ebay

[MiKe85]

Although ebay is a great place to find something you need/want..
I'm hearing MORE and MORE stories of people getting ripped off..

Anyone think ebay is STILL a safe place to trade?

Mike

[RayH]

I don't hand out my credit card to street vendors either! I've never tried ebay. The concept seems stupid.

It's like online gambling. You can't see what's going on. If someone wants a price, just state it!

I like to see whom I'm doing business with!

[LordLocksley]

Check seller's feed back before bidding. If they are trustworthy you will be able to tell. Gennerally I will allow no worse than 1% negative, but this is flexable and excusable depending on type of negative and response (if any) from offendng person. Also shipping Companies do screw up from time to time.
All in all, It is a safe place to buy if you are careful. Most sellers that are reputable have been selling for a while and have a reputation. No feedback = no bid

[daveleau]

I handle it the same way that I handle trades online.

If there are no good refs for the person, then they ship first. EBay will not alow this so, no refs, no deal.

Dave

[Gutter Ball]

Ray, Ebay must have read your mind! They introduced a feature called "Buy now" awhile back and it's jut what you suggested. Seller sets a price where you can buy the item before bidding begins. Once bidding begins, you can't buy now anymore.

It doesn't matter where you do business, scams are everywhere! I've been burned twice(out of over 100 transactions, both sellers had 1000+ ratings) and I only got part of my money back on one of them.

[randy48]

Mike, I've made over 600 trades both buying and selling and had one small problem! I sold a guy Aston-Tate dBASE III Plus, orginal with all the books, new it cost me over $400, I think closer to 500! Sold it for $81 plus shipping. I left a backup copy of the program with the set, and the POS started screaming I was selling copied software...piracy, etc! I asked him to read the license agreement that was with the set which clearly stated you were allowed to make a backup copy, he said send half the money back or he'd leave negative feedback. I told him go ahead and forwarded his extortion e-mails to Ebay http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif
I did lose big on Boxlot auctions last April! $875 for a computer! Hell, back then you couldn't build an 800 Athlon system for that kind of money! But, that POS ended up on the Internets top 10 fraud list (number 3 to be exact!) He has federal charges pending he they ever catch up with him! Rumor has it he's in the Cincinati area (sorry for the spelling), this guy also ripped off over 600 people on computer scams, using several user names on many auction sites. We banded together to put him down!
If you're going to do business on line, do your homework! Research the seller! Read the feedback (auction sites). E-mail previous buyers and ask what their opinon is after the transaction occurred! Once you leave feedback, it cannot be changed! Maybe they had a problem after the fact and did not get satisfaction! Make sure you let them know theat you are considering buying from this person and are leary about doing business on Ebay.

If you need help researching a seller, e-mail me with the users name and auction site and I'd be more than happy to help out! This offer is for anyone on Sysopt! Any by chance you do get ripped off, I can help out there also! Plenty of experience in bringing an A$$h0!e down! haha, with the guy that got me, I even posted maps to his house, place of business, and his brother/partner's house in PA and MAryland http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/biggrin.gif I really had fun!!

[MiKe85]

If you need help researching a seller, e-mail me with the users name and auction site and I'd be more than happy to help out! Randy: Thanks for the offer!! When i decide to buy something off of ebay i'll ask for your help!!

with the guy that got me, I even posted maps to his house, place of business, and his brother/partner's house in PA and MAryland I really had fun!! NICE!! http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif

Mike

[randy48]

Here's a handy link for any and all Ebay users:
http://cgi3.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?UserInformationRequest

This will get you the buyer or sellers person information as registered with Ebay! Name, phone number, address, etc. Don't abuse this, Ebay has a tight policy on it! But if you win an auction and get notified to send payment one place and their registered address is someplace else...you just might want to ask a question or two http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif Same thing for sellers! Hope this helps some of you out! Just remember, not everyone selling stuff is bad! You've got to have some trust...just do your homework!