Unpleasant eBay Purchases/Experiences
By DarthJustice
@DarthJustice (2014)
United States
March 23, 2010 10:16am CST
I remember last year, I bought a pair of sunglasses with a hidden camera inside it on eBay from a user in Hong Kong. When I got them, the sunglasses barely worked. They would not come on probably 90%+ of the time and even when they did, the video was jerky and splotchy.
Ultimately, the person I bought them from did return my money but the whole process did make me unhappy because I was really looking forward to having them. Not only just for fun but if I ever do actually become a private investigator. After it happened, I basically told myself that, as much as I hated to (since they're so expensive), if I ever bought another pair it would be from an actual website/business that says them.
Have you ever had an unpleasant experience on ebay? Have you ever gotten items that ended up not being exactly what you hoped for?
3 people like this
7 responses
@Olivine (11)
• United States
23 Mar 10
I am actually waiting right now for a sewing kit I purchased on eBay over a month ago. As far as I can tell, the item has still not been shipped. This is my first negative experience with eBay and many of the sellers are wonderful, honest people, but I am not surprised that this happened. Even if I wasn't intentionally ignored, a big company with lots of items to ship could easily overlook something once in a while.
@DarthJustice (2014)
• United States
23 Mar 10
I hope you get the sewing kit very soon. I know I would be feeling kind of anxious about it if that happened to me. But I agree. Most sellers on the site are good and honest people who will actually send the items to auction winners.
@recycledgoth (9894)
•
23 Mar 10
I have been a member of eBay for five years now and in all honesty I have had very few bad experiences. The one thing I have learnt, though, is that I don't buy from sellers based in Hong Kong purely because most of the goods seem to be shonky or fake. I bought a dress from a seller in Hong Kong and it took weeks to arrive, it was poorly made and very bad quality. I began an Item Not as Described action and received a refund and it made me a lot more cautious.
@DarthJustice (2014)
• United States
23 Mar 10
I typically only buy things from people who live in my country (United States) but pretty much the only reason I bought them from was because he had a pretty good percentage from people who have bought things from him.
Funny thing is though that after I got my sunglasses and went to email him, I saw that he had quite a few negative ratings from other people since the time I won them. It seemed quite a few people were having problems with the seller.
I've been on eBay since probably 2004 and that's like me. This was actually the only "bad" experience I've had since. Everyone else the items came in perfectly described and worked fine (I mainly get DVDs).
@chenxiaoyue_713 (2165)
• China
24 Mar 10
Hi, friend. I'm really sorry to learn about your unpleasant experience. Such things do happen now and again, esp. if you purchase some electronic goods online. There can be various problems with them since you can't test it in person. The worst thing about online purchasing is once you find that there are some problems with the items you bought, it's not easy to return it.
I shop online too, but the things I purchase are usually restricted to books, handbags or clothes.
Have a nice day!
@phoenix8606 (4942)
•
23 Mar 10
hell0! first want to than you about this discussion because I have planed to buy the same sunglasses and thanks to you I will not :)
well, i have had a bad experience and I even started a discussion weeks ago about it, because I have purchased a card reader from a top rated sell from Hong kong and he said that i have to receive it in max. 25 days, but do you know what?- i received it in 3 months which was really unbelievable!
@DarthJustice (2014)
• United States
23 Mar 10
I've heard other people say things like that too with items taking months or just simply never receiving them at all.
And I can't believe I typed "says" when I typed that out up there. I need to pay more attention to what I type I guess. That should have been "sells them" to everyone who reads this.
@tomitomi (5429)
• Singapore
24 Mar 10
hi darthjustice.
i've not bought anything from ebay. and buying from it is nothing remote in my mind as i've purchased other products through the net. friends would always advise about buying direct from a business website as long as its legit or from a mall where you get to touch and examine the product. but it's only human too that when we see something quite unusual or one we like for sale, we want to get hold of it. you are lucky to have been reimbursed. things might not work out this way. i guess you returned the glasses too? i'm glad you shared this. a stark reminder to me too.
have a wonderful day :)
@pinklemonade (486)
•
23 Mar 10
You just have to be careful. I don't tend to buy anything from anywhere other than the UK or US. On the occasion I have it's been something like Hello Kitty stickers from Japan with free P&P that cost me the equivalent of $3 so I wouldn't be too bothered if they were a load of rubbish. I have heard so many bad stories though I would rather just buy stuff using Pay pal over different websites. Just today I recieved a parcel from a friend who was having a "blog sale" on some things. I feel much better doing that as I knew she wouldn't mess me around than using Ebay. Ebay is actually very unfair to sellers.
