appears to have sent the wrong items to the wrong people. *Sigh* Just trying to get in contact but I've had no other issues in about 6 years.

Aero
 
Robzere31 said:
Used to be great I've been on it for nearly 10 years, but the last couple of years it's gone downhill fast.
Sellers get next to no protection, far to many scammers on now.

I rarely use it now.
Click to expand...

I guess as it gets more popular this is sort of inevitable.

I haven't had any major problems with ebay....... actually I have had 1 scammer sell me a pair of "authentic" jeans that were far from it, took a few calls and threats of legal action to get it sorted.

You can set certain restrictions on your auctions, ie UK bidders only, must have feedback to bid, will only post RMSD which can help prevent any problems later on.

Generally I do agree with you though, you have to be far more cautious than 5 years ago.
 
Seems to be ok so far as long as you stick to trading low value items. Try selling a laptop on there... "hello I have bought your item and I would like it sent to my cousin in Nigeria. I will transfer the monies by Western Union". One thing that they should stop and I'm sure annoys everyone is when a seller spams the same item over 100 odd listings. Although you can usually bypass this by using "-keyword" in the search box.
 
Id also like to thank ebay for letting me earn a tasty and much needed £480 in the last couple of days. I also sold an old damaged iphone and not one nigerian was interested :D
 
I have been 'had off' by ebay a few times:

1) Payed for an item never recieved after mutliple complaints.
2) Ordered an item, got sent the wrong one. The seller called me fussy!
3) Got sent a fake jersey. The seller tried to pass it of a factory default jersey. He actually rang me up though, and wanted me to send it back to America. I didn't as he probably would have kept the jersey along with my money. Ebay comes in handy when you need some rare things. Other than that its a 'rip off market imho' as everyone over charges to doom on there.
 
Because 3 - 5 years ago Ebay was good. It's the continuing changes they make to their terms which allow people to shaft sellers. And when they bought out Paypal.
 
My favourite one was a brummy guy who bought a pair of jeans off me for £17. He wanted to pay by bank transfer, no problem. He did the transfer on a Thursday evening but then emailed me on Saturday morning asking me why he hadn't received his jeans yet. I explained about bank transfers taking 3 days between banks but he was adamant that because his online statement said £17 had left his account then it must have been transferred to my account immediately.

I even sent him a link to the Barclays website that states the 3 working day rule but he still thought he was right. I told him to phone his bank but no, he remained ignorant, sent me abusive emails and voicemails and left me negative feedback the next day. When his money cleared a few days later I sent him a screenshot of my online statement and advised him that I was donating the jeans to a charity shop.

This kind of thing is unavoidable, there will always be idiots out that somehow manage to figure out how to use a computer. I think I still have the email chain, I'll have a look for it now.
 
Its is good and you are right about bad transactions with online stores.

However its ebay themselves that have put me off in the last few years with rules payment (paypal must be offered, ripoff if you ask me) just makes it far to expensive.

When I joined in 2004 there weren't anywhere near the amount of scammers on their and listing and selling something used to cost under half the amount it does today.

Personally I have had 2 attempts to obtain goods from me unlawfully and that out of around 70-80 sales of items. One was an old laptop, the other a mobile phone, they just seem to attract trouble.

And a lot of hassle with an exhaust, that eventually worked out alright.

Overall though, its not that bad and if common sense is applied then you wont have any issues (well you wont get conned).
 
I'm at 82 feedback since 2002 (30 as a seller) and I have had some problems over the years but nothing that hasn't been resolved after communication.

I sold a Aliph Jawbone Bluetooth headset and the buyer said it kept dropping out every few minutes. Turned out he was connecting to his phone and walking around his house, he didn't quite understand what Bluetooth was for.

Another time I sold an Psion PDA type thing and the buyer said it had some damage to the screen, after I investigated my detailed photos I took I did notice some minor scratches so we agreed a small refund and settled it.

The worst one was some Razor blades I bought from Australia, they were all fakes. The buyer offered a refund if I sent them back. Return postage for the item would have cost about as much as I paid for it in the first place. After several messages I managed to get a full refund out of the seller and I left neutral feedback.

So I've had my fair share of problems but it doesn't put me off, it's still a good place to sell my old items rather letting them sit in some cupboard.
 
I've always had problems with ebay, it's just not worth the hassle.

I'd not used it for years up until last month to shift a few old clothes, a package got "lost"... made me remember why I boycotted it for so long.
 
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