Ebay ?

[Kani]

I have heard lately that there has been several problems with people buying things off ebay. It has been reported on our news that there has been several scams. I have never bought anything off ebay. Have anyone bought things off ebay with or without success?Just curious.Oops should have put this in off topics. Sorry.

[Beaverslayer]

I've bought and sold with very good success. Only once have I had a problem and it was settled apropriately.

I did recieve a newsletter yesterday from Ebay, they are changing a fair amount of things for people that are NOT Powersellers. The final value fees are increasing, and the way feedback is done is all changing. They are trying to cater more to the Powersellers thatn the average Joe, because that's where the BIG BUCKS are, the companies that list 1000's of items a day.

My 2 cents, they are getting to big for thier britches and are leaving the people that made them as big as they are behind.

Ken

[SmokinP]

I just started selling some stuff on Ebay. Just stuff I ain't using no more. Actually gotta say it's pretty interesting and got to kinda meet some nice folks.

I bought some stuff too and it went real well. Just like anything gotta watch prices and shipping costs and all.

I think biggest problem I see is too many people using it as a way to make a living without puttin on their britches on in the morning. Lotta complaining from people that sell those 1000's of items a day about fees and stuff. Well if you had a real store you'd have a bunch more overhead way I see it.

Go to a real auction sometime and see what their fees are. Catalog fees, sellin fees, pass out fees, etc. And you gotta put your britches on to go to those.

When I sell something I let the buyer know my address, phone number, cell number, website, email and all. If they got a problem I wanna hear about and if it's my fault I'll do whatever has to be done to make it right.

I suppose the day will come when I get scammed by a homelss guy in some third world country or a 12 year city kid but I suppose that's kinda the world we live in now.

And now for some shameless marketing....... http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZsmokinpranch

Edited April 3, 2008 by SmokinP

[Beaverslayer]

I like your style Smokin, my hats off to you.

Ken

[SmokinP]

Well thank you Ken. I just kinda figure if folks would be less inclined to sell their reputation for a few dollars things might be a little better.

[bcurrier]

I've bought on eBay, but never used it to sell anything. I used eBay a fair amount for its first couple of years or so. At that time the format looked and felt closer to a true auction, which both my wife and I enjoy. We bought some interesting things at what I consider good auction prices. As time wore on, I found ending bids to be less attractive, hit a few cases of fraud, and, on one occasion, never received an item I paid for (fortunately, I used Paypal, which refunded me). eBay also introduced the buy it now concept, which turned a big chunk of the site's content into a big storefront with pretty ordinary retail prices for the most part. Finally, it got to the point where I just hated sorting through all the small change stuff just to find anything of interest - manuals, signs, postcards, small parts, etc. - including page after page after page of repeated items. Some of it you can get around, but the searching, sorting and filtering mechanisms are pretty clumsy, unfortunately.

Just not worth the time. My 2 cents worth.

Bill

[craftsman827]

Kani,

I use ebay quite often,both to buy,and sell.

Over the years I had one or two problems, but I also use paypal, and they got my money back.

All n all, I would recomend it, just be carefull, and use paypal if you can.

[gunfighter48]

I have bought from ebay a couple of dozen times and never had a problem until my last purchase. I bought a Consew portable sewing machine form Continental Sewing in Kentucky. They didn't send any email confirmation that the order was bought and paid for and the ups tracking number. It took 3 phone calls to get that information. When I got the order it was the head only, there was no case, foot controller, accessories. So it took three more phone calls to get those items shipped and to get the tracking number for that shipment. In all it took over three weeks to get everything that I should have got in 5 days. I was told a number of times that someone would call me back with shipping info and tracking number, no one ever did. To be fair, they did finally ship everything and didn't charge me for shipping the case, foot controller, accessories.

I only order from dealers on Ebay, have not ordered from individuals. This is the only dealer that I have ever had a problem with and I won't order from them again. I ordered from them becuase of their good customer ratings, makes you wonder how accurate those ratings are.

John