What have been your experiences with Ebay?
@JustSimplyLissa (547)
United States
January 12, 2007 5:26pm CST
What kind of experiences have you had with ebay? I've had 1 bad and 6 good so far.
My recommendation is always to use PAYPAL. Do not do money orders or checks. It's the quickest way to get screwed over for your $.
Another recommendation is to pay attention to their feedback scores. The more the score the better and percent wise too. say someone has 100 but another has 2000 the better one based on those numbers is the 2000 but if they have a feedback % that is under 95% the likelyhood that their will be trouble is higher. Someone with 100 rate and 100% feedback will likely be the better of the two.
Read the feedback. check for communication issues and delivery issues among the feedback from the other members. This may save you time and effort in dealing with people.
Just some ebay tips for beginners. I'm a beginner myself, but I learned the hard way.
7 people like this
67 responses
@WebMann (4731)
• Canada
13 Jan 07
I have had mostly great experiences with eBay. I used eBay to fund my entire summer of fishing, supplies, liscence everything. It was easy and it was a lot of fun.
I also screwed up with them and went wild thinking I didn't have to pay until something sold. Man was I stressed for a few weeks over that blunder. But live and learn and don't make the same mistake twice.
What I did was put up a ton of eBooks with reseller rights and thought I would make a fortune. Not a single one sold because I didn't know what I was doing and I had a fat bill with eBay.
That was totally my fault for not understanding the rules of play.
My over all opinion of eBay is A+ and a lot of fun, just follow items that you may want to sell and see what they sell successfully for so you will know if that is going earn you money. and then go for it.
2 people like this
@marty3888 (2355)
• Acme, Michigan
13 Jan 07
I guess I've been luckey. I too have been doing eBay for a couple of years. In fact, I got this laptop that I'm using right now from eBay for $300.00. I think it's the best thing I've bought. The reason I say I'm luckey is most of my purchases I sent a money order as opposed to paypal and I've had no problem. I can't think of any advice other than what's already been given. I pay most attention to the item descrption. Most of the time if there is anything wrong with a used item the seller states it.
1 person likes this
@esaflaca (83)
• United States
13 Jan 07
I have had a great experience from E-Bay. I use it to sell some of my abstract paintings and most of all, I buy things from there. I bought furniture, hair appliances, etc. from there... it all worked out and I still continueing buying products from E-Bay. Why? Because most products they sell on there are on auction and don't cost that much. Also, most of the stuff is easy to find rather then going to a store and looking everywhere for what your trying to get. It is a hassle.
@legsmay (43)
• Australia
13 Jan 07
Ive had one bad experince with ebay, lucky it was only abou 17 dollars that i lost, i checked her feedback and it was good, but with further investigation, she had only started selling, the feed back was from her buying, not selling! i have had no contact with her at all, and she has marked the payment recived!, theres nuthing i can do now, ive contacted ebay and thats that
@JustSimplyLissa (547)
• United States
14 Jan 07
sorry to hear of your bad experience. Hopefully you'll keep trying. I really read the feedback left and make sure its ligitmate.
@venshida (4836)
• United States
13 Jan 07
I have sell on Ebay since 2003, and I purchase items also. I usually read the feedbacks to get a sense of whom I am doing business with. If someone rating is not 100% I usually read the negative feedback first, i find sometimes its the customer who is at fault. If it is the customers error, I will still purchase from the seller.
@JustSimplyLissa (547)
• United States
14 Jan 07
Agreed! I actually will contact the seller a few times, to see how they respond to my emails and with how much lapse in time. If its great to fair, i don't count them out, I still check the feedback of recent purchases! Sometimes It is the customer's fault. I also search out the negative feedback customer's files and read their ratings.
@mzbubblie (3839)
• United States
12 Jan 07
I love EBAY. I have been on Ebay for about 6 years now. I buy and sell on Ebay. You gave some very helpful tips for beginners. Feedbacks, Also noticing how often they sell their items.
Something else that is very helpful if they offer it, get insurance on your items, you have people out there that say they shipped your item but because you don't have insurance they can argue it. And that's after you sent them your money. More importantly make sure you READ everything about the item you are purchasing. Sometimes it looks nice but if you don't read it could be damaged not working, or used. Good luck on Ebay....I must admit I love it!!!!
1 person likes this
@Signal20 (2281)
• United States
13 Jan 07
Read the fine print on the Paypal site about delivery confirmation. They way they word it, it really sounds like delivery confirmation isn't enough, need something more like signature confirmation(1.90 at USPS). I was browsing through a chat room/blog whatever they are lol, on ebay community, and the people that have been around awhile are saying-YES it's signature confirmation, delivery confirmation isn't enough. What I did, when I sold(just closed up shop because of the fees), I just automatically figured shipping insurance and delivery confirmation in the shipping price. Delivery conf. is cheap, but it will kinda deter some people from trying to say "I didn't receive it." as their scam.
Also, not that it's right-it's against the rules, but the reason they list something for .99 and shipping is 50.00, they're not scamming the customer, they're scamming ebay lol. If they list their item that way, they pay a lot less in fees to list it and if it sells at that price.
@mzbubblie (3839)
• United States
13 Jan 07
Very very true, I forgot to say something about comfirmation. When I sell items on Ebay, I make sure I have confirmation. Paypal has a area on their site that when you sell any item you can track it by paypal very helpful feature, plus let the other person know the information as well....
1 person likes this
@Gigglygrrl (362)
• United States
12 Jan 07
I have been buying and selling on Ebay for a few years and have had mostly good experiences. I only do paypal even though some hate it. I actually bought from another site and was forced to use Stormpay, turned out the woman "selling" stuff was a scam artist and I was never able to get my money back. The same thing happened on eBay and paypal and I got my money back rather quickly.
@JustSimplyLissa (547)
• United States
12 Jan 07
paypal luckily has that kind of assurance (of course up to a limit),
Stormpay itself is a scam. From everything I've heard about it, I'd never recommend it to anyone.
Thanks for replying!
1 person likes this
@annieroos (1845)
• United States
13 Jan 07
I love ebay i have never had any problems with them.. I always get what i order and i have even sold on there and i have got my money... I always read the feedbacks to see how they are as far as shipment.. and selling.. And i have gotten great feedback on myself as well i think ebay is a great thing.
1 person likes this
@nancygibson (3736)
• France
13 Jan 07
I've had over 800 successful transactions through Ebay, both a buyer and seller. Feedback is important but I also accept that sometimes things go wrong that may not really reflect the seller or buyer's normal modus operandi. If they have a couple of negatives a number of years ago but all positives in the last year, then I don't worry at all. I also accept payment by many means, I've had people offer barter in the past, and if its mutually beneficial, then I am very happy with that as well.
@anne_143god (5387)
• Philippines
13 Jan 07
I think Ebay is one of the easiest way to sell and buy stuff on the internet. I agree with you that paypal is the safest way to use for buying and selling. I also heard some people thay they really requires paypal to use.
1 person likes this
@misskatonic (3723)
• United States
12 Jan 07
I've just started using Ebay, but my experiences have been very good so far. I always use Paypal, and I'm very careful about checking seller feedback. I don't buy from anyone with less than a 98% positive feedback score. Luckily all my transactions have gone very, very well.
1 person likes this
@JustSimplyLissa (547)
• United States
12 Jan 07
awesome!
I had one bad experience but I learned from it. I'm using ebay more now, and am very satisfied with what I've been purchasing!
Thanks for replying!
1 person likes this
@MrNiceGuy (4141)
• United States
13 Jan 07
I have always had great experiences with ebay. I've done dozens of sales and buys and I've only had to return something once, and that was easy as well. It isn't that hard and usually people are good about it.
1 person likes this
@BDnLacy (324)
• United States
13 Jan 07
One of my sites began as an eBay store. And I'm going to tell you all a couple shocking facts. There are actually groups of people on there that discusses who they have ripped off and how they did it. I know this because I was invited to join one. I did turned them down. And the next day, I reported it to eBay. Three months later I saw the very same man selling again. So you all should be very carefull an as Lissa says never send checks or money orders. Ebay doesn't care whether you get ripped off on their site that is why they post disclaimers all over it.
1 person likes this
@amiableana (27)
• Philippines
13 Jan 07
I agree that you should always check on the feedback of the seller. I am a newbie with using eBay and I was very careful in checking the sellers feedback. Good thing the seller that I chose had 100% feedback which was true , had my delivery on time and the item was in good condition.
1 person likes this
@Aeval39 (773)
• United States
13 Jan 07
I've only gotten one thing through ebay, and it came right when it was supposed to, and in great condition just as I'd expected. I read the feedback, and the person had over 100 reviews, only about one or two of them negative. I like to know that I can trust the person I'm buying from, and the feedback helps a lot.
1 person likes this
@Celanith (2327)
• United States
13 Jan 07
I have had mostly good experinces about three bad and those three left retalitory negatives on me and they were not deserved. Ebay finally has a policy when this happens you can get them taken off but for awhile they did not have this and so the old negs remain even if unfair.
1 person likes this
@shywolf (4514)
• United States
13 Jan 07
I agree that it is safest to use Paypal on Ebay if you can. I have only bought a couple of things on Ebay. The most recent was an old PDA model that I really wanted because it had more of a keyboard style keypad. I paid for that with Paypal and it got here and after some troubles, I got it working and it has done execellently for me so far. ^_^ The other time I bought a casette of a music artist that I was fascinated with at the time. I actually believe that i sent cash in the mail for that item. It was like only four dollars *laugh* I konw that i shouldnt have done that, but I didn't have means to send paypal or a check at the time. Anyway, I got the tape just fine, but I wouldn't recommend anyone else doing that. This was several years ago, and I was probably very lucky that the person didn't just take my cash and claim that it got stolen in the mail! *laugh*
@xcmatx (173)
• United States
13 Jan 07
i have no bad experiences because i only get from the sellers with good ratings and reviews. I dont want to go through any trouble with sending it back or whatever. Too much trouble, and if i'm buying something online, i would want the item or whatever to be in good condition, and must have it ASAP.
1 person likes this
@4rC_4nG3L (132)
•
13 Jan 07
Ive got a few things from ebay, a playstation 2 headset, a tv input card & the best set of stylus for my turntables..
i think its a really good place to buy, plus u can get bargains...
the guys i got my stuff off of were so friendly it was unbelievible lol...
1 person likes this
@strawberrymudd (330)
• United States
13 Jan 07
I agree with you 100% on your recommendations. I've had multiple ebay accounts as I've changed emails so many times, but I've only had one negative experience as well! I bought a lot of wedding supplies off ebay, and the only bad thing that happened was I was only shipped one of something instead of two, and that was taken care of immediately as well, at no charge! Paypal is amazing, as you said. And definitely read the feedback. Some people scam, and that will let you know.
1 person likes this
