eBay bidding - is it a con?

PostRe: eBay bidding - is it a con? by **Holpil** » Mon Dec 18, 2017 11:47 pm

I sold about 200 units of a product last year and no less than 10 of the first 50 items I'd sent without tracking came back with some banana split claiming it never turned up and opening a dispute. RM rarely lose parcels. The level of fraud on eBay is obscene.

Now my policy is anything sold over £10 goes signed for and factored into the price. You can draw in buyers if you dispatch same day upto a reasonable time, offer to send to argos etc but you still have to deal with idiots whether you're buying or selling.

PostRe: eBay bidding - is it a con? by **ignition** » Tue Dec 19, 2017 12:18 am

I sold a digital code for a game a few months back. I stated in the ad that the code would be sent via direct message after payment is received. They made the payment and, within minutes, I sent both a photo of the code and the code text itself. A week or so later they opened a dispute to say they never received the code.

Ebay gave me the chance to respond, I said the obvious. The clock ticked down for about a month waiting for him to respond and... Nothing. I got the money eventually, but what's the sodding point?

It's not selling per see, it's the marketplace. eBay nearly always side with fraudulent customers. Glad I have an indie to trade games in to. Plus the money you get is often gooseberry fool. I broke even only on a limited edition recently and my 360 slim with like 30 games was £70 several years ago. eBay isn't the be all and end all.

Always use special delivery on expensive items.

Buy it now on cheap Chinese stuff like the odd cable etc is fine and reliable I've found.

However, when I went to buy my Vive it was back when they were at maximum price, so I tried to save £100 by buying a used one. Looked legit, genuine photos, good real feedback etc. I did a buy it now (using PayPal thank God as it would turn out) and it was dispatched a couple of days later. I had a royal mail tracking number given, it showed it had been picked up and that was the last I ever heard of it. A couple of weeks passed (they had to for the paypal dispute, 28 days I think) and I opened the dispute. They sided with me because the seller couldn't provide proof of postage.

So yeah I was nearly £600 out of pocket. Never again. Bought a new one in the end.

As has been said, just take things to cex or similar and save yourself the potentially hassle and cost. I've got a 27" iMac I'm not using and want to sell, but There's no way I'm using eBay.

PostRe: eBay bidding - is it a con? by **GlassjAw** » Tue Dec 19, 2017 7:46 am

1 bad experience selling a game on eBay

Woman told me she had been hacked and her husband was fighting for the country in Afghanistan.

eBay sides with her straight away. Told eBay that the conflict in afghan to the best of my knowledge had ended on our part and that she had bought 6 Xbox one games giving positive feedback within the mean time... hacked my arse.

The woman then left me negative feedback which I had to dispute leading to her sending some really weird messages as if I was out to get her.

She got away with it... as the buyer almost always does.

PostRe: eBay bidding - is it a con? by **Mafro** » Tue Dec 19, 2017 8:30 am

At least PayPal have that newish thing where you don't actually pay for two weeks.

Mafrozen wrote:At least PayPal have that newish thing where you don't actually pay for two weeks.

Oh wow. Ta for the info.

For anyone else wondering: https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/p ... ivery-more

I only ever use eBay for buying. Have to say I've not had a problem (yet).

PostRe: eBay bidding - is it a con? by KK » Tue Dec 19, 2017 10:43 am

It is worth going into the menus (and they're quite hidden on the website) and blocking people who've not paid for items in the past, have bad feedback, don't have a paypal account etc.

Holpil wrote:I sold about 200 units of a product last year and no less than 10 of the first 50 items I'd sent without tracking came back with some banana split claiming it never turned up and opening a dispute. RM rarely lose parcels. The level of fraud on eBay is obscene.

As a slight counter to this, I ordered a Christmas jumper from a seller 2 years back. 2nd class postage, estimated delivery time a week before I needed it. It never showed, the buyer never responded to my messages and I opened a dispute and got my money back.

5 months later, in mid-May, the jumper showed up. So it does happen.

PostRe: eBay bidding - is it a con? by **Ironhide** » Tue Dec 19, 2017 3:16 pm

KK wrote:It is worth going into the menus (and they're quite hidden on the website) and blocking people who've not paid for items in the past, have bad feedback, don't have a paypal account etc.

I'll bear that in mind if I ever try selling on ebay.

I'll probably just stick everything in the Trading Post thread first though.

PostRe: eBay bidding - is it a con? by **Poser** » Tue Dec 19, 2017 3:18 pm

eBay is just a gooseberry fool car boot sale online, except you can't try the goods an people try, not even transparently, to steal your goods/money.

It's not for me.

PostRe: eBay bidding - is it a con? by KK » Tue Dec 19, 2017 3:33 pm

What also annoys me is that, as a seller, you can no longer leave bad feedback, only positive...which just seems ridiculous.

Rudolphin wrote:
Holpil wrote:I sold about 200 units of a product last year and no less than 10 of the first 50 items I'd sent without tracking came back with some banana split claiming it never turned up and opening a dispute. RM rarely lose parcels. The level of fraud on eBay is obscene.

As a slight counter to this, I ordered a Christmas jumper from a seller 2 years back. 2nd class postage, estimated delivery time a week before I needed it. It never showed, the buyer never responded to my messages and I opened a dispute and got my money back.

5 months later, in mid-May, the jumper showed up. So it does happen.

I hope you raised another complaint. Who wants a Christmas jumper in May?

PostRe: eBay bidding - is it a con? by **Tomous** » Tue Dec 19, 2017 5:22 pm

What we need is a version of eBay where the seller sends the product to the company for verification/validation before it gets sent to the buyer. Obviously that's a much more expensive model then eBay's though.

PostRe: eBay bidding - is it a con? by KK » Tue Dec 19, 2017 5:52 pm

Sometimes I prefer sending items abroad since eBay introduced their Global Shipping programme. At least the seller can’t come back to me and say he didn’t receive it or it took too long, that’s then down to eBay.

PostRe: eBay bidding - is it a con? by **Lex-Man** » Tue Dec 19, 2017 5:58 pm

I've only really bought of ebay. Haven't really had any problems. I use to buy broken stuff, fix it up and sell it on for a bit of a profit, but it seems to have got way harder to do recently. I was banned from taking TV's from the tip for a similar reason.

PostRe: eBay bidding - is it a con? by **Meep** » Tue Dec 19, 2017 6:01 pm

Generally if you are prepared to pay more for something than anyone else you will win, which is how auctions are supposed to work. You usually only become a victim of sniping when you bid lower than you are actually prepared to pay to try to get something for less. If you maximum bid is high enough above what anyone else wants to pay they won't bother sniping.

One measure I think they could introduce is a minimum bid system. For example, if you are bidding on thing that costs over £100, increasing the highest bid by 50p shoudln't be allowed.

PostRe: eBay bidding - is it a con? by **pjbetman** » Tue Dec 19, 2017 10:01 pm

jawafour wrote:Oh yes... if selling, I would strongly recommend only posting stuff by recorded delivery and build that into the price. There are a ton of cheats and thieves out there on eBay.

As long as you get the value of the item insured with royal mail, and keep the proof of postage, you're golden (although I've never had to make a claim from them). If the same address has more than one 'missed' parcel, then they're going to get the plod banging on their door to explain the theft, I would imagine.

PostRe: eBay bidding - is it a con? by **BID0** » Wed Dec 20, 2017 10:43 am

Holpil wrote:I sold about 200 units of a product last year and no less than 10 of the first 50 items I'd sent without tracking came back with some banana split claiming it never turned up and opening a dispute. RM rarely lose parcels. The level of fraud on eBay is obscene.

Now my policy is anything sold over £10 goes signed for and factored into the price. You can draw in buyers if you dispatch same day upto a reasonable time, offer to send to argos etc but you still have to deal with idiots whether you're buying or selling.

My eBay sales dried up after Brexit and I was basically breaking even after all the fees so I stopped selling there and put more time on other platforms.

Also Royal Mail cover up to £20 on regular 1st/2nd post, so I don't see the point in signed delivery as it costs you more for nothing extra other than a pointless signature. Just post regularly and get proof of postage to cover any loses.

eBay bidding - is it a con?

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