Hey, I was thinking about becoming an E-bayer (well, I really wanna buy something at the moment and I have seen some good bargains there). I'm pretty reluctant, though, as I have never done it this way before. Have you guys ever ordered anything or sold anything in e-bay at all? What do you think of it?

Thanks in advance for your advice!



This post has been edited by cmatcmextra: Dec 9 2005, 08:31 PM

i look at ebay, search through stuff, and wish i had them all. I'm too young to buy things online T__T
but my friends have ordered goodies and junk from ebay =D so lucky! I wanna buy things on ebay T_T

...do they ever rip you off though? the users?

eBay is a great way to buy things. Always check the feedback rating and how long the seller has been a member. As a rule of thumb, I never buy from anyone with less that 95% feedback, and I always read the negative ones. Also, never buy from someone who onloy set their account up a few days ago. It may seem a bit mean, but you need to keep safe and make sure your cash doesn't disappear into the abyss.

eBay offers a protection scheme, where if your goods don't arrive, or are completely different from what you ordered, you can request their help and they will try to recover your money.

Also, always check the pictures they give on the listing. If they match those on the manufacturers site, then contact the seller and ask why they don't have any photos of their actual item.

Just remember to use logic and common sense and not to get carried away! Good luck

well i do use ebay but not a lot. ive sold liek two things and bough a few but not a lot. there are some people that use ebay for nearly everything they buy but thats not me. maybe just when im thinking or something where it dosent really matter so much that its second hand i might look on ebay if theres a good offer.

for example the charger for my cell phone broke so i went to ebay and got one for like 2 bucks and a new original would have been like 40 bucks i think. and it worked pretty good and im happy with it. but then again one tie a few years ago i bough a surround system and it was really crappy and nothing worked and i couldent give it back because they wont reply to any emails or anything. and one time i bought this small hand held computer and i could give it back no problem with money back and everythig was great.

so as you can see for me and my ebay experiences its pretty mixed. so at the end of the day id rather goto a real store than shop something at ebay. and its so much of a hassle to sent the money and all that.

i only bought like.. small little things on ebay.. i just don't trust ebay enough to buy hundreds of dollars worth of stuff. THere are alot of scammers on EBAY.. i have a few friends that sell bad conditions stuff. .but i will not mention any name here =P.

i once bought an electric violin.. didn't really like it that much. .because the sound is so crappy.. .but i guess that is how it is .. for the price..

I'm a big fan of ebay, I think I'm in the 20s for purchases and have not had a problem. But more and more you have to be really careful. I would never buy any really big ticket items, ie laptops or things like that for thousands of dollars. I've heard too many stories about people never getting their items after sending the money. And as much as paypal would like to make you feel all warm and fuzzy about being safe and helping you out if you get ripped off they really are not that much help.
My Ebay rules are:
1) as someone else has said, only buy from established sellers with good feedback ratings. established meaning that they have been members for a long time and make a lot of sales.

2) No big ticket items, expensive things like laptops or other expensive things are better left to more reliable sources.

3) If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. ie don't be suprised when your spectacular deal really isn't what you expected it to be.

But if you are careful, you (like myself) can have a good experience with ebay. You can find just about anything there and usually at a good price, just use your common sense and you will be fine.

All of the above is good advise.

I use eBay once in a while, and in addition to the above list, I would add the following pieces of advise:

Know your limits -- Don't spend more than what you feel the product is worth, and what you can afford. Period. Yes, there is a certain warm, fuzzy feeling about sniping a bid at the last seconds, but only if it is within your price for the product.

Know your TRUE costs -- Add to the purchase price the following costs which may be associated with your purchase: Shipping/Postage, Taxes if applicable, Customs, Duties, Cost of sending payment ( paypal fees, credit card fees ), your time waiting for the purchase to arrive.

Ask Questions -- eBay has their Community Boards full of expert users (well, experienced at least) who can guide or direct you to the information you need. They are more than willing to help and will flame you in a heartbeat if you treat them poorly, so be nice.

A few years ago, I used ebay several times to buy some electronic goodies for less than what they selling at the retail store. I've haven't had any bad experiences back then....although I remember purchasing a Palm Pilot Vx from somebody who lived in the same city as me...even met the guy in person at a local cafe and paid him in cash (better than using a credit card, at least) to get the device.

My dad has gotten pretty addicted to ebay the day he signed up for an account there. He find really good bargains and bid for them. Everyday you would see him log into his ebay account and start searching for that perfect item. So far he got lots of cell phones and he sells them back to other people. lol. He is like ebay obsessed. Hope you don't become like him.