Is Ebay still a legitimate auction site?

[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

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Ebay is a good place to find some vintage or discontinued tools, that is about all I ever use it for.

 

[slym2none]

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.

Yep... eBay sucks now.