Is Ebay still a legitimate auction site?

[Grannyknot]

Years ago (10-15), I thought ebay was great. 90% of the sellers were individuals selling used or pre-owned goods. Then came the advent of ebay stores that started to push private sellers out as the basis for eBay's original model. The search results became dominated by "buy it now" items that were obviously part of a large stock of items.

I hadn't been on ebay in years until a few days ago.
I have been shopping for a new cargo box for my vehicle and decided to have a look on ebay. Low and behold I found one (a buy it now item) that was about $75 cheaper than I could find it anywhere else and had free shipping. Placed the order and did the pay pal transaction. 48 hours later I had heard nothing from the seller, in terms of shipping or an order confirmation. I emailed their customer service contact and asked about its status. They replied back that their inventory was incorrect and that they did not have the item and would refund my pay pal account. I decided to have a look at their actual website (not an ebay store) to see what they had that was comparable. They actually didn't show any cargo boxes or roof rack accessories. I emailed them back to ask about this and the customer service person admitted that they do not stock any of these items, that when an ebay purchase is made, they order it from the manufacturer and drop ship it. So I gather that when they make an ebay sale, if they can't source the item and still make a good enough profit, they just claim "inventory error", cancel the order, and refund the money.

This doesn't even seem to be a legitimate way of doing business on ebay. I know drop shipping is common amongst online vendors, but I'd assume this is against the entire principal ebay was founded on. You physically have an item, you list it, you sell it and ship it.

Thoughts & Experiences?

 

[Kharnynb]

I love ebay, including the (mostly hong kong) new item shippers. Then again, i live in a tiny town in the middle of Finland, online shops are my lifeblood unless I want to spend double or triple...

I only order from top-rated sellers though.

 

[brettwasbtd]

Ya eBay used to be a great place to find some deals and for others to get some cash for their "crap." Now it's like a part time job to do due diligence on the seller, find a good price, find something sold on/from u.s.

I just sold a bunch of old Nintendo games auction style and it went well, but you have to "know the game" to purchase and sell now a days...it is a chore

 

[madscientist451]

This doesn't even seem to be a legitimate way of doing business on ebay. I know drop shipping is common amongst online vendors, but I'd assume this is against the entire principal ebay was founded on. You physically have an item, you list it, you sell it and ship it.

Thoughts & Experiences?

Sure, its a legitimate way of doing business. They can offer you the product at $75 below what others are selling it for because they didn't tie up any resources stocking the item. They are passing the savings on to you.
The item was sold out and they refunded your money.
I don't know what the founding principals of eBay were, but times change and sellers are allowed to list items that they don't actually have.
Do you think Wallmart.com has each an every item on their website in some huge warehouse? Some items they have, some are shipped directly from the manufacturer. Drop shipment reduces all kinds of costs and its the only way to be competitive these days.
You are allowed to give feedback on a seller, and if you don't think the seller treated you in a reasonable way you can give negative feedback and even report them to eBay if they have violated any of the eBay rules.

 

[Hello]

eBay has absolutely changed. What happened to you happened to me on a much less expensive item. It was still annoying because it was 7 days before I was refunded my money without reason. The seller said I would get 20% off my next purchase, yeah no thanks. That is shady as all get out.

eBay isn't always the best deal either. I need a new battery for my laptop and the best deal is on Amazon and ships via Prime. eBay ships from Hong Kong for less but it's not OEM.

There are still uses for eBay. If I need a part for my motorcycle or something, I go there to check out what people have. I need a new side cover and that's where I'll likely find it.

 

[IslandLizard]

Yup, eBay has changed a lot and mostly for the better, although a lot of price leveling has occurred, there are many good deals to be found if you know how to search and filter.

At least searching and browsing on eBay is a wonderful experience. Amazon, for example, is totally useless in that regard. Browsing sellers showing only 9 items per page in thumbnails? Come on, that's moronic! 100-200 items, narrowed down and sorted by lowest price (or closing date), in list view, that's good life (eBay).

 

[Yooper]

I used to love ebay, but don't use it as much due to the practices described.

I ordered a king-size comforter, way below a price I could find anywhere else. When it didn't come in two weeks, I contacted the seller, and of course they didn't have it and simply refunded my money.

It was frustrating for me, because I didn't realize they could list, sell, and take my money without even having the item available. They offered me the same item in a different color for $20 more. I really felt it was a 'bait and switch' tactic.

Still, I will scan it for time to time when I need odd items, like 25' straps or a big tow rope.

 

[Grannyknot]

Sure, its a legitimate way of doing business. They can offer you the product at $75 below what others are selling it for because they didn't tie up any resources stocking the item. They are passing the savings on to you.
The item was sold out and they refunded your money.
I don't know what the founding principals of eBay were, but times change and sellers are allowed to list items that they don't actually have.
Do you think Wallmart.com has each an every item on their website in some huge warehouse? Some items they have, some are shipped directly from the manufacturer. Drop shipment reduces all kinds of costs and its the only way to be competitive these days.
You are allowed to give feedback on a seller, and if you don't think the seller treated you in a reasonable way you can give negative feedback and even report them to eBay if they have violated any of the eBay rules.

Like I said, I understand how common drop shipping is, I just question its merit on a platform that at least used to consider itself an online auction. If you go to a car auction, you don't bid on a car, and then the seller goes out to try to find the car and still make a profit.

As far as it just being a simple "out of stock" issue, I actually ordered the item directly from the manufacturer as soon as the ebay transaction was cancelled. I did have to pay more for it, which leads me to believe that their ebay price was too low to allow for a profit on what was currently available to drop ship. To me, that isn't an inventory error or out of stock situation.

 

[azazel1024]

Hit or miss. Maybe 90% of the time it works out fine with "store fronts" through eBay. About 98% of the time it works out for just regular old people selling stuff through eBay. The 2% of the time it hasn't for individual sellers, it was (supposedly) an inadverdent error (didn't put enough postage on, so it got sent back to them and then had to mail it to me again, taking an extra week or two to get to me. Or missed some minor damage to an item) and were generally good about taking the item back, discounting, refunding, whatever.

With the store fronts, I've been burned once or twice (ordered a motor mount for my car, the one that showed up was for the wrong year range, so when I went to install it, it was 2" off. Told them, they told me to ship it back to them for a refund minus restocking. I told them only if they paid shipping back and fully refunded because they screwed up. Heard nothing for a week, contacted eBay and got a full refund the next day). but it isn't often.

I get a lot of my "cheap stuff from china" off eBay. Like "5 46mm lens caps for $8 shipped" sort of stuff where anywhere else it is going to be 25-100% more expensive. That and used stuff where I just don't have the option of finding something used elsewhere.

I've generally had great success buying used photographic gear and used blu rays. Also selling used photographic gear and computer equipment.

 

[madscientist451]

eBay doesn't consider itself to be an online auction site. They have have self titled the company as a "global trading platform".
I've recently got some good deals on auction items on eBay. For buy it now items I compare with amazon and a few other places.

 

[Weezy]

The private people selling used stuff are still there (I've never paid more than $50 for an induction cooler, and I get vintage motorcycle parts often enough), they're just intermixed with all of the resellers of cheap Chinese, dollar store products.

Flea markets are the same way now!

 

[Grannyknot]

eBay doesn't consider itself to be an online auction site. They have have self titled the company as a "global trading platform".
I've recently got some good deals on auction items on eBay. For buy it now items I compare with amazon and a few other places.

well that makes sense.
at one time they called themselves an auction of some sort. shows how behind the times I am.

Worst part is that I am out roughly double the price of the item while pay pal takes their sweet time to process a refund.

 

[burninator]

You are allowed to give feedback on a seller, and if you don't think the seller treated you in a reasonable way you can give negative feedback and even report them to eBay if they have violated any of the eBay rules.

Not exactly. You can leave feedback on a purchase that went badly. However, if the transaction was errant, and the seller refunds your money, ebay will not allow you to leave feedback. What this means is that a buyer must trade his right to be made whole for his right to inform other potential buyers.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

eBay doesn't consider itself to be an online auction site. They have have self titled the company as a "global trading platform".
I've recently got some good deals on auction items on eBay. For buy it now items I compare with amazon and a few other places.

This.

And given that PayPal is about to break away from Ebay Inc. into it's own entity, I expect Ebay to diminish further.

 

[madscientist451]

Thanks, burninator, didn't know that. Yeah paypal is slow with refunds, they make money off of that, I suppose.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

I am often frustrated by eBay for all of the reasons previously mentioned. I hate the drop shipping business model, and it seems out of place on eBay. As one poster put, "they pass the savings on to you." Sure, that's entirely possible when things go smoothly. But in the OP's case, they passed nothing but unwarranted hassle and delays to him. I have had success ordering cheap electronics and industrial parts from the overseas vendors, but I do agree that the Hong Kong based suppliers have unduly flooded the site, often shilling cheap junk.

It's my perception that the feedback system has become useless. I left honest and warranted negative feedback once, to a seller with tens of thousands of transactions. They responded with extremely vicious, highly exaggerated negative feedback to me, severely crippling my "feedback rating" due to my relatively low transaction count (while my comment had almost no impact due to sales volume on their part). I tried to contest it, but eBay is very hesitant to remove negative feedback. I suspect I'm not the only one hesitant to give an honest review as a result of that sort of experience. I've also seen sellers overtly mention that they withhold feedback to the buyer until positive feedback is received, which further dilutes the already poor system.

Funny you mention vintage motorcycle parts, Weezy. Those have been my most successful recent transactions on eBay. It's still a great place to look for fairly unique odds and ends.

 

[max384]

Ebay is a great place to find some things that you just can't find anywhere else, such as discontinued and antique items. It can also be a good place to find good deals on other items... But there is A LOT of cheaply made Chinese crap being sold there.

One thing I ALWAYS do is set my search filters for only North America. This cuts down on a lot of the cheap garbage, but it can still be difficult to wade through things at times...

I prefer Amazon over Ebay for new items... But Amazon is starting to turn into a junk peddler site as well, it seems.

 

[Grannyknot]

Not exactly. You can leave feedback on a purchase that went badly. However, if the transaction was errant, and the seller refunds your money, ebay will not allow you to leave feedback. What this means is that a buyer must trade his right to be made whole for his right to inform other potential buyers.

Yep. I tried to leave feedback but wasn't allowed, unless its positive.
Oh well. Lesson learned. Half of my issue is really with paypal, so I suppose I shouldn't be too hard on ebay. It bothers me that while paypal takes their time to refund my money they are probably colleting some sort of interest on it, as little as it may be.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Agreed that it's mostly very unique hard-to-find items that are good to get on eBay... A few things I've gotten in the last few years:

1) Most recently (i.e. last week), I needed a new control board for the broken microwave above my stove. After troubleshooting, I started looking for the part. Legitimate dealers were charging ~$150 for it, but on eBay I got one (probably refurbished) for $83. It took a week to arrive (ground from the East Coast), but it worked and now I'm the family hero for making the microwave work again

2) A few years back, I found a 2000 Drew Brees #15 Purdue [the Rose Bowl year] jersey on eBay. Back in 2000, I was still in college and couldn't afford replica jerseys, but now my circumstances have changed. I don't even recall what I paid for it, but as it wasn't signed, it was quite reasonable.

Generally I only go there for things I can't find easily elsewhere, but for those sorts of things, eBay is great.

 

[Homercidal]

Mostly ebay for used or unique items. Amazon for some others.

I have found a few "parts stores" online for appliance parts, equipment parts, etc.

So far I haven't been burned by the drop ship bug.

 

[TheCADJockey]

When we were in high school, my best friend sold a picture of himself on ebay for $50.

 

[govner1]

Years ago (10-15), I thought ebay was great. 90% of the sellers were individuals selling used or pre-owned goods. Then came the advent of ebay stores that started to push private sellers out as the basis for eBay's original model. The search results became dominated by "buy it now" items that were obviously part of a large stock of items.



I hadn't been on ebay in years until a few days ago.

I have been shopping for a new cargo box for my vehicle and decided to have a look on ebay. Low and behold I found one (a buy it now item) that was about $75 cheaper than I could find it anywhere else and had free shipping. Placed the order and did the pay pal transaction. 48 hours later I had heard nothing from the seller, in terms of shipping or an order confirmation. I emailed their customer service contact and asked about its status. They replied back that their inventory was incorrect and that they did not have the item and would refund my pay pal account. I decided to have a look at their actual website (not an ebay store) to see what they had that was comparable. They actually didn't show any cargo boxes or roof rack accessories. I emailed them back to ask about this and the customer service person admitted that they do not stock any of these items, that when an ebay purchase is made, they order it from the manufacturer and drop ship it. So I gather that when they make an ebay sale, if they can't source the item and still make a good enough profit, they just claim "inventory error", cancel the order, and refund the money.



This doesn't even seem to be a legitimate way of doing business on ebay. I know drop shipping is common amongst online vendors, but I'd assume this is against the entire principal ebay was founded on. You physically have an item, you list it, you sell it and ship it.



Thoughts & Experiences?

Just avoid Pay Pal. They'll screw it up!

 

[Kharnynb]

The chinese resellers are useful for many of us, i can either get an stc-1000 and aquarium heater through ebay from hong-kong for $20,- or i can go to a local aquarium store and pay more than €60.- for the exact same parts.

 

[Grannyknot]

When we were in high school, my best friend sold a picture of himself on ebay for $50.

while I'd love to consider that a hilarious ebay success, I hate to think who wound up with that picture and why they wanted it.

 

[TheCADJockey]

while I'd love to consider that a hilarious ebay success, I hate to think who wound up with that picture and why they wanted it.

Eh, he posted some stuff about being an up and coming actor for France... or something? My memory evades me. Too many extracurricular activities since then.

 

[kombat]

I never check eBay anymore. Amazon for new stuff, Kijiji for used stuff. eBay's not worth the hassle.

 

[Grannyknot]

Just avoid Pay Pal. They'll screw it up!

Tell me about it.
Not only am I waiting forever for them to credit my ebay transaction back, but we had rented a beach house 2 months ago, paid the deposit on paypal (per their request) and the balance on vrbo website. A couple of weeks ago they emailed us to say they had accidently double booked for that week and that it wasn't available to us. We still haven't received a refund from paypal or vrbo, plus their was some sort of 3rd party involved for a $90 cancellation & damages insurance that we have to convince to give us a refund.

I have this helpless shivering in a corner feeling that the whole world is tapped into my bank account.

When did diligence lose its status as a virtue in this world?

 

[slym2none]

ya ebay used to be a great place to find some deals and for others to get some cash for their "crap." now it's like a part time job to do due diligence on the seller, find a good price, find something sold on/from u.s.

I just sold a bunch of old nintendo games auction style and it went well, but you have to "know the game" to purchase and sell now a days...it is a chore

qft

 

[slym2none]

When we were in high school, my best friend sold a picture of himself on ebay for $50.

I have an online acquaintance that sells his used shoes on eBay. He takes pics of himself wearing them, from the mid-calf down, with no socks on.

 

[DrunkleJon]

Could be worse... I hear that some people sell used more...intimate clothing

 

[max384]

Selling isn't bad... Who's buying this stuff??

 

[slym2none]

Could be worse... I hear that some people sell used more...intimate clothing

Both are creepy...

 

[slym2none]

Selling isn't bad... Who's buying this stuff??

You must have never tried to sell a collectible. There are a lot of super-picky people out there, and some of those are nuts. Also, with a new 180-day return policy, people can buy something when it's hot, see it for half the price (or less!) they bought it at 2 months later, and then want to return it.

The collectibles market just doesn't work that way, but try telling eBay/Paypal that.

 

[Grannyknot]

You must have never tried to sell a collectible. There are a lot of super-picky people out there, and some of those are nuts. Also, with a new 180-day return policy, people can buy something when it's hot, see it for half the price (or less!) they bought it at 2 months later, and then want to return it.

The collectibles market just doesn't work that way, but try telling eBay/Paypal that.

A guy at work that collects very old, rare, & out of print books said that he doesn't even try to sell them on ebay anymore.
He said people will buy your book, immediately re-list it trying to make a profit, then if they can't, they'll return it to you, claiming it wasn't in the condition you stated in the original listing.

 

[Kharnynb]

For second-hand stuff and collectibles i use local sites, i can pick stuff up and haggle in person, check quality etc.

Ebay is for buying things i cannot get locally or cost a lot more.

 

[mredge73]

I went from buying 100 items per year on ebay to buying 100 items per month on Amazon prime.
I find the Amazon experience is much much better, even if you have to purchase into their prime program to get the best deals.
Often enough the same venders are selling on both sites at the same price when it comes to new stuff.
I have found that Amazon does a better job at protecting your purchase than paypal and returns are much easier.
My wife and I do all our shopping (except groceries) online; 90% goes to Amazon.
When I am after something used or old I will check ebay first if it is something that I think would ship at a low cost.
If it is a heavy object I will check craigs list and go that route.

 

[dryboroughbrewing]

I like ebay for buying old industrial bits and bobs, you can pick up some really neat sensors meters etc on there that cost a fortune new for a few bucks. I actually use a few of them in my brewing rig.

 

[BlkWater_brewer]

I have lost interest in the new eBay. About 7 years ago I bought all the parts I needed to build an Old School Triumph Chopper from the ground up. Never had a problem. I rebuilt my VW Scirocco on eBay as well, again no problems. But that was eBay Motors. The deals are much different now, it is now more of a Buy It Now site. I only use it now for research and an occasional part I can't find on Amazon with their 1or2 day shipping. It has it's place but it is just not the same - besides electronics the deals are actually quite rare now.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

When I was in college I was selling things on Ebay for around $300-$400/unit, making just a little money on the side as a college student. I got screwed when someone bought something from me, I shipped it, then I was notified AMEX had withdrawn the payment because of fraudulent charges.

I was confused - I had confirmed the addresses and everything. I finally got in touch with the buyer and found out she had used a company credit card to make the purchase of a christmas gift for her son and had it shipped to her place of employment (so the address matched the card). But her boss was notified by AMEX that a suspicious charge went through, and he cancelled the order. Then he fired her.

So I got a notification the item had been delivered, and I was out about $300 - big money to a college kid. Ebay wouldn't help, AMEX didn't care. Her old boss didn't care. I spoke to a few legal people and our biggest issue was that she fled the state after she got fired and no one knew her location.

Conclusion: a couple months later I was at the post office picking up a package I had missed, when they handed me a big box - not the box I was there to pick up. Apparently the Ebay item never was delivered, and it had been sitting in my local Post Office for 2 months. USPS never informed me, and they just happened to grab it accidentally when I went to pick up a different box that was waiting for me.

I quit on Ebay after this all happened.

 

[brew_ny]

great place to buy tubes for my tube amps