Do you check feedback before buying?

I always check feedback. Even if the rating is high, I darned well want to know what they got that negative and two neutrals for. If all of the complaints are regarding shipping time but the product was as delivered, I know to expect my package to run behind schedule. That sort of thing. I've also found, after a couple of hassles, there's always another seller in the sea. I won't buy from someone with a 98.1% feedback rating that appears to be justified (unless the problem seems to have been resolved recently), because there are always sellers out there (or will be soon) with higher feedback ratings selling the same product for the same price. I'm sorry your deal seems to have gone a bit sour. I'd probably contact her once more and then file a paypal complaint. I hope you resolve everything!

I have always checked the sellers feeback even if they have a 99% feedback I will go see what the negative feedback was for and how long ago the negative feedback was left if it was recent I usually won't buy from that seller. Since you paid through paypal I would start a paypal disptue that should get her going and if you don't receive your item you will be able to get your money back.

I check it before buying. If the negative feedback is pretty old and they have not had any recently then I will still buy from them. That is one of the reasons why I am glad that I have 100% positive feedback.

I would really be leery of a seller with a 98.1% feedback and probably look into the individual feedbacks to see why this seller has so many neutral or negs. If the seller in question only had a few transactions over the last year, it's possible that he/she only had one mark against them and I'd want to know what the problem was (and how much time the buyer had on Ebay... could be a fairly new person leaving neutral feedback because of slow shipping, or something like that) Most of my and hubby's purchases come from sellers who we have bought from in the past. We know they always deliver the goods in a timely manner and they are well-packaged. If we consider buying from a seller we never used before, we research their feedback and always use Paypal to pay for the items. Paypal gives us a little security that if the transaction goes bad, we know we can file a claim with Paypal and get our $$ back. On expensive purchases, we will always use our credit card, through Paypal. We know our credit card will protect us from a bad transaction. In several years on Ebay, we only needed to file one claim with Paypal...every other seller took care of the problem right away. So to answer your question... if I was this leery, I'd pass on the item, unless the price was just to ggod to passon... then I'd use my Paypal account to pay and I'd consider paying w/ a credit card through paypal, just for the extra protection. Good Luck and I hope it works out for you if you bid!

Yeah, I do. If something seems too good to be true, then it usually is. 98.1% isn't bad, but if you want to be safe, go with at least 99.0%. I've gotten things from sellers with a feedback rating of 95%, but then it's a bit of a gamble. I think you just need to look at the odds. If they had 33 negatives in the past month and 4,098 positives in the past month, I think you're safe. Oh, and get insurance whenever you can.

I always read other people's feedback before I buy from any seller on eBay. People will usually mention slow delivery or damaged goods in their feedback and you'll be able to see if they're just isolated incidents or if it happens quite often. I've been lucky so far in that any problems i've had have been minor and resolved quickly. It does sound like this woman is making excuses for her lousy service. If she doesn't respond to your latest message i'd say to contact eBay about it.

Yes sometimes I read the reviews first and also read the feedback from the product's owners and see what they have to say about the item. That usually becoming consideration that weigh my decision to buy it or not. I can say it's 90% trustworthy but I still have to look at the products with my own eyes before I make decision to buy it.

If I can but I look at the number more than the replies.

I always check feedback and make sure that I read many of the comments made too. You can learn a lot from reading the comments, both positive and negative, and make a judgment from that.

Funny you should mention that. I had planned on going on eBay and buying some toner for my printer today. I keep telling myself that I should check the feedback, but I keep forgetting. Thanks for reminding me. I hate getting ripped off!

As both a buyer and seller, I always check feedback. Even at 98.1%, its good to go in and see what the negative rating was for. Sometimes its just a misunderstanding between the parties, and hardly anyone has 100% if they have a lot of items, but it's good to know what other people experiences have been. Since you paid through paypal,you have some recourse if you open a dispute. Good luck!

I'd be reading the feedback to see what others are saying not just the percentage. Maybe its just me but I like to see what people have to say about a person not just a percentile rating. If i had read she was a slow shipper for a while multiple times...I'd have been a bit leery of buying from her. Or contacted her before hand.

I do check, i am just not that trusting. I had a horrible time getting some books that i ordered from Amanzon, it took almost 6mo. to get a book and i had already given up and bought it at the store, so i ended up with two of the same book. This happened with all 3 books i ordered from them (the quickest i recieved one was 3mo.) so now i do not order anything from them and always check the rating from whereever i am ordering. Better safe than sorry!

I ALWAYS check feedback. I've been ebaying for about ten years now. I buy and sell and love all of it. I check all feedbacks everytime I buy something. I also pay close attention to sellers that are not in the states. Alot of the ones from China are the same people with the same exact items but with about 5 or 6 different accounts. I bought the same item from 3 people on ebay and they all came from the same address. It was alittle crazy, but hey if thats how they make their money. I always pay close attention to why they are getting the negative or neutral feedback. I personally don't allow people without feedback to bid on any of my items. Dont be to trusting and never ever feel bad about messaging a person to much, if you feel like they've have enough time to ship you're item, then let them know, or just ask for a tracking number, that usually gets their attention.

I always check a sellers feedback before I buy from them. I don't want to buy from someone that is just going to screw me over. I've started buying a lot of my things from Amazon now, especially the marketplace so before I buy, I always check the feedback of sellers before I'll even consider buying from sellers. If they don't come above 96% then I won't buy from them.

I learned that from my husband since the first time I bid, I didn't bother to check it and luckily it was 100% trustworthy! I also read some post here who had bad experiences with some sellers so makes me learn a lesson.

people are not perfect.,so i believe if the seller is in 98% rating it doesn't mean that she is not trustworthy.,i guess you should read the feedback all the way for you to find the reason why he/she got that rating.,and always contact the seller so that you will know if he/she is a real one.

It is a must to check - I would say on both sides...buyer and seller. I am a seller I would straight away check out the persons feedback as to roughly know what to expect after the bid ends.

I have never bought any thing on ebay, may be one day.

yes ofcourse i do check but i do not know about others whether they check or not but i think it is must to see that... you that gives an idea and that too in positive way if there is no harm to check the feedback you i think we should go for that...