Why I hate Ebay or " Rip Offs R Us"

If one pays close attention to the seller�s previous feedback, and where the seller is located (big difference between a seller in NYC and Idaho), and follow the other suggestions on this thread, almost all major problems can be eliminated.

 

The real problem is that we all get antsy, find a product we want from a questionable seller, and don't want to wait until we can find the same product from a good seller. Patience is the key to buying on Ebay.

I have purchased many cameras and photo equipment in general from eBay, and never have had any problems. Only a couple of times I found that the items were not in the condition as described, I contacted the sellers and they gave me the option of a partial refund to compensate for the mistake in the description or a full refund upon returning the items. I went for the partial refund both times, kept the items, and I'm using without any problems.

Now, of course I don't bid on items from sellers with little or not feedback, or sellers that use PO boxes as mailing address, or sellers that use "Yahoo" and "Hotmail" as email, or sellers located in Nigeria, etc., but so far I've been happy with eBay and I hope it stays that way.

If it were not for ebay I would not be able to have the system...or sytems that I have now. I would have never found this gear in my area and if I had I would have spent 5 times more than I have. Ebay has also allowed me to creat a legitimate income after a crippling injury. I would agree with an above poster about wanting to know your ebay handle. That way I know to watch for you on my auctions.

Luckily I am poor, so I most times wonder about "lunatics" overbidding me. It's hard to get good mainstream stuff for a proper price, so I sometimes stick to shops & garage sales, which tend to meet the prices I have in mind. I didn't do many deals, but usually I could argue if anything went wrong and nobody did cheat me. I'd never pay lots of money for a surely abused camera like Pentax LX, I couldn't check before.

"<Beware of people that want a money order and won�t take paypal.>"

NONSENSE: Paypal charges the seller about 3% and if you are in Canada Paypal automatically performs an unvafourable exchange transaction at PayPal's chosen rates resulting in about a 7% additional cost to the seller. Many reputable sellers for that reason do not accept PayPal, Henry's with about 30,000 transactions in eBay do not accept PayPal does that mean they and anyone else that does not accept PayPal are crooks? Looks like some of the statements made in this forum are less credible than those in eBay!

There has also been a serious warning against PayPal "scams", overcharging the customers, delays, etc., on this forum, sometimes ago. After reading the complaints I stopped using PPal.

I've enjoyed eBay. I like older cameras, and the selection makes the choices in my large urban center look like nothing. It has to be a God send for someone in rural Kansas. I know I lived there once.

 

I've gotten burned a time or two, but I've always looked back and learned what I needed to do to protect myself. (The latest is to require a tracking number. It makes it much easier to prove the item was actually shipped to you when it doesn't arrive. The shipper learned that lesson too. You have to ask for it extra at USPS.)

 

Take any advice that sounds like it works for your situation. But always remember, the saying "Buyer Beware" was around a long time before eBay.

I have over 250 transactions on ebay as a buyer and a seller and

I to find these "ebay s*cks" threads amusing.

 

I take detailed pictures of my items I have for sale, and if the item

is something small (eg-outdated film, a light meter attachment) It

is sold AS-IS, which is clearly stated in the auction.

 

On bigger items, (lenses, cameras etc.) I will give the buyer a 10

day guarentee on the OPERATIONAL condition of the item. I have

never had something returned.

 

i do not accept paypal, and actually most of the ripoffs I have

heard about go through paypal. remember if you paid via the

mail, and get ripped off- it is mail fraud and the USPS Police will

investigate.

 

I have bought several "big ticket" items in the past ( A G4 for

$3700 and a 17" Studio Display for $400) and have not gotten

ripped off. Actually, I have never been ripped off and I notice from

selling- the buyers who get pissed off are the ones who think

that I am a retail store.

 

Remember that when you are buying something off of Ebay

(espiecially an under $25 item) that 8 times out of ten the seller

is a regular person with a day job and a life. What this translates

to- is sometimes your item is not going to ship within 12 hours of

receiving your payment. Communication is the key here- if you

need said item by said date let the seller know beforhand.

 

A prime example is some idiot recently who bought 18 rolls of

Fuji RTP-2 120 from me for a whopping $12.81. It was 3 years

out of date (in the fridge) and he payed via check. My policy

(stated in the auction) was that checks take up to 10 days to

clear. Having once had to pay $30 in bounced check fees to my

bank for another "under $15 item" I am very anal about this.

 

The day after the check arrived, he started hounding me about

shipping the item. I told him that my auction terms have not been

met, and when they are the item will be shipped. I shipped the

item via USPS priority mail (with tracking- a must!!!) and 3 days

letter got a profanity filled email about how "his shoot was ruined

becuase my film didn't arrive in time and he had to pay $150 for

fresh film"

 

I tracked the item, and it arrived in time-nobody was at his store

to receive it. Also, I informed him that he should have told me he

needed by X date, and that one shouldn't shoot an entire

furniture catalog with out of date film.

 

Luckily, most people aren't like this the only other problem I get

is people who live near me don't want to have to pay shipping.

They do anyway, cause' I am not a business and I have no retail

location.

 

Like the above post says, do your homework-sometimes it pays

off big. I recently bought a seneca 5x7 on ebay and ended up

buying the camera off the guy who had the website that got me

interested in the camera in the first place!!!

I hate Ebay cos -Theres always some w@nker out there that has to beat me. I've never won a thing on ebay. Its always the same people that win and its Really unfair! Cos these people have Planty of winnings.

I work out how much time i have to bid and i have the fastest net speed u can get (in Australia) but Noooo... I still lose by a few dollars! stupid greedy people!

It just gets me so damn stressy.

Thankyou for listening to my whinge!

=)

if you'd bid what you're REALLY willing to pay, it wouldn't be a problem.

I would just like to add that as a seller on Ebay I'm very disappointed in the way they do business. My biggest gripe is all of the associated with selling an item - for instance the listing fees, final values fees, reserve fees and of course paypal fees. Next is the way they do business. Have you ever tried to contact Ebay? There is no contact number listed and it takes 2-3 days to get a response back from them. Additionally, being a member for three years we received an email stating that due to the high volume of sales we had they wanted us to fax them our business license, driver's license, invoices showing we actually had the items we purchased and credit card statements - and we only had one business day to do it. Being member's in good standing for three years and having earned the silver powerseller status level, we emailed Ebay to find out if there was any basis behind this email or if it was one of the fraudulent ones we receive daily. Ebay did not email us back and three days later they cancelled our account and all current auctions. Please note that we have never had outstanding fees on this account, never been involved in a fraudulent transaction and had one negative feedback from a guy in France who was upset that we would claim it was a defective item so he didn't have to pay custom's fees.

THIS IS WHY I HATE EBAY!

PayPal is as bad! NEVER pay for anything with a PayPal balance. If the seller removes the money from their account, PayPal sends you a "so sad, too bad" e-mail saying you're right, you were screwed, but the seller has no money in their account. And, if the seller later has money in their account. PayPal won't go after it. Only pay with a credit card, so if you get crap, or nothing, you can refute the charge and let PayPal deal with the credit card company.

 

eBay is worse. Unless you have a big ticket item, they could care less. So, the old expression, Caveat Emptor, or Buyer Beware, sur applies to both of these joke organizations. Geez...and they are owned by the same people. No wonder!

well i just got a letter from a lawyer they hired to get $450.00 in sale fees from because of a deadbeat bider from england, and ebay wont talk to me about it. they said that there is no record of me ever filing a dead beat form not to mention im out the $2090.00 i am owed, good thing i did not send him anything

Sure there are some lucky ones within the 1000's who do business on Ebay. But believe me, I am NOT intellectualy disatvantaged and yet, I came undone with Ebay... PayPal? no matter what I said, what proof I gave, they not only refused point blank in either compensating my $217+ loss they actually swallowed a refund I got from a fair trader for an item I never received, lost in the mail. I personaly know several people who have been stung buying from Ebay, and whether they paid direct debit, PayPal or sent a money order, they got no help from those two. There is NO compensation from PayPal, by the time you come out of the runaround they give you, you are worse off, you will not get a refund. At best, it will be partial, maybe 25% of what you lost. Which in a way means they acknowledge some responsibility, but won't part with the money.

 

What would happen if you delivered a package which contained drugs? You'd be charged with aiding and abetting or something similar. Somehow they can facilitate a crooked or shody transaction and not even say sorry... Just as long as they keep making money.

 

There are smaller but better ways of buying online, look around! There are very few bargains left on Ebay, mostly traders offloading junk, refurbished crap, damaged goods and you may end up bidding too much... Go to garage sales, go to Sunday Markets, go to swap meets, at least you can see what you buy and from whom.

<p>Don't buy from anyone who says <em>"I cannot be held responsible if the item is lost in the post".</em> They are wrong.</p>