What is your ebay experience?

[parrothead600]

I haven't had any problems. As others have said, I pay close attention to their feedback. Also, I will usually ask a couple of questions to clarify their description. If they don't respond, I don't bid or else I set my maximum way low. As rmannix said, Get the shipping quote before you bid. If someone is gouging on shipping, I'll ussually move on reguardless of the price of the item.
I have gotten some good deals, but I have let alot more go to someone else.

 

[Lonefox]

Always read item descriptions, never bid on impulse, sometimes you may see the item that you like, and realise that the auction has 15 minutes left to run, you you may bid first and then read the description to find that the postage is high, or the item is pick-up only, and located some distance away from you.
Or it's not what you thought it was. i.e you bid on a nice looking scuba tank, only to find that it's the protective cover for sale, and not the tank. I've never done this, but had a few very near misses. Enough to learn to check all the facts before placing that bid.
On the whole, I've traded several thousands of £'s worth of kit on ebay, in both directions, and have never had a bad experience. I would suggest though, caution when bidding on items that may require an imminent service, ask yourself, when you calculate the postage of the item, the cost of the service, and possible new parts, are you really getting a bargain ?

 

[james croft]

I have had hundreds of good purchases on EBay with no surprises. Best dive equipment deal I got was for two Kirby Morgan EXO-26 Full Face Masks in great condition, with Ocean Technology Systems wireless comm for each mask, with an additiona OTS surface unit and also an Amron Surface hardwire comm unit. It added up to many thousands of dollars of dive gear for around $500.00 including shipping. I turned right around and made more than my money back by unloading the hardwire comm unit.
The key is to watch for a product you know, avoid impulse buying and read the feedback. Do not be afraid to ask the seller a question to clarify an unclear description.

 

[cowjazz]

I've bought and sold many items (around two hundred transactions), and have never had a problem that was not resolved. Only twice did I use Paypal's purchase protection, and that process was fast and painless.

 

[Mo2vation]

Way too many snipers. Many just try to resell the stuff at a profit later.

I hate people like that.... eyebrow

eBay rocks. I have thousands and thousands of transactions. One rip off that was completely my fault - I blew it and got hosed. Aside from that, perfect.

The internet is the biggest thing to happen in my lifetime, and eBay is the biggest thing to happen to the internet. To be ignorant of eBay is to ignorant. You simply gotta get an account and go play around. It may not be for you, but you'll never know unless you go.

There is nothing, NOTHING that I ever buy (from shoes & socks, to music & Scuba gear, to electronics to Levis, to my expedition gear, to my fishing rods & reels, to computers to my truck, to tools, to housewares, to appliances to Cliff bars!) that doesn't drive a trip to eBay first before I leave the house.

Treasures await you.

---
Ken

 

[redacted]

Way too many snipers.

Got to admit, I'm one of those. My standard is that the bid is submitted in the last 10 seconds. Bottom line is the bidder who wants it the most, and bids accordingly, gets it. I just see no sense in giving anyone a chance to reconsider their bid in response to mine.

So I guess "this {ripoffs} is a very common problem" must be the experience of folks who don't participate on this board!!!eyebrow

 

[FLDVR]

Looking at the Feedback rating is highly underated and unless the person has a lot of negative feedback I wouldnt have any qualms about doing a transaction with them.

I've been really hosed once: Paid for an item and never received it. I left negative feedback and they posted a negative feedback in retaliation. E-Bay was pitiful in resolving the issue but finally in the end all they would do is remove the text not the negative rating.

In another instance a buyer bought some electronic equipment from and ad that I posted excellent pictures of, after he received the equip. he started sending me posts that he wanted some money back(fishing) I made him send the product back and refunded him 100 percent. I was to scared to leave the neg. feed back because you know what he would of done!

Now I try to call the seller or leave my # so that a person can talk to me on the phone, this way we can kind of figure out who we're dealing with.

Bottom line. Caveat Emptor

 

[Mo2vation]

Bottom line. Caveat Emptor

That's life's bottom line, my friend. Be aware. Head up. Move forward.

---
Ken

 

[devolution365]

I caution those of you who rely only on feedback to determine a "good" seller from a "bad" one. It can be easily got around by selling 99 $5 T-shirts, then 1 brick-in-a-box laptop for $2000. And what's the seller got? -99% good feedback!

Hence my thurough write-up on purchasing on eBay ;-)

 

[Mark Vlahos]

I caution those of you who rely only on feedback to determine a "good" seller from a "bad" one. It can be easily got around by selling 99 $5 T-shirts, then 1 brick-in-a-box laptop for $2000. And what's the seller got? -99% good feedback!

Hence my thurough write-up on purchasing on eBay ;-)

When I checked the feedback on my seller he had a mixture of higher and lower priced items, both buying and selling. All of the feedback was good, the tough part was there was no indication that the gear was stolen, and after talking with the store owner he confirmed that much of the gear that was listed had been stolen. A clever thief can find ways to beat any system, a stupid one is pretty easy to spot.

Mark Vlahos