eBay: 800 pound gorilla eats baby. Film at eleven.
Written: Aug 17 '07
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| Full Review |
EBay is the proverbial 800 pound gorilla which can be a gentle giant or a nasty bully ... all depending upon your situation. Essentially eBay is a marketplace and can be both fun and profitable. It can be a drag when you face ignorant buyers, uncooperative sellers, eBay's own bureaucratic jungle and maze-like options and tools which are not exactly user-friendly. It can also be an incredible experience where you can build a business or build your dream collection or clothe your kids or find incredible bargains. It's all that.
I've bought and sold more than 2000 items on eBay. I have seen good and bad. In this review, I want to focus on pitfalls of buying on eBay and some general suggestions on how to make your eBay life easier.
When I first started on eBay in 2004, I had just been laid off from a good job and during my lull between jobs I messed around with buying and found some good deals. I also got burned a few times. I bought a wonderful McCoy serving platter for $5 -- similar one in an antique store was $20 -- but the seller packed it poorly and it arrived broken. The seller had no regrets. No refund. No apology either. Live and learn.
Lesson: if it can break...consider buying the insurance.
Later on I found some goof selling mystery boxes and became intrigued. I thought it would be fun as my curiosity was burning to see what I would get. I didn't even notice he was charging me sales tax even though he was out of state. Got the item, and it was no big deal but not a rip-off either. However, I did question the sales tax. And got a refund. His excuse...oh I'm having trouble with my listings. He still sells and collects sales tax from many states even though I suspect he is not sending the taxes to the states he collects for. I have complained to eBay and received just dead silence back.
Lesson: Read auctions carefully and don't expect eBay to be the paragon of fairness.
As a seller, I had a kid once claim he paid me for a video game and although I emailed him 10 times, called his house 2 times and sent a letter trying to get information on when he paid me...he never responded...except to give me the only negative feedback I ever received along with a profanity laden email ... but no proof of payment. I've gotten a few negatives mostly due to miscommunication but when I contacted the buyers, I was able to straighten out the problem and the negatives were removed. Had the kid paid with PayPal instead of sending a money order ... the whole mess would have been avoided.
Lesson: Communicate with sellers and make negative feedback a last resort. Use PayPal to protect your purchases since you can get a refund if the seller doesn't complete the sell as described.
Once I started selling on eBay, I started getting emails that looked like the came from eBay and PayPal asking me to update information or that there was a problem with my account. I was wise enough not to click the links in the email and noticed that the URLs were not the ones I was familiar with on eBay. These are phishing schemes...meant to get you to logon to these phony clone websites so they can steal your personal and financial information. I never fell for this although I worked with someone who did and found credit card accounts opened in her name. It took several months for her to resolve it.
Lesson: eBay and PayPal never send emailed asking to login through an email link. Always go the websites directly to log in and not through a link on an email. If you get an email you think is a phishing scheme... forward the eBay email to spoof@ebay.com and PayPal emails that look suspicious to spoof@paypal.com. They'll email you back and tell you if they are valid or not.
Shipping and handling is a stumbling block on eBay since some sellers inflate shipping so they charge a minimum opening bid of one cent or 99 cents, etc. There is a point at which this becomes more than just a way of offshifting costs to attract more bids. If you know what an item generally weighs you can estimate a reasonable shipping expense. If you see an auction with a low opening bid and a nosebleed high shipping price...this is probably not a good seller to buy from. The best sellers can attract buyers with low opening bids or even moderate pricing and still draw bidders with fair shipping. I always included a modest handling fee in my shipping to offset the cost of packing materials, etc. As a buyer, you will have to learn how much is too much for shipping.
Lesson: Pay attention to all details in the listings and consider them carefully. A low bid price is not always a good deal. Consider the full cost including shipping, insurance, etc.
Being new on eBay is something every user has experienced. A few simple rules for being a newbie:
* don't buy or bid the first time out. Watch how the auctions progress and get a feel for how things are done on eBay. Ask questions of sellers and use the community tab to locate discussion boards and help resources of interest. Study eBay for awhile before you start buying or selling. Learn the ropes.
* eBay is not your local WalMart and you can't just return things on a whim. Ask questions and understand what you are buying before you bid. If something doesn't feel right, don't bid.
* When you bid, that bid is a binding contract and a promise to pay. Don't bid unless you intend to pay and have the resources to pay...and pay promptly.
* Your feedback as a buyer is important. If you don't pay or are a slow payer or difficult customer...your feedback and feedback comments will reflect this.
* Don't give neutral or negative feedback unfairly. If you buy an item and the seller meets all their commitments...they deserve a positive feedback. Don't blame them if you screwed up. Many sellers will not deal with new buyers for that reason. See the next bullet...
* Communicate with sellers both during the auction and after the sale which means answering emails from them. If there is a problem, communicate with the seller and don't list feedback until you resolve it. The important word is communication. If you do not communicate...you shouldn't give feedback if there is a problem. Let the seller have a chance to resolve the problem first.
* Pay with PayPal. This is a good form of buyer protection and gives you a way to get a refund if the item is not as described or never arrives.
* Don't expect to win an auction, send your payment and the item be in your hands overnight. Sellers are at the mercies of the delivery services and also have their own process time for shipping orders. Ask a seller how long it takes to turn around a purchase or when you can expect it. Give a little leeway especially around the holidays when mail volumes peak and sellers are going nuts trying to keep up with orders. Most eBay sellers are regular folks trying to make a few extra dollars.
I don't mean this as an exhaustive guide to eBay but should help you avoid a few of the common pitfalls. Remember, read all auction listings carefully and ask questions. Communicate with sellers, pay on time and be fair with feedback so you build a good reputation. Best of luck.
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? More than 2000 items
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About the Author
Location: Pittsburgh. PA
Reviews written: 31
Trusted by: 2 members
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