Buying From Ebay?

Question

Hi,

Im looking at buying somthing off of e-bay for the first time. Im not sure that i can trust it though. What are your experiances with buying from e-bay and what are the chances that i will be able to pay for the item and recieve it sucsessfully?

Thank You

-Cameron x

Answer 1

Iv bought many things off of ebay with out any problems.

I would say to go for it.

Answer 2

Hi Cameron,
I have bought things off ebay several times and I have yet to have a problem. Although, I would suggest you look at the sellers feedback number. If they have a high number of sales and a feedback of 98% or higher of positive, then I would definitely have faith that person is going to sell you exactly what they tell you they will.
If you are buying dvds, be careful they are not copies.Some vendors will sell you dvds they have copied themselves and the quality is not very good. I have bought copied dvds and while they were cheap and still watchable, you could definitely tell the difference.
If you are buying an autograph, make sure it is an original and not a copy or auto pen.
Shipping costs should be taken into consideration as well. If you are buying from another country, like for instance if you live in the U.S. and you want to buy from England, then your shipping costs will be very high. Be advised that most things are quoted in U.S. dollars.
You should set up a paypal account for your transactions. It is free and will guarantee payment. I do not advise you just sending them money through the mail as this is not a very smart idea. Always go through paypal as it checks out people and makse sure they are financially reputable to some degree.There are ways you can recover your money should you not get the agreed upon item and these steps should be outlined on the ebay site. However, I think the instances of this happening are extremely low. If you are dissatisfied with your purchase, you should contact the seller and ask them to refund your money and you will return the item and threaten to leave negative feedback and report them to ebay. This is not something I feel you will have to deal with. Ebay would not exist if the people trading on it were disreputable. The vast majority of people are trustworthy and honest. Just do your homework and check the sellers statistics out before you buy. People cannot manipulate their own feedback to positively reflect them, it is impossible. So, all of the feedback is genuine and trustworthy.
As I said, check the sellers feedback score and read what comments others have left and you will get an idea of how satisfied people have been with the purchases from this vendor. Make sure you compare prices between different vendors as well.
You can always ask the vendor a question regarding refunds, returns, shipping and condition of the product you wish to buy, the good vendors welcome questions.
Hope this helps you, good luck!

Answer 3

Hi, I have an ebay feedback rating of 158 so you could say I have done a bit. As a buyer I wouldn't buy anything more than I could afford to lose unless I was going to collect in person. Even people with 100% feedback can go wrong. Luckily that only happened to me once and I lost a tenner. I have been a bit disappointed with some purcahses but only a small amount. My advise would be set up a paypal account for buying only. Look at the sellers feedback rating. Be careful of new sellers. If anyone has got negative feedback in the last 3 months I won't buy off them. Don't buy from anywhere abroad, Buy from uk registered sellers only and look at where the item is located. I recently bouth something from a uk registered seller but didn't realise the item was going to be sent from Hong Kong. Took 15 days to get here. Most expensive item I bought was a digital camera from a registered dealer. Was ok and got it in 2 days. Business sellers with ebay shops tend to be genuine as do 99% of all the other users. Its the 1% that spoil it for everybody. If you sell on ebay make sure you check your bidders out there and be careful about accepting paypal as some dishonest people out there will pay you on paypal, get the item, then turn round to ebay and say they haven't received it. Paypal will then refund the money to them, debit your account and you have then given the item away for free. Send all items by recorded or special delivery.

Answer 4

I too have not as yet bought via ebay. However, I have been following, for example, reel to reel tape decks so that when the one I really want comes available I have an idea of the expected price I`ll pay and the actual process of bidding.
As to whether YOU can pay for the item is a completely different proposition! Only you (hopefully) will know that. Mind you, the reckless way people are with money these days we all have things we don`t need which cost us more than we intended.
Over to you.

Answer 5

Hi i would have to say on the whole, eBay is OK 99% of the time.
There are some eBay tours and help pages that you could take a look at.

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/newtoebay/index.htmlnd help pages

I think you should start off buying something small and inexpensive. check out the feedback of the seller, check out their postage rates, because some of those are a wee bit high, their returns policy . delivery time etc.
I always send the seller a quick email after , ive purchased an item, just to open up the lines of communication,

Always try to make your purchases through paypal, and if you run into any problems, launching a paypal claim is fairly simple.to help you get a refund.
there are also forums on eBay, that are there to help people who are new to buying or selling, and they answer your queries straight away usually

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/community/chat/index.html.

It can be fun buying and selling on eBay. but be aware that if it looks too good to be true, it usually is.

PS if those links dont work, when you get to the eBay home page go to COMMUNITY for the discussion boards/forums,

and HELP for the new to eBAY Tours and New to Ebay Overview

Answer 6

Ive been an ebay buyer (and seller) since 2001 and every single thing ive purchased has always arrived in working order (sometimes a little later than expected)

Ebay is about its users, you are buying from someone who sells on ebay, not ebay themselves. What i recommend you do if you buy something from ebay look at the sellers feedback - make sure the positive outweighs the negative. if its 100% he/she wont risk damaging it - so thats a very trusted seller. If its something dismal like 15% you should avoid. Look at comments people have left in the feedback, and have fun - its very likely you will get the item and no hassles.

Answer 7

Cameron x,

ebay is full of FRAUD!

you need to know how to protect yourself.

first, always pay through PAYPAL with a CREDIT CARD. it is the best protection on ebay. you always have the option of filing for a CHARGEBACK should something go wrong.

NEVER, EVER send payment via WESTERN UNION! it is a SCAM!

don't buy from sellers with less than 98.6% feedback.

always check the feedback. look to see if the feedback is from actually SELLING like items.

if they are from BUYING penny auctions, ebooks, recipes, etc...run the other way.

steer clear of ELECTRONICS. they are full of fraud.

if it sounds too good to be true, then it is!

NEVER CLICK A LINK IN AN EMAIL!!

any other questions, go here:

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/forum.jspa?forumID=107

that is the link to the Trust and Safety Board on ebay. they can answer any question you might have. or help you if you get into trouble with an auction.

Answer 8

I use Ebay all the time and as long as you read up on the sellers/buyers star ratings and reviews you should be ok. Ebay and Paypal have been very safe in my experience, if you have any queries just contact to sellers and ask them for the information before you commit to buy. If you are unsure just keep looking. Once you start I am sure you'll love it, but as always just be careful. I would advise not purchasing expensive items from new members, i.e. 0 or 1 star ratings just for your piece of mind.

Answer 9

Hi Cameron,

Deco almost got it all right, but note a couple of things: eBay is indeed full of fraud. But they are all easily avoidable

You can buy from someone with a feedback score of less than 98%. You just need to go through the feedback and find out why. Competitiors selling the same items, sometimes screw each other feedback up.

Theres nothing wrong with buying eBooks. Of course you can search and find most of them free on the internet, but again, on ebay, they normally cost like 99p or so.

I dont quite encourage buying electronics on eBay, but for the few I bought, they are all fine, but then you dont have any warrantee.

Answer 10

I've purchased several items through e-bay. Haven't had a problem, but I would suggest that depends on what your buying. Pictures are just that...pictures. Make sure the seller offers a money back option. I would also suggest the use of Pay Pal.

Answer 11

Ebay is great, ive bought many things without a problem. Just remember to read all the print about an item before you bid.I know someone that thought they were bying a perticular item but when it arrived it was just the box for the item, so read carfully and watch for overcharged shipping thats how some sellers get alot of money.long as your careful ebay is amazing