Do you guys trust Ebay?

[Lester C.]

I would love to get into the whole Ebay craze but am paranoid about all the nightmare stories floating around about how people have had their bank accounts emptied and their identities stolen. I was wondering what you guys think about ebay as I’m hungry for advice and will take everything to heart that’s posted here.

[TCJohnson]

I have bought a lot of stuff from E-Bay and I have never had a problem.

When I pay I use paypal. That covers you up to $1,000 in case of fraud.

[Oracle_0128]

I've never had a problem buying or selling on Ebay as well....

Especially if you go with the whole theory of if it's too good to be true...it probably is....

[Selina Quinzel]

I don't trust anyone or anything, I've seen too many episodes of X-Files for that.

But my Ebay experience has been 99% positive for the few years I've been a member. It's just like with any other place you spend your money- be aware, educate yourself and use common sense.

I don't buy from anyone with lots of negative feedback, but I also check out everyones. "Power sellers" are usually full of positive ratings that say stuff like "shipping slow, item damaged, seller threatened to kill and eat my pet kitten, but great price! A+++" That will make me pause.

It's fun though, I've gotten so much cool stuff I would have never even known existed before. Join the masses dude... :evilsmile

[Lester C.]

I have bought a lot of stuff from E-Bay and I have never had a problem.

When I pay I use paypal. That covers you up to $1,000 in case of fraud.

What paypal and how do you get it?

[Gamma Charge]

Paypal is a website you can use to make electronic payments through your bank account or credit/debit card. You can register your bank account. After supplying the information for your account they will make 2 small deposits of a few cents. After it is received a few days later log into Paypal and note the correct amount of the deposits. They do that to confirm the person registering the account is really the account holder. Most Ebay sellers accept Paypal. It is pretty easy.

[David Bedlam]

I'm a general luddite. Unless I can get it when I hand over the cash, I don't like it. Maybe I'm just paranoid.

[K'Nort]

We have a 'what did you get on ebay' thread around here somewhere that just goes forever. Plenty of people use it around here, for both buying and selling.

I've had almost purely positive experiences with buying things. One item apparently got lost in the mail (and that does happen in real life) but I paid about $12 so it's not like I went back and did negative feedback.

I only buy from people with really really high feedback scores, just in case. And I check the score details if they're not 100%. If they've had anything negative or neutral in the last 12 months, I don't bid, just in case.

[Lunar Daydreamer]

Only bad experience was someone who bid £120 on the first 12 issues of Ultimate Spidey, then never paid. I relisted and got £156 ... so ... yay. :)

[TCJohnson]

Paypal is a website you can use to make electronic payments through your bank account or credit/debit card. You can register your bank account. After supplying the information for your account they will make 2 small deposits of a few cents. After it is received a few days later log into Paypal and note the correct amount of the deposits. They do that to confirm the person registering the account is really the account holder. Most Ebay sellers accept Paypal. It is pretty easy.

And the thing is, the people you are giving your money too never interacts with your credit card or your bank account. You give the money to paypal, paypal gives the money to the other party. Also, my mom and I both have paypal so we can send money to each other that way. Goes straight into the bank account and while there is a fee it is faster than the mail and cheaper than things like western union.

www.paypal.com

[Lester C.]

I’m almost hooked. One last question does Paypal charge you for their service?

[Gamma Charge]

I’m almost hooked. One last question does Paypal charge you for their service?

The seller gets charged a fee if I am not mistaken when you pay them through Ebay. The buyer never gets charged a fee from Paypal. I've been using Paypal for years and haven't had a problem.

[TCJohnson]

I never get charged for buying from e-bay. I do get charged sending money to relatives through paypal, and it is something like 2% of the money I sent or recieved.

[Lester C.]

Thank you guys. You have convinced me to use Ebay through paypal which never would have occurred to me without your input. I’m very grateful that you guys took time out of your day to answer my questions.

[Lunar Daydreamer]

If you have mutiple options on something to buy, say if you're looking for Trigun for example and a few different vendours have it ... look into their feedback and get a feel for what kinda people they are, their communications, how fast they ship etc.

Once you find a good person its always cool to stick by them, you get to trust them, often you might find they will do private discounted listings for you somewhere down the line too.

If you need any specific help, youre more than welcome to drop me a PM matey :)

Have fun - its *very* addictive!

[K'Nort]

Too addictive.

And I advise very strongly against signing up for those email notifications when you get outbid. Bid the highest you're willing to pay and then stay out of it. Otherwise, something competitive will kick in and you WILL pay more than it's worth and more than you can afford.

Also, things always pop up again. Don't break the bank because you think this is your only chance to get something. That will guarantee that five more show up the very next week.

[Slam_Bradley]

Too addictive.

And I advise very strongly against signing up for those email notifications when you get outbid. Bid the highest you're willing to pay and then stay out of it.


I absolutely agree with this. Of course, 99.99% of the time I'm looking for deals not for something I feel like I "absolutely" need.

I've purchased probably 300-400 books and tpb's & gn's on E-bay. I've had maybe 3 bad transactions.

[Gamma Charge]

What I do instead is just put a watch on it and then bid my max at the last minute. I try to avoid bidding too early and getting caught up in bidding wars. Then again, since I have constant access @ work I have an easy time monitoring my auctions. K'norts method is good too. Especially if you think you might go overboard and spend money you shouldn't. Ebay really can get waayyy too addictive. Every once in a while I make myself step away and take a break from it.

[TCJohnson]

One thing about Ebay and Paypal...I occasionally get e-mail from "them" saying that my account has been hacked and if I would like Ebay or Paypal to do something about that, I need to go to a website and enter in all my personal information.

This is a trick. This is not ebay or paypal sending me the e-mail, but a third party. When I fill out the information on the web page, I would be giving it to somebody else who could steal my identity. Again, this is not ebay or paypal doing this, but you need to look out.

[K'Nort]

One thing about Ebay and Paypal...I occasionally get e-mail from "them" saying that my account has been hacked and if I would like Ebay or Paypal to do something about that, I need to go to a website and enter in all my personal information.

This is a trick. This is not ebay or paypal sending me the e-mail, but a third party. When I fill out the information on the web page, I would be giving it to somebody else who could steal my identity. Again, this is not ebay or paypal doing this, but you need to look out.

Good point.

Also any email from either company saying you need to update your information.

If it's legit, you'll see a notice when you're actually logged into your account. Assume all emails are totally false (sometimes they send a real one asking you to go log into your account to do something too but you can ignore those too so just do). THAT'S how people get their bank accounts drained.

[Lester C.]

One thing about Ebay and Paypal...I occasionally get e-mail from "them" saying that my account has been hacked and if I would like Ebay or Paypal to do something about that, I need to go to a website and enter in all my personal information.

This is a trick. This is not ebay or paypal sending me the e-mail, but a third party. When I fill out the information on the web page, I would be giving it to somebody else who could steal my identity. Again, this is not ebay or paypal doing this, but you need to look out.

Very good point and one I would have fallen for if not for TC

[blackcanary_416]

I love ebay I shop on it most of the time for my trades I have gotten them for 2.00 sometimes. Paypal is safe and is what I use. All I can say is just be careful but it is a really nice service.

[Cam63]

I don't spend anything on the internet.

[Red Berens]

eBay is the best. Unfortunately, it's like crack to me. The cool thing is, I've been able to find several ' holy grail ' comics I had been looking for. Good luck and have fun!

[Monkey Boy]

I've bought many things from ebay and never had a problem.

[Monkey Boy]

Too addictive.

And I advise very strongly against signing up for those email notifications when you get outbid. Bid the highest you're willing to pay and then stay out of it. Otherwise, something competitive will kick in and you WILL pay more than it's worth and more than you can afford.

Also, things always pop up again. Don't break the bank because you think this is your only chance to get something. That will guarantee that five more show up the very next week.

It is very addictive. I've found myself bidding way higher than I ever planned.

[Night Swordsman]

I have had great buys from ebay..TILL last month. I purchased a trading card for 11 dollars on Ebay,mailed out a US postal money order(13 something total US dollars),and did not hear from the person again for three weeks. THEN,after three emails,he claims he never got the card,and within this time,24 complaints have been logged against him(his record before this was very good). EBay tells me,because its under 25 dollars,i can not be reimbursed. I rather not SPEND more money on this problem,but im very mad at the buyer. I feel the ONLY reason i got a reply AT all is because i opened a dispute with EBay(at that point he says he didnt get the MO). I feel cheated. :mad:

[K'Nort]

One feature that's super-nifty if you collect particular things is programmed searches. Put in your criteria and you get an email any time something matches. That way you don't have to keep browsing and worrying about missing out. I think it's up to 40 different searches at a time.

And one thing I do there, like with trades, is set a maximum dollar amount so I'm not notified of and thus tempted by things out of my price range.

[TCJohnson]

I have had great buys from ebay..TILL last month. I purchased a trading card for 11 dollars on Ebay,mailed out a US postal money order(13 something total US dollars),and did not hear from the person again for three weeks. THEN,after three emails,he claims he never got the card,and within this time,24 complaints have been logged against him(his record before this was very good). EBay tells me,because its under 25 dollars,i can not be reimbursed. I rather not SPEND more money on this problem,but im very mad at the buyer. I feel the ONLY reason i got a reply AT all is because i opened a dispute with EBay(at that point he says he didnt get the MO). I feel cheated. :mad:

Which is weird because ebay says that it will cover anything up to $200 (and up to 1000 if you use paypal.)

Next time you do that send it certified. That way you will have proof and would be able to charge the guy with mail fraud.

[BlackCanaryGuy]

LOL. I'm coming off a crazy eBay spree today, and I see this thread.

I'm of the school that one should bid his or her personal max at the last minute and stick to it. And yet Justice League of America #74 still eludes me. Alas.

I've been able to fill in some important holes in my collection, but I do sometimes feel the urge to keep bidding...

[Night Swordsman]

Which is weird because ebay says that it will cover anything up to $200 (and up to 1000 if you use paypal.)

Next time you do that send it certified. That way you will have proof and would be able to charge the guy with mail fraud.

I fully agree..like i said..after a almost 7 years of doing this,this is my first problem. ALSO,seems the account was shut down,by EBay.
So,he contacts me from another acount,which has over 30 negatives from the last 12 months. Not a good sign. At this point,i know i have been ripped off,but it will cost more for me to deal with than to just get over it.
But i got to tell him off,for which i feel better about. His story just dosnt add up,and i do not believe him.

Also,EBay informed me it will not cover claims UNDER 25 dollars.

[OzBat!]

Trust Ebay? Ebay stole my hubcaps once and gloated about it, but I could never prove it in a court of law.

[Screwtape]

About 70% of the time, eBay is great for me. Occasionally, I run into some idiot who packages stuff wrong (got The Wake in HC from a guy who didn't put it in a bag or anything, which was bad), or a deadbeat. Since I've used PayPal, though, I've discovered that deadbeat sellers are MUCH quicker to help you out and apologize for their misdeeds. And their $1000 limit is way, way above what I would ever consider spending online, so I'm pretty happy with their service. PayPal is great, btw.

[TCJohnson]

Trust Ebay? Ebay stole my hubcaps once and gloated about it, but I could never prove it in a court of law.

But they were up for bid a few days later. Could have gotten them back that way.

[outlander78]

I have bought items from ebay sellers, had the item never arrive, received no refund and no help from ebay. That's them at their worst.

I have also picked up some great sets of back issues at low prices, which is as good as it gets on ebay.

Be careful, read the seller's histories before proceding and watch that you don't get taken on the shipping costs.