I have purchased various items from e-Bay and have never been disappointed with the merchandise or delivery. In one case, the seller sent me extra merchadise as a gift. I think it is a reputable place to do business with. Good luck.
I have spent a bit of money on eBay before and even the sister site half.com for used college books and I have always had a good experience. I always make sure to check the seller profile...you really want a high score. I don't fool myself into thinking a 100% seller is the best because they might only have that rating due to being new. I usually look at the overall picture: 1. How long have they been selling? New people are fine and can probably be trusted but I would take someone with a 95% who has been in business for years versus a 100% with a few months tenure. 2. The feedback scores. Obviously the higher the better. 3. Feedback comments. Some people give crap scores and gripe over things that mean nothing so it is good to weed those out. It also good to see if something is consistently an issue with the buyer.
No tracking number is a dangerous buy in my opinion. I would only buy items with the tracking number because they're not responsible if your item gets lost in the mail or stolen. I only did that one time where I purchased an item without a tracking number, and I won't do it again. It took over 3 weeks for the item to be shipped because it got into some problems from customs.
The first thing we must realize is that's what we're looking for, and what is its real price in store, so we find clear savings buying on eBay. If the product you need is new, no problem because it does not operate or are in poor condition or you change it or your money back, but for used products, we have some things in mind to avoid surprises. It is also important to see the comments made by other buyers against the seller, if the majority agree that it is legit, do not be afraid to buy, but if you have many negative comments Think about it some more. Note that in many cases the shipping price is the same or almost similar buying multiple items. If so, consider whether you need to buy several things from the same vendor or if you can get according to some known to share the cost of shipping.
I love buying from eBay, I've never had a problem on the other hand. Selling on the other hand, oh man, I just had a bad situation happen. I had a wallet that sold and I got no payment so I had to open up an unpaid item case which takes a little chunk of time. Listed it, had the same thing happen. Listed it again, had somebody say they change their mind. Nothing but bad luck sometimes but oh well, what can you do.
Sure you can. Every single post office offers registered airmail (ie packages with tracking numbers). Just make sure to add the seller; Chinese ones usually charge you $2 more for a tracking number, but those are $2 worth paying for.
I agree with most of the posters here. a) Seller reputation is foremost in deciding. Try and look for the "Top Rated" seller tag. Such sellers are very particular about their feedback and reputation and will try and settle any issues you may have with your purchase very amicably. b) Ensure that the seller has put his contact details on the listing, especially if it is an item with a high value. c) Next, check the 'Returns policy' for that item. Will the seller take the item back and offer a refund if you are not 100% satisfied with the purchase? In any case, most Buy It Now purchases are covered by the Distance Selling Regulations, which allow you to cancel the purchase within 7 working days after the day you receive the item. d) Lastly, if you use PayPal to pay for your item, ebay's Buyer Protection will protect you should anything go wrong. I have made innumerable purchases on ebay, including items of over £300, with no complaints whatsoever. The few rare times I had an issue, ebay sorted it out for me, with a refund once the item was returned to seller.
I've bought from Ebay in the past and have not yet had a problem. But like others have suggested, check out the reputation of the seller. I try to go 95% or higher rating. I've bought both small and large items. One of our recent purchases was a car part for over $100.
you need to do your research of the person selling before you buy anything. As well make sure that you read the description so that you are getting what you want. Sometimes they put stuff in the fine print. I buy off ebay all the time and in the pas if anything was a miss, it was usually because I didn't read everything in the description. Just know that buying online, the buyer needs to beware and it is a risk you're taking.
I mostly purchase vintage clothes from Ebay. I'm not a big fan of the bidding system -- especially for clothes. Something that costs 20 bucks at H&M could sky-rocket to almost 100 dollars in a bidding war. I also dislike that you have to bid to the very last second sometimes. Once I did purchase a textbook and the experience was about a 2.5 out of 5. The seller never sent me any shipping information and would not respond to calls/emails. When I called the number the answering machine stated that the voicemail was full. I figured that the company was a scam. The book showed up on the last day they had left before I could file a report. I know this is not Ebay's fault. They seem to be pretty good about protecting their buyers, but I wouldn't feel comfortable buying anything that is too expensive or an electronic. The company would have to have exceptionally good reviews and an unbeatable price for me to even consider buying an electronic.
I personally do most of my online shopping from Amazon.com. It's trustworthy, dependable, easy to use. I've tried eBay in the past but there's all this bidding and stuff. Maybe it's changed in the last couple of years, I don't know because I rarely go to eBay anymore. Also, you're more apt to run into a scam on eBay and that won't happen on Amazon. Again, maybe eBay has changed but I wouldn't know. If it has, my apologies to those people who swear by eBay.
I've bought items that I paid well over a couple of hundred dollars for. I did feel a bit uncomfortable about it at first, but now I don't worry so much, considering all the policies that Paypal has in place, just in case something were to happen. They hold the money that you pay some sellers (mostly new members or those with low feedback) so that you can easily get your money back if you were dissatisfied or didn't recieve your item.
Well it was a small set of MP3 player earbuds. So I am not sure if customs would even flag it at its tiny size. I remember when I got the package. It was about the size of a bean bag from the old tic-tac-toe throw game from the 90's? About that small. Possibly smaller. I thought customs usually flags the larger stuff.
I have had great success on eBay both as a buyer and seller. I have bought (and sold) high end cameras, video game sytems and smartphones and have never had a problem. I was able to get most of it for a tenth of what I would've paid elsewhere. I never shop from anyone with lower than 95% and if they have negatives with no positives in the past 90 days I move on.
Doesn't E-bay have a rule where like if a seller's rating hits below a certain percentage. They just like boot you off E-bay entirely as a seller? Because I think it'd be bad for business to have a bunch of %40 and under - rated sellers populating E-bay.
I haven't checked Ebay in a while, but i'm pretty sure that's true. They have a pretty good buyer protection system, so i'm sure they wouldn't let someone with negative feedback continue to sell their items. There is also pretty good seller protection. If a buyer does not pay within a certain amount of time the seller can report that/give them negative feedback. They can also ban the seller from buying from their store again.
Yep. I've purchased from EBay and never had a problem. I don't think I've bought anything over $75 though. I've bought hair extensions, shoes, books, accessories. The main thing I tried to do was order from a seller that was in my own country and also had a high rating from other customers. Read some of the seller's reviews. That's the best advice I can give. Good luck.
I haven't purchased anything lately but I have had really good luck with eBay purchases for many years now. I agree with other poster's suggestions in that you really do need to research the seller and the return policies. I also use PayPal as another level of dispute resolution but I have only had to use that once.
Just once? I feel like the guru of disputes. I've made a lot of them because of defective items, stolen orders, etc. eBay handles them in a timely manner, unlike PayPal.
I buy from Ebay very often. I ALWAYS buy from a seller that has constant good feedback. You can find yourself great deals on stuff you use everyday. Also, I usually buy from someone who excepts returns just in case the item isn't what I expected! You should try it for yourself and I'm definite you will love it!
