Who has experience of Ebay?

FrustratedPoet · March 12, 2003, 10:45

Anyone out there want to give tips/warnings about Ebay?

I entered a couple of auctions for the first time today. I've always been hesitant before because I didn't feel entirely comfortable with giving my money to some stranger in the hope that they'll send me what I bought .... but there was something I wanted and I saw it cheap so decided to give it a go.*

So ... any Ebay stories you want to share?

* - No, I'm not telling you what it is .... I don't want you gits outbidding me!

Urban Ranger · March 12, 2003, 11:03

I bought a game at eBay. I suppose the rating system works quite well, because I picked somebody with a good rating. That worked out well.

SpencerH · March 12, 2003, 11:07

I've bought a 10-20 or so items (all computer related) and found it to be very good. I got ripped off once, probably by a postal worker.

I found that I could find similar (and better) prices for most stuff though at online stores so I stopped using it. Paypal is a big improvement over the payment methods used before (although they have some real bullshit policies about credit card users that caused me to boycott them

).

As with all auctions, do research and decide what you think the item is worth and only bid that max-amount. Its just as easy to bid up the price online in the spur of the moment as it is at a live auction house.

FrustratedPoet · March 12, 2003, 11:08

Yeah, the people I'm trying to buy things from have very high feedback ratings - so I'm hopeful that it owuld go smoothly.
Still, it's daunting prospect.

I've set my maximum bid quite low for the moment just to get my nose in front of the pack. I figure that if someone goes over my current limit I'll be able to reassess the situation.

I would happily pay double my current max bid, but I've seen other auctions for these where the price is 5 times what I'm currently at. Hopefully this one will slip under the radar.

The Mad Monk · March 12, 2003, 11:09

I've bought three items, no trouble at all. I used personal checks, but you have to make sure the other party will accept them. I've been told to steer clear of paypal unless there's no other way, because its apparently easy to defraud.

SpencerH · March 12, 2003, 11:12

I always used a credit card which gives you more protection from the *******s.

If you're buying from the really big sellers, look to see if they have an online store. Many do, with the same prices (sometimes cheaper), and I always felt more comfortable dealing with them that way.

Urban Ranger · March 12, 2003, 11:16

By the way, be careful of computer games that come with no box and printed manual. What happens is the owner makes a copy, sells the original on eBay, and keeps the box and manual for himself.

SpencerH · March 12, 2003, 11:24

Ebay seems to be much tougher about pirated copies and about oem OS versions that weren't for re-sale than they once were. It used to be you could find hundreds of sellers of older OS's (win98se) for very good prices but now you dont.

Velociryx · March 12, 2003, 11:57

Good stuff! Use it frequently, and haven't had any troubles! Recommend though, that you pay close attention as the auction winds down....near the end, people invariably come on and make last minute bids....if you're gonna lose out, it'll be in the last fifteen minutes of the auction...

-=Vel=-

FrustratedPoet · March 12, 2003, 12:05

Quote:

Originally posted by Velociryx
Good stuff! Use it frequently, and haven't had any troubles! Recommend though, that you pay close attention as the auction winds down....near the end, people invariably come on and make last minute bids....if you're gonna lose out, it'll be in the last fifteen minutes of the auction...

Hi Vel

Good points, but I suppose the safest plan would be for me to set my maximum bid at the most I'm prepared to pay and just ignore the auction for the last 12 hours. The proxy bidding system shoudl take care of the rest. That way I won't be tempted into paying more than I can afford .... of course it would help if I had more will power.

On the other hand, even if my upper ceiling is (for example) £50, I suppose it would be silly for me to lose the auction to a £51 bid when I could have gone the extra yards and paid £52 myself. I'll keep my eyes on the auction (and remember to refresh the screen

) as the end approaches.

Richard Bruns · March 12, 2003, 12:47

I have bought a few things on ebay, with no bad experiences. While it is generally not worth it for common items, it is excellent for rare or odd things like 40 pounds of Lego bricks. Be warned that the bid will often double in the last few minutes. Just bid what you really would pay, even if it is a lot higher than the current bid. Then forget the auction until it is over.

My dad does a LOT of buying and selling on Ebay, almost all of it baseball cards. He has gotten quite good at it, and manages to break even in dollar terms while constantly expanding his card collection. It´s kind of funny, since he was a bit of a Luddite and didn´t like spending the money for a computer, but now spends the most time online. He has easily gotten enough cards to fully pay for the computer.

MOBIUS · March 12, 2003, 13:10

I've made about £1000 on eBay so far selling things - never bought anything though...

Sheik · March 12, 2003, 15:40

Buying things has been good for people in my family ( I have never used it myself). I tried to sell something though and someone just did the "buy it now" and never paid me. I never shipped it but it is a pain in the a** when you have to get the listing fee back and then get it up again for auction.

Az · March 12, 2003, 15:51

I haven't tried ebay, but I've been trying those auction sites of new electronics and hardware.

Are those good?

Clear Skies · March 12, 2003, 15:59

If anyone's selling a stick, don't buy it.

Stuie · March 12, 2003, 17:14

I've used eBay a lot and never had any problems. Like others have said, I use it mostly for rare/hard to find items. It's rare that something more main-stream "falls through the cracks", though I did recently get an out of print video a lot cheaper than I though possible - closing price was only US$9.00, and that was after bidding on similar ones and watching them go to US$20+

Datajack Franit · March 12, 2003, 17:20

Ebay...

Avoid it like plague- I HATE Ebay

DanS · March 12, 2003, 17:30

I've had good experiences with ebay and have been using it infrequently for years. If you buy something for a substantial amount of money, make sure that you do escrow. I've bought some pretty big items.

Skanky Burns · March 12, 2003, 20:04

I got my graphics card on eBay, around $100 less than what it would have cost me in stores. The person I bought off had a good rating, and everything went smoothly.

My sister is quite the expert on eBay, and won an auction the other day by placing a bid on the item 2 seconds before the auction ended.

Skanky Burns · March 12, 2003, 20:08

Quote:

Originally posted by Richard Bruns
I have bought a few things on ebay, with no bad experiences. While it is generally not worth it for common items, it is excellent for rare or odd things like 40 pounds of Lego bricks. Be warned that the bid will often double in the last few minutes. Just bid what you really would pay, even if it is a lot higher than the current bid. Then forget the auction until it is over.

Nah, the better way is to determine the most that you want to pay, and then in the last few seconds make that bid. Why give others 3 days notice on how much you have bid? You have a much better chance of winning it if you do it right at the end.

General Ludd · March 12, 2003, 20:08

My friend's mother used to buy and sell shoes on eBay...

Ishtar · March 12, 2003, 20:43

FP---

I've purchased several things from e bay on different occasions. I recently purchased a VHS movie that I couldn't find new anywhere. The person corresponded with me via email and my video arrived safe and sound.

Haven't had any bad experiences.

Good Luck With Your Bidding!!

Ishie :-)

asleepathewheel · March 12, 2003, 20:46

I had a semi-bad experience with ebay

I bought a book, a barbri law book. The guy said that it was brand new, but the copyright page was torn out, you could see the perferated edge in the book. I emailed the guy a pic that you could see the torn page. What book doesn't give the publishigng date? Very suspicious. The guy was being a real jerk about it, so I just cut my losses and moved on, not giving him a good rating. it was only like 40 bucks or something and I had to start studying immideately. Luckily it was only the previous edition and there weren't that many changes (it was an MPRE (ethics exam) book)

Skanky Burns · March 12, 2003, 20:47

Ironic.

MRT144 · March 12, 2003, 20:49

Ive had nothing but good experiences both selling and buying on ebay.

asleepathewheel · March 12, 2003, 20:49

Quote:

Originally posted by Skanky Burns
Ironic.

Yeah, it was quite amusing, having a guy screw me on an ethics book