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.]

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Originally Posted by Lester Carthan

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!