Who has experience of Ebay?

[FrustratedPoet]

Anyone out there want to give tips/warnings about Ebay?

I entered a couple of auctions for the first time today. I've always been hesitant before because I didn't feel entirely comfortable with giving my money to some stranger in the hope that they'll send me what I bought .... but there was something I wanted and I saw it cheap so decided to give it a go.*

So ... any Ebay stories you want to share?

* - No, I'm not telling you what it is .... I don't want you gits outbidding me!

[Urban Ranger]

I bought a game at eBay. I suppose the rating system works quite well, because I picked somebody with a good rating. That worked out well.

[SpencerH]

I've bought a 10-20 or so items (all computer related) and found it to be very good. I got ripped off once, probably by a postal worker.

I found that I could find similar (and better) prices for most stuff though at online stores so I stopped using it. Paypal is a big improvement over the payment methods used before (although they have some real bull**** policies about credit card users that caused me to boycott them ).

As with all auctions, do research and decide what you think the item is worth and only bid that max-amount. Its just as easy to bid up the price online in the spur of the moment as it is at a live auction house.

[FrustratedPoet]

Yeah, the people I'm trying to buy things from have very high feedback ratings - so I'm hopeful that it owuld go smoothly.
Still, it's daunting prospect.

I've set my maximum bid quite low for the moment just to get my nose in front of the pack. I figure that if someone goes over my current limit I'll be able to reassess the situation.

I would happily pay double my current max bid, but I've seen other auctions for these where the price is 5 times what I'm currently at. Hopefully this one will slip under the radar.

[The Mad Monk]

I've bought three items, no trouble at all. I used personal checks, but you have to make sure the other party will accept them. I've been told to steer clear of paypal unless there's no other way, because its apparently easy to defraud.

[SpencerH]

I always used a credit card which gives you more protection from the *******s.

If you're buying from the really big sellers, look to see if they have an online store. Many do, with the same prices (sometimes cheaper), and I always felt more comfortable dealing with them that way.

[Urban Ranger]

By the way, be careful of computer games that come with no box and printed manual. What happens is the owner makes a copy, sells the original on eBay, and keeps the box and manual for himself.

[SpencerH]

Ebay seems to be much tougher about pirated copies and about oem OS versions that weren't for re-sale than they once were. It used to be you could find hundreds of sellers of older OS's (win98se) for very good prices but now you dont.

[Velociryx]

Good stuff! Use it frequently, and haven't had any troubles! Recommend though, that you pay close attention as the auction winds down....near the end, people invariably come on and make last minute bids....if you're gonna lose out, it'll be in the last fifteen minutes of the auction...

-=Vel=-

[FrustratedPoet]

Originally posted by Velociryx
Good stuff! Use it frequently, and haven't had any troubles! Recommend though, that you pay close attention as the auction winds down....near the end, people invariably come on and make last minute bids....if you're gonna lose out, it'll be in the last fifteen minutes of the auction...

Hi Vel

Good points, but I suppose the safest plan would be for me to set my maximum bid at the most I'm prepared to pay and just ignore the auction for the last 12 hours. The proxy bidding system shoudl take care of the rest. That way I won't be tempted into paying more than I can afford .... of course it would help if I had more will power.

On the other hand, even if my upper ceiling is (for example) £50, I suppose it would be silly for me to lose the auction to a £51 bid when I could have gone the extra yards and paid £52 myself. I'll keep my eyes on the auction (and remember to refresh the screen ) as the end approaches.

[Richard Bruns]

I have bought a few things on ebay, with no bad experiences. While it is generally not worth it for common items, it is excellent for rare or odd things like 40 pounds of Lego bricks. Be warned that the bid will often double in the last few minutes. Just bid what you really would pay, even if it is a lot higher than the current bid. Then forget the auction until it is over.

My dad does a LOT of buying and selling on Ebay, almost all of it baseball cards. He has gotten quite good at it, and manages to break even in dollar terms while constantly expanding his card collection. It´s kind of funny, since he was a bit of a Luddite and didn´t like spending the money for a computer, but now spends the most time online. He has easily gotten enough cards to fully pay for the computer.

[MOBIUS]

I've made about £1000 on eBay so far selling things - never bought anything though...

[Sheik]

Buying things has been good for people in my family ( I have never used it myself). I tried to sell something though and someone just did the "buy it now" and never paid me. I never shipped it but it is a pain in the a** when you have to get the listing fee back and then get it up again for auction.

[Az]

I haven't tried ebay, but I've been trying those auction sites of new electronics and hardware.

Are those good?

[Clear Skies]

If anyone's selling a stick, don't buy it.