E-bay not so good?

[jeremy996]

I've bought and sold a bit on e-bay, (feedback up to 55 now), including my Land Rover and only had two problems. A key ring with a LR logo I bought from the USA rubbed off within a fortnight and a frenchman tried to pay for a magazine with Euros, but in the end we bartered for a jar of mustard!

I cannot complain, I've bought phone kit, iBooks, manuals and videos and sold early '80s car mags, baby stuff and surplus Landy bits with very little problem, but I am usually very conservative and won't risk more than I am happy with.

The Landy was a case in point - I went to see it in daylight and checked up on the owner using 192.com to confirm address and phone number. The vehicle was as described and basically 'honest' - it had been tarted, but more than one owner ago. If I had bought it from a dealer it would have been another £1000.

eBay is a good way of seeing a lot of second hand goods, BUT you must assume that you are at an electronic car boot sale that sometimes takes credit card. If you have specialist knowledge you can get away with a bit more risk - I'll buy iBooks on eBay but not PC laptops, Macs are more of a closed system and potential vendors won't strip the best bits out of a Mac!

[Guest MJG]

Been stung once on eBay.

Won an item (ipod U2) at what seemed a very good price but not too good to be true. Witihn minutes of the acution finishing, I recieve an email from eBay telling me not to pay for the item..... too late was the loud reply.

I reckon someone had succomed to one of these ' security check scam emails ' and as a result had their account hacked and a bogus item placed for sale (they had good feedback).. under their name.

I paid around £175 for something I was never going to get but as always I paid via. PayPal. I lodged a claim through the PayPal system and actually got everything back!!!

However it took so long (Around 2 weeeks I seem to remeber) that I got really hacked off with them, particularly because it was eBay themselves that alerted me to the issue - so it was obvious I had been defrauded, I didn't therefore agree with the length of time it took for them to cough up a refund. Because of this I closed may eBay account.

However...............I realised I had cut my nose off to spite my face and have since set up another eBay account, I will just be ultra careful this time..............

[Happyoldgit]

I've been on Ebay since early '97 and have rarely encountered problems but when the odd one does arise it is usually with one of our colonial cousins across the pond who often fail to read the description or terms correctly. the last time I was stung (£200- £300) was with a Belgium chap earlier this year, I'm still chasing that one. I have found Ebay and Paypal customer support pretty dire.

[MarkieB]

That reminds me, talking of picking up Land Rovers on Ebay, the other time I had trouble; when I got the 110, the vendor upped the price maybe £700 with shill bidding, he had shill feedback too, so obvious as the mutual feedbacks were timed less than a few minutes apart, plus items had been sold to one of the alter egos then re-auctioned by the original vendor. Fake Emails surfaced when I raised the matter with him to, in reality, the kind of silence that speaks volumes. Ebay didn't lift a finger. I wonder whether they even understood what was going on, f*cking idiots they often seem

It was generally quite a good price even so, though, chassis in vgc recently welded at LR, body straighter than many, engine needs/needed a little care, transmission seems relatively good once I replaced long-ungreased uj's + dodgy rear propshaft, most of the cash I've spent in the last year was on building up my tool collection rather than actual parts. It simply grates a bit that in an honest world I'd have got it for £700 less.

[02GF74]

I think you just have to use gut feelings and commom sense and not get carried away

Yep; you definitely need to do your homework, unlike the person who paid £16.55 (ex p+p) for:

LOCOST HOW TO BUILD BY RON CHAMPION 2nd EDITION Item number: 6572529836

(!'ve sent hime an e-mail so be interesting what response I'll get)

You can buy this for £15.08 including p+p at WH Smith online

[clunk]

Hmmm!

As I've only just created an Ebay account this is all a bit worrying!

I was bidding for a mig welder but its jumped up about 60 notes overnight so i'll drop out of that one.

Maybe the only benefit of living in Ireland is the fact that the ebay call centre is on the next corporate estate over from mine!!

should help if ever i need to complain.

clunk

[rtbarton]

Hmmm!

the ebay call centre is on the next corporate estate over from mine!!

I'd auction that information on Ebay, should fetch a fortune. You could sell it as multiple items.

[landi41]

My e-Bay 2 cents worth.............

Many Americans will sell in USA only citing foreign rip-offs............. guess it works two ways.........

Some won't sell to Canada either............

And there are Canadians who won't sell to the Americans...........

And i had a British guy who would not allow me (a Canadian) to bid on a radiator.................(but then again i think i only have 1 feedback)

Just have to appreciate other peoples wishes i guess

[Neil Marshall]

Easy to forget that Ebay isn't selling anything. It is merely facilitating auctions, and Trevor McDonald's piece was sensational, rather than accurate. I don't know any other auction service where you can read a constantly updated evaluation of both buyers and sellers, and where there is some [if not always total] buyer protection.

I have bought and sold 700 items via Ebay and have never had a problem - by and large, people like to lift their positive scores and try extra hard. Paypal is just such a brilliant, quick, transparent payment service.

Most of the problems I have heard about relate to people buying 'off' Ebay, paying direct, asking sellers if they have 'another one', asking the seller to close the auction. Nothing is perfect, but complaint levels to sales volumes are miniscule.

The secret to a successful purchase is to ask questions. If you're not happy, ask again or request images...if it doesn't sound kosher, then walk away. Just like London buses, unless it's LR portal axles, there'll be another one along in a minute.

Neil

[landi41]

The secret to a successful purchase is to ask questions. If you're not happy, ask again or request images...if it doesn't sound kosher, then walk away. Just like London buses, unless it's LR portal axles, there'll be another one along in a minute.

Neil

Yes Neil;

All very good stuff..........

but another thing there are shill bidders particularly in automobile auctions................

[Michele]

Ebay-ed only once,and got my much loved NATO lights,perfect.

Well chuffed.

Thanks to Nige for the hint that time...

[ROGUE TROOPER]

And i had a British guy who would not allow me (a Canadian) to bid on a radiator.................(but then again i think i only have 1 feedback)

Let me do it for you then!!

[john cranfield]

I have bought several items on Ebay and had only one complaint. This was absorbitantly high shipping on a pair of head lamps but since I only paid $.99 for them the overall cost was well below retail.

I have bought several Land Rover Watches from a bloke in Hong Kong and been very well pleased.

John

[landi41]

Let me do it for you then!!

Thanks Richard;

If the need arises i'll take you up on that one !!

Same goes for over here, if you see any Canadian (not American, well maybe in exceptional circumstances give me a shout

I have bought several items on Ebay and had only one complaint. This was absorbitantly high shipping on a pair of head lamps but since I only paid $.99 for them the overall cost was well below retail.

I have bought several Land Rover Watches from a bloke in Hong Kong and been very well pleased.

John

Hi John;

Speaking of Honk Konk............... I have an e-mail around somewhere buried deep in my computer where a Chinese Co is giving cosideration to sending some winches over here for "testing purposes" on Labd Rovers of course !! :)

[Mehetabel]

As an American who buys from the UK regularly [why are all of the Land Rover parts in England? ] I have to agree that all of the problems come from the "other side of the pond" ie YOURS .

Probably what it comes down to is that the deals that are too good to be true are coming from overseas [wherever that is relative to your location] and we get suckered into them and then have problems [if it is too good to be true it probably is ] and then with exchange rates and international shipping the chances of a problem, wheather honest or not, are compounded.

As for me I will continue to use the service both domesticly and internationally. For my part I ask that you not constrain your buyers to "locals only" when partaking in the World Wide Web. If you are having issues with exchange rates and fund security use ebays symbiotic service, Pay Pal

cheers

John

[Ant]

I know I shouldn't be annoyed. But I'm so pi**ed off at losing auctions in the last 5 seconds by snipers. Just lost out on a bulkhead and I'm gutted.

[TJ101]

I know I shouldn't be annoyed. But I'm so pi**ed off at losing auctions in the last 5 seconds by snipers. Just lost out on a bulkhead and I'm gutted.

Well you know what they say,, if you can not beat them!! send me a pm if you would like a good sniper system, which i use !!

Tim

[grot]

try www.bidnapper.com. Make sure your happy about your top price... put it in then forget it dont get into a bidding war. Bought and sold quite a bit on Ebay and the only problems I have had is buying the odd bit of video kit that wasnt quite what I expected, but that was more down to me taking a flyer than anything else. Generally I have found most people to be very nice and helpful, as someone said earlier... ask questions it gives you a feel for people.