eBay, is there now too much fraud to make it safe ?

[gertha]

Since eBay was started I have made many purchases ( between 10 and 100)
All have arrived safe.
Also made a few sales.
2 weeks ago I bid and bought a marine generator, it was a scam, I reported and all way good in the end.
1 week ago a similar sale was started, again proved to be a scam.
Today another sale ,a similar product and place.
Another scam.

If mr. Musk wishes to continue sending his old cars into space, he may need to look at the quality of what PayPal and Ebay are offering.
Maybe everyone else is having good lucks
Anyone else any input

 

[mainsail1]

That's shocking. I have bought and sold about 350 items on Ebay and not had a single problem.

 

[Hoolie]

I'm not a major ebay user - only as a buyer - but I have not had a major problem, apart from a car that was not as described. No scams to date ... ...

 

[CLB]

There are lots of high value scam items, but they are usually fairly easy to spot.

 

[boatboat]

Ebay charges are a scam. Pretty much only using gumtree these days.

 

[Sailingsaves]

I have bought over 500 items over many years (according to my feedback at least).

I was shocked to see that, but they were all low priced items.

It is still possible to find the odd bargain (with patience).

Any problems have been genuine and usually sorted. Never had to leave negative feedback. I bought a jumper recently and it had a hole in it so the seller partially refunded me. Bargain.

As pointed out, a bit shortsighted of ebay to allow the same scams to be emulated.

 

[Sailingsaves]

Ebay charges are a scam. Pretty much only using gumtree these days.

I have found Gumtree to be good too. And pre-loved. But isn't Gumtree owned by Ebay? (I think I read or heard that from someone).

If so, what is the business thinking behind that????

 

[Lon nan Gruagach]

I have found Gumtree to be good too. And pre-loved. But isn't Gumtree owned by Ebay? (I think I read or heard that from someone).

If so, what is the business thinking behind that????

Restaurant out front, takeaway round the side. That way you get both slices of the market.

 

[Concerto]

Been a business seller since 2000 (3 years before eBay.co.uk started) and sold probably in excess of 5000 lots and bought about 1000 lots. My personal account (from 2003) I have probably sold about 2,500 lots and bought a similar number. So a fairly wide experience. Constantly shipping all over the world.

In all that time I have only had one problem with a purchase where the seller never shipped and disappeared with £15.00! As a seller I had one customer claim he never received an item, but that was before tracking was widely available.

As to selling costs, you are talking about 10% of the selling price and shipping cost. When this is compared to ordinary auction houses of 20% to 25% to the seller and a similar amount for the buyer, it seems a bargain. Currently I am paying them £150 to £200 a month in fees. Their fees are costed into my eBay prices, if someone buys direct they get a lower price, even lower if they come and collect.

When buying expensive items I would always check the following.
The feedback, look at it in detail
Check their location as there are many are abroad (which could point to a scam).
If they are a business seller, see if they are VAT registered and/or a limited company.
If the address is provided, then use street view to see what the place is like.
Ask a question, just to see how quickly they reply and the language used (if badly composed may mean a scam).

I do agree that eBay should do more to spot scams and block their ISP number so they cannot register multiple times. The report an item is not that brilliant at getting an item stopped. Their list of choices does not cover every problem - typical computer experts trying to group things in simple categories. This applies to antiques where the seller claims the item is older and from a more expensive manufacturer, normally to boost the price, but some are just not researching their item correctly. There is no other way to complain, so these lots cannot be blocked.

So, overall my advice is buyer be aware of potential problems. Then you should be safe buying almost anything on eBay.

 

[nimbusgb]

Elon Musk sold PayPal to EBay in 2002 and has nothing to do with either company.

With around 20 billion in the bank I suspect he can keep lobbing whatever he feels like lobbing in to space!

 

[prv]

Elon Musk sold PayPal to EBay in 2002 and has nothing to do with either company.

Indeed, and the two have since separated again, but still have nothing to do with Elon Musk.

Pete

 

[GrahamM376]

I've only done a few hundred transactions (buying and selling) via ebay and have had just a few problems with damaged goods but all resolved via ebay/paypal complaints procedure, never use bank transfer or cheques. If buyer is collecting, ask for cash to avoid Paypal charges. New goods such as tools & machinery often cheaper at retail or trade outlets.

 

[Hoolie]

Yes, I've found some ebay suppliers sell the same stuff at lower prices on Amazon. It's always worth checking

 

[prv]

If buyer is collecting, ask for cash to avoid Paypal charges.

I've tried that when selling an outboard, buyer was unwilling as he thought not doing things through eBay might be a precursor to a scam of some kind.

In general my experience with eBay has been very good over many hundreds of transactions, though I'm mostly buying relatively low-value new items from commercial sellers, with just a tiny handful of second-hand purchases or sales per year.

Pete

 

[prv]

Yes, I've found some ebay suppliers sell the same stuff at lower prices on Amazon. It's always worth checking

Agree - some also sell for less (including postage) on their own sites. But I would never have found them without eBay, so to some extent they're using it for advertising.

Pete

 

[Concerto]

If buyer is collecting, ask for cash to avoid Paypal charges.

You can accept PayPal for collection of an eBay sale, but need to get a signed receipt of delivery from the buyer. Otherwise the buyer can complain they never had the goods and PayPal automatically refund them and debit your account as you cannot prove they collected it. This is a well known trick to get an item for free. So always ask for cash on collection.

I did have one purchaser for a small industrial mezzanine who wanted to pay on collection. No problem as I expected to be paid in cash. No, he paid using PayPal on his phone. As a precaution, I asked for a signature on a copy invoice and took a photo of their loaded vehicle.

 

[GrahamM376]

One potential problem with ebay is if you buy something marked collection only but don't collect in person. If you arrange and pay for a carrier/courier and there's a problem with the item, you then have to pay the carrier again to take it back and that's not refundable.

 

[Capt. Clueless]

I actually prefer the yachts & yachty bits page on Facebook than ebay, where everybody pays far too much for their goods. Facebook page tends to be full of genuine sailors, rather than Ebay muppets. Just found a boat I wanted, off faceache.

 

[pandroid]

I actually prefer the yachts & yachty bits page on Facebook than ebay, where everybody pays far too much for their goods. Facebook page tends to be full of genuine sailors, rather than Ebay muppets. Just found a boat I wanted, off faceache.

I'd rather stick pins in my eyes than go anywhere near FB. Anyone want to know what a scam it is read the Sunday Times article on it last October. Thank god its going be gone soon.

 

[Capt. Clueless]

Utter rubbish. Ebay bought gumtree to entertain the Nigerian scammers. There are certain niche pages on facebook that are genuine and run by sailors for sailors. One of the mods a prolific user of this site. Facebook is going nowhere, you need to stop reading silly comics.