EBAY misrepresentation

[bill_carson]

Hi: I just walked away from a sticky traansaction but I did find out a few interesting things: 1) eBay owns PayPal 2) They are all well insulated and it is even difficult to find a telephone number or post office address of either of these outfits 3)To the best of my knowledge, there is noone to fight your battles if you come a cropper for one reason or another

For these and other good reasons, I have just about had it with eBay (and also, of course, PayPal). When you think about the role that thse guys play, you can understand the why of their being impossible to communicate with. I dunno??? Bill Carson

[patricks]

it is human tendancy and nature to over-react. just because there are a few rotten apples on eBay, I don't see the point not to take advantage of this fantastic commerce outlet. I have had zero problems/issues on eBay that couldn't be resolved in a gentleman manner, and so far no scams, what so ever.

 

Personally I think eBay is one of the long lasting benefits of the internet revolution - two thumbs way up!

[shin_bone]

I have done about 30 transactions on E-bay and am very happy with it. The most exspensive purchase was $600 for a Contax body. I have acquired some very fine photo gear in close to mint condition for about half of retail. I have also quickly located hard to find items which would have otherwise taken weeks or months to locate perusing the other used-items sources. E-bay is usually the first place I turn when I decide to buy something.

 

I think it is true that you have few E-bay options with sellers who absolutely refuse to work with a buyer if there is a problem with the transaction. However, such sellers are usually easy to spot before bidding because they tend to have bad feedback or use terms in the auction text such "sold as is," "item as pictured," "no refunds," etc. That being said, there is little recourse against an E-bay seller who intentionally sets out to scam a buyer.

 

Although of no help for your present situation (i.e. problems after the sale closes) I think one of the best ways to protect yourself as a buyer is to strike up an e-mail conversation with the seller before bidding. Ask a few detailed questions about the item, and gauge the seller's willingness to quickly and fully respond. Get the seller's name, address and phone number before bidding, and Google them to check for consistency of information. If the seller happily answers your questions or admits that he doesn't know the answer, and his name, address and phone number check out, he is probably a trustworthy seller.

 

I have had a few disappointing purchases before I started asking the pre-bidding questions mentioned above. Each time I either returned the item for a refund or kept the item and got a partial refund.

 

Randall in Fairfax

[patricks]

hey, i just saw this on another site:

 

Sr. Product Manager, Trust and Safety

As a product manager on the Trust and Safety team you are responsible for planning and executing on-site and back end features to support eBay's proactive efforts to detect and prevent fraudulent and abusive activity on the site.

 

Someone feel like applying?

[tony_rocha]

Bruno,

I purchased a Leica IIIG about a year ago through ebay, which was described as mint, like new, working perfectly etc. It turned out to have scratches, marks, mutilated internal part, damaged vulcanite, erratic shutter. Tried to deal with the seller in a reasonable way but to no avail. I also found the ebay complaints system complicated and user unfriendly so I eventually gave up pursuing that avenue. I then did some research and found the Internet Fraud Complaint Center (https://www.ifccfbi.gov/) which is an agency set up by the FBI. I filed a complaint, and they did do some follow up and eventually refered my case to the US postal service who recently contacted me is now dealing it as a case of using the postal service for committing fraud, or some similar classification. I don't have the correspondence with me at this moment. The case is still in the works and at least I feel my grievance is being noted by the relevant government agency. By the way I live in Hong Kong, and the seller comes from the US. You can also try to contact the National Fraud Information Center which accepts reports about attempts to defraud consumers on the telephone or the internet (http://www.fraud.org/). I believe this is run by the National Consumers League. I am now very wary when I buy through ebay, and look very carefully at the seller's feedbacks. Hope my experience could be helpful to others.

[henk]

My first mayor ebay buy went sour. It was an expensive tele lens which seemed to be a bargain, i emailed him before placing the bid asking if the lens was clean and functioning and if there was anything else wrong with it. The seller said all was ok, he said he sold this lens because he went digital and needed other equip. After placing the bid i noticed i didnt see the edge of the tripod collar which should be visible allthough the lens was only partly in the picture. The seller emailed me and said the lens didnt have a tripod collar when he bought it but was sold with a lens case. After confronting him with the info on the lens(which obviously was sold with the collar) i got an email saying he was going to try and locate a collar at no cost and would contact me when he got one. Well.... obviously he wanted the auction to end so he could shove it down my throat. So i retracted the bid since the lens was not complete(he also edited his discription btw). I promptly recieved an email.... not a friendly one btw, told him to mind his language since he wasnt talking to a moron and wished him luck with finding one. So in short, ask lotsa questions, and if in doubt mind the bid can be retracted before the last day of the auction. Im not buying trough ebay anymore, not really because of this incident but rather because i want to check stuff before i buy.... Its a shame there are so many weirdo's and a$$holes on ebay btw, i think they should issue a satisfaction guarantee.

 

Greetings,

[travis1]

Out of the 12 items I bought on ebay last few months, 4 cameras needed immediate repair (shutters not firing in 3 of them and one with lens misaligned). All these 4 owners have close to 100% feedback ratings and they CLAIMED that those items were functioning 100% before delivering to me.

 

I think it all boils down to luck if not something else.

 

;)

[bruno_menilli]

Derek and Jerry

 

Did you receive my emails ?

 

Regards

 

Bruno

[jack_matlock]

Well, I guess I'm just lucky. Or, maybe, hyper-careful. But I have done well over 100 Ebay transactions and every one has been OK. On average I have acquired cameras and accessories at about 20-40% under what most dealers would charge. (I simply don't bid more than that.)

 

Of course, I am careful how I bid. I pay by PayPal--which has been entirely satisfactory--and will not bid on items if the seller will not take PayPal or a credit card.

 

I think Ebay is a great asset; they don't charge anything like enough to provide the sort of guarantees that a Southeby's or Christie's would charge (15-20% or more). And, of course, you can find low priced stuff that the big auction houses would not touch. Caveat emptor.

[caliber_60]

On expensive camera equipment, I only buy from e-bay dealer with 14 days return warranty and take credit cards. Paypal credit card can not protect you. I bought a $1100 Rolleiflex from Ebay on Adorama. No problem with 10 days return warranty.