This Is Why I Don't Trust eBay

[Jadzia]

You can often get a feel for the type of seller from the kind of stuff they are selling, and how they present their ads. Some give the impression of being very decent people, and you just intuitively feel trusting of them. While other's give the impressions of being wheeler-dealers, and I'd hesitate buying from them no matter what their reputation is. I use my intuition a lot on ebay, and I do consider myself to be a good judge of character.

I tend to feel that 99.5% reputation is about the minimum I'd feel confident with a seller, and I tend to check what that negative feedback is, and if that same complaint has happened more than once.

People with very little feedback (<100 sales) can feel more risky, but at the same time the power sellers with 20,000+ behind them I'd wonder if being so busy they'd pay much attention to what they are doing, and if they make a mistake, would they have time or patience to bother rectifying it?

As far as claims that paypal is not trustworthy, I've never known anyone personally who has had problems with them. I expect problems are a very small minority, and I wouldn't be surprised it some of these claims are exaggerated or fictional. Manufaturers and high street retailers are not benefiting at all from people trading second hand goods. Might it be in their best interest to scaremonger people into avoiding paypal and ebay? Just a thought for you.

 

[nx1701g]

People with very little feedback (<100 sales) can feel more risky, but at the same time the power sellers with 20,000+ behind them I'd wonder if being so busy they'd pay much attention to what they are doing, and if they make a mistake, would they have time or patience to bother rectifying it?

Actually I've found the Power Sellers I've dealt with have tried to fix the situation faster - because they're worried about what can be done to their sales if you start an eBay investigation. They lose the power seller ranking and they lose a lot of opportunities and perks (I believe they're even offered health insurance).

 

[Jadzia]

And I opened an investigation with PayPal, but so far all they care about is that I got the goods in the mail.

Be careful how you word that: You may have received a package in the mail, but 'the goods' may be interpreted as 'the thing you paid for'.

 

[NIUPonyBoy]

That is how that worthless PayPal worded it.

 

[Jadzia]

Then you might want to contact them again and revise your statement, depending on what they say they mean by 'the goods'.

 

[NIUPonyBoy]

Uh, I didn't refer to the thing I got as the goods. PP did, all they seem to care about is if something was shipped. It could have been a box of rocks and they wouldn't care so long as something was shipped to me. Misrepresented or not.

 

[happydave]

I couldn't help but lighten up the thread with an xkcd comic.

http://xkcd.com/325/

 

[Finnegan]

Caveat emptor.

 

[barnaclelapse]

I couldn't help but lighten up the thread with an xkcd comic.

http://xkcd.com/325/

Exactly.

 

[Sector 7]

I learned several years ago about the eBay and PayPal games. The first time I bought something from eBay the seller never sent the item. After contacting them with no result, I finally left a negative feedback. In turn, they left a negative feedback for me which ended my young run on eBay because no one would buy or sell to someone with negative feedback.
PayPal nor eBay would do anything about the situation so I closed my account.
As for the comment about not doing business with someone who does not have enough feedback; this turns eBay into an exclusive club in which it is difficult to get started.

 

[Harvey]

I've been screwed on ebay a few times--bought a DVD set that turned into some DVD-Rs with a photocopied cover. I'm doing most of my online buying and selling on Amazon now. The prices are fixed, and if there's problems Amazon will actually get involved.

 

[Manisphere]

Call me a cynic if you must, but with only 112 reviews, I wouldn't have bought anything from him/her. I'm not comfortable with any seller with less than 500 reviews. Especially if they've been a seller for more than a couple of months.

If they've been a seller for less than a couple of months, then I'm uncomfortable with them for a whole different reason.

Not trying to say anything about you specifically, but with that kind of attitude, how do you expect anyone to get that many reviews?

I understand what you are saying though, respect is important if you want to sell something on ebay. I tried helping someone who wanted to start doing just that, they made dream catchers at home and wanted to sell them. Unfortunately it never took off because no one wanted to buy from someone with so little rep or reviews.

Dang, don't freak me out. I won the NF series from someone with only 105 good reviews. I'm going to give my seller the benefit of the doubt and assume he's not a crook....for now!

 

[Cakes488]

And I cannot express this enough. Because a particular seller screwed you, you don't "trust eBay" when eBay is nothing more than a place for people to come together to sell stuff? Did they have a high % feedback? Did they have a lot of customers? If you pay attention to what you're doing, you don't have any problems. And as roguephoenix pointed out, you should've just bought it from an online store in the first place. Anything THAT much cheaper than the 40~45 range you really should've been suspicious of. I actually pay attention to details, and I've never had any trouble from items bought from eBay sellers.

Exactly.

Sorry you got screwed, man, but this probably could have been easily avoided with a little common sense. I've been using eBay for close to a decade now, and I can honestly I've had far more good experiences than bad ones, and that's because I tried to be smart about what I wanted to buy, who I wanted to buy it from and how much I would realistically have to pay for it.

Again, sorry you got screwed over.

I've been using ebay for over a decade too and have bought over 100 items and only had a problem twice. The seller wanted me to fix this product myself...and I balked at that so I said either you refund my money or I'll start the claim...I got my money back right away...the only other time I had a problem is yeah someone didn't ship me something and you just need to file a claim and follow their procedures..which can take some time but they are there to arbitrate...just as sellers are liar so buyers can be to...so they must get "to the bottom of it" and they usually do (In my experience). I just don't buy from ebay so much anymore because the prices aren't that great. The only time I go on there now is hard to find items.

Uh, I didn't refer to the thing I got as the goods. PP did, all they seem to care about is if something was shipped. It could have been a box of rocks and they wouldn't care so long as something was shipped to me. Misrepresented or not.

Just follow the claim procedures and you'll get your money back...you'll have to be patient. They have the original listing and you have the product which doesn't match up with the listing...relax you'll get your money back.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Didn't see it mentioned, but eBay owns PayPal. They bought them in 2002.

I too have been using ebay for around 10 years, and have had a credit card # "built into" my paypal account for most of that time. I've had a few non-shipped items and a few mis-stated items. I open a dispute with PP, and in one case, the seller didn't have enough money in his account for them to refund to me, they've refunded every other time I've used the process.
A couple times I decided to avoid the process and had my credit card company do a chargeback instead.

 

[SFRabid]

Call me a cynic if you must, but with only 112 reviews, I wouldn't have bought anything from him/her. I'm not comfortable with any seller with less than 500 reviews. Especially if they've been a seller for more than a couple of months.

If they've been a seller for less than a couple of months, then I'm uncomfortable with them for a whole different reason.

I'm glad most customers are not as obsessive as you. I've been on eBay for years but have less than 200 reviews for my 100 percent rating. I don't run a store. I sell stuff I don't need anymore and buy things that interest me. In my dealings, I find the part time sellers like me to be more trustworthy than than people trying to make a living off of Ebay and racking up 100's or 1000's of sells. Those are the people who are really after the profit, and who you really have to watch.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

A couple times I decided to avoid the process and had my credit card company do a chargeback instead.

Doesn't Paypal freeze your account if you do that? Linky

 

[Keith1701]

No, eBay's okay, I don't trust Paypal.

J.

I agree.......

 

[nx1701g]

I couldn't help but lighten up the thread with an xkcd comic.

http://xkcd.com/325/

too true.

 

[Yeoman Randi]

I've had my share of good and bad in the past, I simply do not like non face to face transactions. I thought I would try again with that place, now I see why I won't again.

Y'all can use it all you want, but I sure as hell won't be.

Peace, I'm done with that place.

And I opened an investigation with PayPal, but so far all they care about is that I got the goods in the mail.

NIUPonyBoy, i am sorry you had such a bad experience. You should give Paypal a call...it might not be too late to get some satisfaction ...they usually do side with the buyers. Good luck!

 

[trevanian]

Shit, I bought 1985 TZ series and they sent me the awful 21st century set instead, and I STILL had to pay postage to send the damn thing back before I could get credited! The shipping x 2 should have been charged back to the idiot committing the fraud, but Nooooo.

Is there any particular reason you bought the '85 TZ set (good choice, BTW; it's my favorite out of all three versions ) from Ebay rather than places like Amazon or Best Buy.com?

Price. I've thought it was outrageously priced since it came out, and this was the first time I saw a decent number on it (the same price I paid a few minutes ago for a set of the Simon Pegg SPACED, $25.)

A local store started carrying the 85 TZ recently, so I settled for renting it ... which cost nothing since I had a freebie coming. So I guess I came out okay.

I used to sell alot of my stuff on ebay and just by being courteous and professional, I got terrific feedback builtup very quickly. I think I had one 'fair' and 1200 'excellent' from a couple years, and the fair was due more to the post office than to me.