Don't do EBay...

[AbnRanger]

I have had a decent experience with EBay since I first opened an account years ago, but just got scammed within the past 2 weeks....so beware. Was trying to buy a solid, professional grade microphone for tutorials and such...won the auction on a Blue Yeti. Without going into unnecessary details, the seller just never sent the item, and I waited through the alloted time for delivery, before filing a claim with EBay.

What does this have to do with this community? I've mentioned here before that one could find a (3DConnexion) SpacePilot for $50-$75....and while you still can, the chances of running into a fraud isn't all that low. I've made only about 12 transactions over the years and this event makes it about a 10% chance of getting scammed; not to mention the frustration of waiting, and waiting, and after you're convinced you've been had, Ebay insists that you wait to file a claim until after 2 weeks have transpired. One problem with EBay is that their feedback rating system misled me into making a purchase that I otherwise would not have made.

How so? I looked at the Seller's info and they had "100% Positive Feedback" under his name. After a week had transpired and the item hadn't even been shipped, much less delivered...I looked deeper and saw a bunch of red flags. That 100% was only sampled from the past 12 months, and all of that was as a buyer. Not a seller. After doing some online research about such scams, one thing they do is buy positive feedback making lots of cheap purchases. That's what this guy did. Lots of baseball cards for roughly $1. Back in 2009, he had some negative feedback warning buyers like myself.

I won't be recommending EBay as a source to buy anything anymore. So, if you are looking to get a good deal on something like a Wacom Tablet, Monitor, Laptop, etc., perhaps look at Amazon or a more trusted retailer. Should have just gone to Best Buy like I had initially planned to do. Just thought this might be helpful information, if any of you are considering buying your iPads/Androids, graphic cards, etc. on EBay.

[michalis]

Sorry to hear these abn.

So, the right policy could be to have 2 feedback counts for shellers or buyers. Why not?

[AbnRanger]

Sorry to hear these abn.

So, the right policy could be to have 2 feedback counts for shellers or buyers. Why not?

They should reveal the Seller's entire EBay history. It's very, very misleading to post 100% positive feedback under their name, while the buyer is not aware that number is only based on the last 12 months. They could have a lot of red flags (in this case the seller did) before that and the average user would think the guy is totally legit. What this guy did to get his rating back up was to buy a bunch of $1 items, individually. They can also setup multiple accounts and essentially buy from themselves, to try and artificially improve their feedback rating.

[herve_bis]

holly shit AbnRanger, thanks for the warning... well motto is.. never go to Ebay.. I never did.. for some reason I was always very suspicious about that system... too easy to get robbed..

h/

[BeatKitano]

[Gravin]

I've actually had quite a few successfull transactions on Ebay over the years. Admitidlly I have had a few bad ones along the way but mostly with dead beat buyers who never pay or communicate. I bought and sold most of my music gear on ebay back in the day. There are a lot of obvious scams on ebay though, especially in the software section so it's important to ask questions and stick with reputable looking sellers. I recently picked up a used copy of Aftereffects CS4 with a full license transfer through adobe and everything went smooth. I had to do a lot of back and forth communication to make sure the seller knew what was necessary to transfer the ownership properly but I made sure there was no confussion about what I expected when I made payment. There are deals to be had if your cautious.

[JimB]

Some ebay sellers sell through Amazon and reading a few of Amazons feedback posts some users never recieved

or were not satisfied with the goods ordered.So wherever you buy there is risk.

[philnolan3d]

There are problems on occasion but over all I've had a fine experience with eBay. I bought my Space Pilot on there for $50 and have used it for like a year without problem. I haven't shopped there much recently because it seems like it's almost all businesses on there now. Back in the day I used to buy all kinds of things on there, a few computers, PDAs, printers, even a futon bed frame and mattress that was just $135 with free shipping. I used to sell tons of books and such on there too.

[Javis]

Don't let one rotten apple ruin it for you. I've had quite a few transactions (selling and buying) and have only had a few problems. Not to mention there courses of action you can take to get your money back, since the seller didn't ship it to you. Contact Ebay & PayPal. I'm sure you'll get your money back.

Speaking of, I recently bought a Presonus AudioBox and M7 condenser mic off there recently (from a reputable seller) for my upcoming videos series (and recording my music), as well. Just waiting for 4 to finish up so I can get started.