The Official EBay Discussion Thread

[iamsuperdan]

As I type this, there are four seperate EBay threads on page 1 of the General Talk section. There's no need to generate a new thread for every interesting thing we find over there. 

So post all of your EBay stuff here.

 

Going forward, we'll be merging all other Ebay threads into this one, so your continuity might be a little skewed. 

Ahh well.

 

[cobraman]

I am pretty happy with ebay for the most part. Aside from pricing I don't have much negative stuff to say. Well over 2200 feedbacks in both buying and selling and only one bad experience . One kit I received was not as described. No tires , no wheels and no decals. Stated as open but new. Photo of box only. I should have known better. Ebay resolved the problem and my money was returned to my paypal account.

[stitchdup]

I've oly had one mistake from ebay. One store i bought from sent me the wrong kit but they let me keep it if i paid the postage for the correct item. The wrong item ended up with a member here (revell model t ambulance) so it worked out well.

[Olskoolrodder]

I bought a Tamiya Mustang GT4 kit from a seller on eBay ($42.61 before shipping fees) and paid on 11-10. By the 19th, with it still not showing as shipped, I sent a message to the seller asking if it had been. They then tell me "Oh, we sent you an email several days ago telling you that we need to cancel the order", they had not BTW (I checked, including checking my spam folder). They did send me a new invoice though, showing "what I'd need to pay to still get the kit, and to get a refund on the first order" (a kit that I had already paid in full via PayPal mind you)...so I asked for a refund. No response from them, and within a day they had closed their eBay account. So I contacted eBay, who could clearly see that I had been ripped off, and eBay closed the case with no refund or help whatsoever on Thanksgiving day, so I contacted PayPal then and filed a case, they're (PayPal) saying "we're attempting to contact the seller, we should make a decision on your case by December 10"....

So I was ripped off (theft/fraud, which is a crime regardless of how small), eBay received their % from the sale from the seller, eBay knows that I was ripped off and refused to honor their "buyer's protection" policies, as far as I'm concerned, as they've profited off of that petty crime they're just as guilty themselves (a friend of mine who's a Judge agrees with me, it's a shame that it's too small to bother taking to court, LOL).

So I guess I'll have to wait until the 1 full month point to find out if PayPal screws me over too, I'll be shocked if I get my money back (from either place, eBay or PP, both of which claim they have buyer protections for problems like this), SMH. Buyer beware, eBay doesn't always protect their buyers, even when they're long time members and Veterans (which they knew as well). ?

[slusher]

eBay works really good in my opinion. You can find parts fast when needed.  I believe shipping prices are getting out of hand and eBay should not get a percentage of that...

[Quiet Eric]

Whether model related of otherwise, I have had very few issues with ebay. I have a few other collection that would be nothing without it. I wont complain about shipping...the seller determines the size/weight of the package to be sent, or flat rate. If it is stated in the auction, then I and any other buyer would be aware of it before the purchase. If you don't agree with the cost there, then you don't buy. All depends on how much you want what you're looking at.

There have been times in the past where I got screwed over but for the most part any issues have been resolved via ebay, paypal, or the seller coming through.

I did have to delete the app from my phone this past year as my spending was getting a little out of hand ?

[THarrison351]

The only have a couple of issues with eBay and one is sellers who gouge on shipping. I've sold quite a bit, so I know what it costs to ship through eBay. I know I don't have to buy from those sellers, and I usually don't. I'm just saying that's my biggest beef. The other problem is sellers who have no clue about proper protection for diecast if they are shipping them in non original containers. I've had some come in a box with a few Styrofoam peanuts and I'm here to tell you the weight of a diecast flattens peanuts. Fortunately the sellers refunded on the damaged models.

 

[BlackSheep214]

This thread is a great idea.

I have yet gotten ripped off by sellers but knowing what I'm looking for (or just simply browsing), I always look at the prices, shipping charges and seller ratings. If I find something I like, I'll even shoot a reasonsble counter-offer to the seller to see if i can get it at a lower asking price. *usually within $5 or less.

I have been declined on my original offers and sometimes I'll get a counter-offer from the sellers as well. 

[Erik Smith]

Placing buy-it-now items on your watch list allows sellers to offer “deals”. Usually a 5-10% discount, but I’ve received offers of 25% or more before.  

[Spruslayer]

Heres my ebay horror story, this is more paypals fault,ebay is just where it started.

Once apon a time  their was this guy who introduced the I-phone,and what a success it was/is.So back then when the phone was released i was a very minor seller of stuff on ebay and i had all the things needed to participate,a email address,an ebay account and a paypal account that was linked to my hometown  bank.So some person in Vietnam hacked all the nessary things from me and proceded to shop.bought a phone ,some accessories  to the tune of almost $600. At the time i didn't monitor my accounts everyday but would check every 2 or 3 days which i now know thats a bad idea.In 3 days i chalked up over $500 in NSF fees on top of what my Vietnamese  friend spent  before i found out and stoped it.Paypal did refund all the funds for the merch but did not cover the NFS fees,said it was my banks problem and my bank said it was paypals problem.all said and done i was stuck paying all the fees.Needless to say that was the end of my relationship with PP and i never sold anymore on ebay.These days i will buy on ebay and have been lucky so far i have always received what i paid for. 

Pay Pal,the safer way to pay was the slogan at the time, just be sure to read the 400 page legal agreement i singed which did state PP wil not be responsible for  any fees should their be an issue

[Tom Geiger]

7 hours ago, Spruslayer said:

.In 3 days i chalked up over $500 in NSF fees on top of what my Vietnamese  friend spent  before i found out and stoped it.Paypal did refund all the funds for the merch but did not cover the NFS fees,said it was my banks problem and my bank said it was paypals problem.all said and done i was stuck paying all the fees.

Did you talk with your bank?  If you present them with evidence of the fraud, they should remove those fees.   Otherwise it's time for a new bank!

[Spruslayer]

2 minutes ago, Tom Geiger said:

Did you talk with your bank?  If you present them with evidence of the fraud, they should remove those fees.   Otherwise it's time for a new bank!

Its been several years ago,i think it was 2007, but the bank and i did have several  conversations about this and they refused to do anything.Not to trash a banks good name but it was PNC and that did end our relationship.For me,reguardless of what fancy promotional campaign todays bank use to lure people into a false sense of security they are their for one reason which is to maximize profits on the backs of their customers.I did take ownership of being dumb enough to link paypal to my bank but try to find anyone to hold accountable at PP or PNC was impossible.You would think that a guy that has lived in the same state for his entire life and suddenly he starts making purchases from Vietnam would raise a red flag

[peteski]

Mike, that sounds to me like the hacker got into your PayPal account and was using your bank account as a source of a payment?  Even if you didn't catch the problem for several days, I think PayPal should have taken care of the problem (and they did).  The bank doesn't know how PayPal is using the money it withdraws  - bank only sees PayPal as the payee.  But the bank, under the circumstances, should have forgiven any fees they charged.

I have had my PayPal account for 20 years. I have it tied to my bank account (for collecting payments) and credit card, but I always use a credit card for payments.  My "PayPal" bank account is separate from my main account, so even is someone hacks my PayPal account and wants to use my bank account as a source of funds, they won't get much (less than a $100).  And if they use my credit card for funds, I'm protected by the credit card's policies.

Edited December 1, 2020 by peteski

[Spruslayer]

I felt it was PayPal and eBay fault. At the time PayPal happily pointed out the user agreement that did say PP would not be responsible for any nfs fees resulting from the use of PP.This happened in 2007 was just before the bankster financial crash that resulted in the American tax payer bailing out several banks.auto manufacturers and other big companies while the responsible party's bailed out with their golden parachutes. I don't know if PayPal has the same user agreement now but I don't intend to find out as I will never have an account with them again. For me that was a expensive life lesson to be sure you know what your signing when you agree to their terms of use. That reminds me of another financial blunder when about three years ago hackers stole millions of people's personal info from one of the credit reporting agencies. I was informed by a letter in the mail that my info was in that hack. As a result of that my bank account has been hacked two times,fortunately the bank covered any losses. I have no issues with anyone becoming a success in life but if your in charge of a multi billion dollar corporation at least have the dignity to take responsibility when things go crashing down all around you. Politicians, CEO's, personal injury lawyers all belong in the same pile of irresponsible thieves that think of no one but themselves. If this sounds bitter it's because I am. 

[Fabrux]

We're always so quick to complain about the bad experiences but I want to tell about a great experience I've been having the past couple of weeks with an eBay seller. It started out as him having two items listed that I wanted to buy, one BIN and one auction. I asked if he could combine shipping and he agreed. I bought the BIN, paid full price, then won the auction and paid full price. He sent me a refund for the difference in shipping costs. Then we went back and forth for more parts he had (Italeri trucks) and I bought more.

When I contacted him again inquiring about a part missing, he found it right away and was ready to ship it out that day, but he found even more stuff I was interested in so those are getting tossed in as well. ?

[TonyK]

I have never used ebay. Several years ago I went there and looked around and was overwhelmed with how much was available. I've read numerous stories like those above and understand there is good and bad experiences in everything.

When asking a question on message boards I usually get an answer telling me to go to ebay. Kind of have the opinion I don't need anything that bad but have also been tempted to browse again and maybe see something exciting that I really want.

[Tom Geiger]

1 hour ago, TonyK said:

I have never used ebay. Several years ago I went there and looked around and was overwhelmed with how much was available. I've read numerous stories like those above and understand there is good and bad experiences in everything.

eBay has grown by leaps and bounds. When I first got involved there was ONE model category that included everything. And you could browse it completely in a short time!  

[Rob Hall]

I've been on eBay since late '96..I remember I started buying vintage Hot Wheels on there then models.  Bought a lot of stuff on eBay over the years, only a couple transactions have had issues. 

[Daddyfink]

As someone who has both sold and bought off ebay, I can honestly say that the bad and good are on both sides of this coin. I sold out a collection a few years back and the amount of complaints was low, but still, some people just love to complain. One guy bought the model, complained and was refunded his money, I got the kit back, but he had stripped it of all the good parts and wheels! Yeah, that was a mess. 

And I have also been stung a few times by shady sellers, some who where at one time well respected vendors. 

And yes, shipping is a bit high on some sales, but then again, shipping is not cheap anymore. When USPS shipping is now up there close to Fed Ex or UPS, why not use them instead? 

As always, Caveat Emptor when shopping the bay! 

[Tom Geiger]

The problem is that eBay lost their roots as they continue to chase Amazon’s tail.

They forget that they began as a collector to collector trading medium. Pierre invented it so his girlfriend could trade her Pez dispensers!

Back in the day, your email addy was visible, and you saw the sellers as hobbyists just like you. You’d engage in email conversations and people would send you photos of their cars. I never experienced any fraud. Pre PayPal I’d send merchandise out before checks cleared. No worries.

I always said things would go sideways once computers got too cheap and easy to use!

When eBay opened up to selling consumer goods, the buyer was different. They saw sellers as companies and themselves as consumers. Thus they started treating sellers like the Walmart return counter. The entire market has changed and eBay has encouraged this division by masking everyone under screen names and discouraging any interaction. They have dehumanized their marketplace. 

eBay has taken the stand that the customer is always right, even when the buyer is very wrong. Ever notice when you look in your purchases, the first choice is “Return This Item”? 

In my first move to selling outside of collectibles, a relative gave me a big box of new computer parts and accessories. I put some up for sale, and upon selling a computer battery, I got the check and sent it out the next morning. I got my first bad feedback “Slow Shipping”!  I asked the buyer and he said he expected sellers to ship hourly 24/7 because that’s what some major retailers did.  I tossed the rest of that inventory and never went to that market again!

Edited December 1, 2020 by Tom Geiger

[imarriedawitch]

This auction is off to a fast start.

MPC SADDLEBACK DODGE DART FUNNY CAR UNBUILT!!!! | eBay

[Spottedlaurel]

17 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

Back in the day, your email addy was visible, and you saw the sellers as hobbyists just like you. You’d engage in email conversations and people would send you photos of their cars.

You've just reminded me about a sale I made on eBay some years ago. Somehow I ended up with a 1950s American speed equipment catalogue, it probably came in a batch of magazines I bought. Wayne I think it was. I put it on eBay and it sold to someone in America who happened to own a car that was featured in this particular publication. It was a distinctive racing car, no doubting that it was the same one.

He sent me some 'now' photos of it and I was really pleased it had gone to the right person. It didn't make a lot of money, but it was a very satisfying transaction.

I haven't sold anything on there for some years, at present I don't have the time to list, pack and ship items the way I'd like to see and receive them. Bought and continue to buy plenty though, with very few issues. Sadly the days of picking up obscure/dull kits for very little money have long gone, I can only be happy I got what I did when I did.

My usual policy is to throw in a bid near the beginning then leave it, and not get caught up in a bidding war. If I get it at a good price that's great, if not then I don't worry.

[slusher]

11 hours ago, imarriedawitch said:

This auction is off to a fast start.

MPC SADDLEBACK DODGE DART FUNNY CAR UNBUILT!!!! | eBay

What I like about this auction everything is laid out in full view..

[BlackSheep214]

5 hours ago, slusher said:

What I like about this auction everything is laid out in full view..

And still in its original shrink wrap to boot. No doubt this one is gonna end up in a fierce bidding war to the end. 

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

I had an interesting on on ebay recently. I bought a package of drill bits, various small sizes, it came with a pin vise. A US seller. I get the bits and start looking at them. Several of them don't have any point ground on to them, just blunt ends. Weird, I've never seen that. I ask for a return, get the label, ship it back, ebay refunds my money when it hits the PO. The package comes back to me with a label says no such address. Free (some usable) drill bits and a pin vise. -RRR